Clarissane reviews: iL Lido Italian Fine Dining

Been hearing rave reviews regarding this quite newly launched fine-dining Italian restaurant in the heart of KL. All floggers in the social scene seem to know or heard of it. Apparently the one in Singapore is so successful that they decided to venture out here into the Malaysian market (or perhaps they think we Malaysians are getting more affluent? tsk tsk!)

I was impressed when I first stepped into the restaurant. The interior and ambience was minimalistic but very classy. An epitome of a typical fine-dining restaurant with few tables and utmost privacy. The waiters were at the door to greet and escort you. I really think its such a perfect setting for proposals! :p

See the lady in the picture? I was quite sure that the lady was our very own local celebrity, Hannah Tan! I think she was being interviewed because I could hear the guy asking her questions about her future etc. Hehehehe see, even celebrities know this place! You might just spot some of them if you come here! ;)

The restaurant has quite an impressive range of food. From pastas to seafood to steak. Suitable for every palette.

First up was the complimentary house-made focaccia bread with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Most Italian joints serve this but the one here, in my opinion was really really delicious. Just the perfect combination of crisp on the top with hints of baked onions in between the bread. Dip it into the oil and vinegar and voila…. simply ahh! It was so good that we couldn’t say no to refills when offered. :p

While waiting for our main orders to arrive, we were again served a complimentary appetizer. Its basically raw salmon with hints of black caviar on the top. I don’t usually take raw salmon but it looked too good to resist. It was a bit on the salty side but I’m not a fan of raw salmon so I can’t really judge.

My main course was the Roasted Atlantic Cod with Savoy Cabbage and Pumpkin Sauce, RM79. This was in my opinion, simply heavenly! I could taste the freshness of the cod fish lightly baked to perfection, literally melts in your mouth with the slight tanginess of the savoy cabbage complimenting the sweet pumpkin sauce. Although a bit on the pricey side (okay fine, very pricey given the size of the cod) after all, its fine dining and portions ARE small. A friend of mine did actually mentioned to stay away from their seafood, but this dish proved her wrong! :p

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Italian food is of course incomplete without pasta! There were so many options, all of it being described so perfectly that we were spoilt for choice. Through the manager’s recommendation, we settled for their gourmet pasta: Linguine with Jumbo Sea Prawns and Spicy Creamy Pork Sauce, RM 59. This dish is one of their best sellers quoting the manager. I think it was only average though. The taste was quite bland and the pork sauce made the dish a tad too oily so it became a bit too overpowering after a few bites. However I must admit the texture of the linguine was divine and the freshness of the jumbo prawns did make up for the shortfalls of the dish. They should consider adding more ingredients to this dish though, like pork sausages as extras.

And what is fine-dining without dessert right? So of course, we could not resist the Traditional Tiramisu, RM29 another of their best-selling desserts. It had raspberries and blueberries at the top which made the dish look oh-so-presentable. It was mediocre, nothing much to shout about. It would taste better with a little more alcohol added. I haven’t actually found any places with tiramisu cakes being as good as the one in Alexis! Alexis’s Tiramisu still tops my list! :D

That ended our ordering and we were pretty stuffed by the time dessert was polished. I think they loved us so much that they decided to give us yet another complimentary item: Petit Four.

It is basically egg biscotti, white chocolate with almond bits and dark chocolate with grated coconut. The egg biscotti and the white chocolate was a too sweet and tasted average. I really enjoyed the dark chocolate though it was really good! The perfect tinge of bitterness, just as I like how dark chocolate to be <3

Overall, a very pampered meal with THREE complimentary items making our tummies very happy! Service was top-notch excellent (we got escorted to the car!!) with a great ambience and feel. However, do expect to pay through your nose (it is fine-dining after all and they charged us RM18++ for still water!)

Oh, if you do want to try this place but don’t want to spend so much, they have four-course set lunches @ RM 49.90++ on Mondays to Fridays. The manager explained that they change their menus quite often so customers can try out their various dishes offered. I wouldn’t mind coming back to try out their set lunch. It seems really really worth the money! Anyone? :D

Address:
183, Jalan Mayang (off Jalan Yap Kwan Seng)
50430, Kuala Lumpur.

P/S: Did I mention that the oh-so-cute Italian manager goes from table to table to greet customers?!