KL Restaurant Week – Midi 57, Jalan Bangkung, Bangsar – Italian Restaurant

Italian restaurants serving pork. Pork bacon. Pork sausages. Prosciutto. Pancetta. Don’t you want it all?

I admit there isn’t many pork-loving Italian restaurants in KL/PJ. As a foodie I get questioned regularly; “Which is a good Italian restaurant in KL/PJ?”
So for those who are still looking, book yourself a meal here at Midi 57 at Jalan Bangkung, Bangsar during the KL Restaurant Week.
For a mere RM38 NETT for lunch and RM78 NETT for dinner, find out yourself is Midi 57 is the porkilicious Italian ristorante you have been seeking all along.

I walked in for the first time this week for the KL Restaurant Week preview session and our meal did left a favourable impression. We begin the evening with 2 soups – Pumpkin and Mushroom; both which are made from scratch in Midi 57’s kitchen.
The pumpkin soup is the perfect vegan option for Midi 57’s customers; the Outlet Manager had said. I sipped a few spoonfuls and realized I liked it as well though it was a tad starchy. Still, I appreciate the sweet and fresh tasting soup. Pumpkin, carrot and potatoes were the main components.

The mushroom soup is a rough blend of 3 types of mushrooms. I would say this is the standard mushroom soup you would expect to find from med-high end restaurants in town; freshly made and drizzled with truffle oil.

For the best value of your money, ask for the Seafood Bisque. Every sip tasted strongly of the ocean and had generous amount of prawns, mussels and calamari rings; all cooked to the right degree of chew.

The set lunch mains are either Spaghetti Pork Belly or Roasted Chicken with Mushroom Sauce. The pasta is flavoured with the pork belly, bacon and olive oil. Simply but satisfying. What could taste better than pork fat? 🙂

A crispy boneless chicken thigh may be a better bet if you’re health conscious. The chicken didn’t need any embellishment and we enjoyed the tender, juicy meat with its crispy coat of skin on its own.
Still, the mushroom sauce was just too good to ignore so we picked out the mushrooms and ate them all too! Another point worthy of mention would be that the sauteed vegetables were perfectly cooked; still with a crunch and lightly seasoned. I conclude that every component on the plate were adeptly executed and rounded off the dish perfectly.

The same verdict goes to the Roasted Pork Belly. Same sauteed vegetables but this time complemented with crispy wedges. You know a Chef takes great pride in his cooking when everything is made in- house; the roast pork, the salad dressings, the sauces and even the mayonnaise.
This roast pork is bought fresh, cured and roasted here as well, no shortcuts. Mixed herbs, pepper, sea salt and chilli flakes makes up the seasoning in between the rolls. 

The other option for mains for the set dinner is seabass, just as well executed. I love the colourful and flavourful assembly of sauteed spinach, mushrooms and ratatouille. The price of the dinner set was certainly justified by the taste and portion of each dish.

Instead of soup, the set dinner offers a Crustacean Salad, of which I would gladly opt over any of the soups. The seafood was so fresh and perfectly cooked. I loved the celery lemon dressing as it was refreshingly different. Olive oil was drizzled over the crisp greens but minus the common balsamic, which was a nice change as I never liked balsamic in my salads anyways.

We finished off our meal with desserts; Creme Brule for the Set Dinner and Panna Cotta for the lunch menu.

Italian restaurants in Malaysia had hardly been creative and it’s pretty common to see a panna cotta served with berries coulis. This evening, my panna cotta was “as wobbly as a Rubenesque woman wearing 5 inch heels”, as quoted by Matt Preston on MasterChef Australia.

And wobble and jiggle it did, like a seductive temptress.
A teaspoon of this revealed full milky flavours and this is a pure, unadulterated panna cotta that’s heaven to eat on its own.
I dug into the creme brulee next, and detected citrus flavours. Another teaspoon of the custard revealed a small piece of orange zest, no doubt the culprit of the citrusy flavours.

Do take advantage of the set menus during the KL Restaurant Week and come dine with a few friends or with your family. Midi 57 is a cosy, wallet-friendly restaurant suitable for a casual meal in a relaxed atmosphere. The interior is simple but comfortable. Wines, beers, fruit juices and other standard non-alcoholic drinks are available.
No note that the sets does not include drinks.

Bookings for KL Restaurant Week 2013 can be made from now til 29th September 2013.
Book here: http://klrestaurantweek.com/

GREAT NEWS: Peeps, I’m giving away 4 RM50 dining vouchers at Midi 57!
Leave a comment here on which dish you like best (based on pictures above) and 2 random winners will be chosen for ONE voucher EACH TODAY 27th Sept 2013 & TOMORROW 28th Sept 2013!

Midi 57 Restaurant & Bar
57 Jalan Bangkung, Bangsar
59100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Hours: 11am-12am daily
Daily set lunch at RM28++ or KL Restaurant Week Menu at RM38 nett for lunch and RM78 nett for dinner.
Tel: +603 2095 1381
NON-HALAL