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Vineria @ Bangsar Shopping Center, KL
January 27, 2010
Vineria is new. It is affiliated to Bar Italia and we picked this place for lunch because we wanted to have our favourite Gelato for dessert later without having to drive down-town to Changkat Bukit Bintang. Also, we wanted to see if the food at Vineria was any good.
Today I am in the mood for red meat. Lamb to be precise. I hoped that the lamb at Vineria would be up to the mark. No pork is served here so I guess this place can be considered Halal. Booze however is served.
Costolette Agnello – lamb rack roasted with eggplant paste and pecorino, on roasted potatoes – RM56.00
Lamb is one of the hallmarks of spring in Italy, and one of the most popular styles of preparation comes from Rome , Italy that is Costolette or ‘finger burning’ lamb chops- a humorous reference to the fact that the cute, dainty lamb chops can be held and eaten with your hands. Normally, rib chops are used in this style of cooking, and I like them for the precise reason that these cuts are usually nicely marbled with fat, leaving the meat still moist even after the process of cooking. One of my all time favourite Lamb chops is found at La Bodega, Jalan Telawi. The other one would now be here, at Vineria. Succulent and with just the right amount of fat marbling, this was a great start to the lunch.
Insatale Portofino; prawns, smoked spanish salmon, asparagus and carrots – RM26.00
What I liked about the salad was that it was light and refreshing and that they were generous with the salmon and olives. What I did not like was the fact that the salmon was soft and mushy and a little too salty.
Proscuitto & Melone; Spanish beef and Rock Melon – RM22 – 32
Prosciutto, which is Italian for ham, derived from the Latin word perexuctus, meaning “deprived of all liquid.” (Feels like Ciki, after a run on the Kiara hill:P) It describes any seasoned, salt-cured (not smoked) and air-dried ham that has been pressed to create a firm, dense texture and typically cut into paper-thin slices. Here at Vineria, they use Spanish Beef Loin Nocina of 18 month aged Ham. I have never tried Beef prosciutto, so of course I jumped at the chance to order it and found, to my surprise, that it was really rather good! It’s a little bit tougher than pork and has a beefier taste(obviously) but other than that, it went excellent with the melon. This is a great place to bring your Muslim friends.
Just to digress, which is your favourite way of eating Prosciutto? The 3 most popular ways of eating Prosciutto are :
1. Prosciutto e mozzarella
2. Prosciutto e melone
3. Prosciutto e fichi (fresh figs)
I always love prosciutto with melon because the saltiness of the ham is canceled out by the sweetness of the melon, and the overall effect allows you to savor the sensation of the textures without distraction. Nice!
Salsiccia & Fonduta; Duck Foie gras sausages served with truffle cheese fondue – RM22- 36
The salsiccia (italian sausage) was good in that it wasn’t gamy but bad because we could not taste the foie gras really. Also the cheese fondue went well with the sausage but it lacked any truffle taste to it.
Pasta Fusilli all’Italiana; spicy pasta sauteed with pesto and tomato sauce and nuts – RM23.00
The pasta was good. Cooked al dente with a strong, heady infusion of pesto herbs it was my dream pasta- the flavour was awesome! The pasta is a must.
Gelato -RM16.00
Gelato from Bar Italia is what is says on the menu. The flavour and smooth texture was exquisite just like the one from down-town, however, we were let down by the size of the single serving. Someone in our group mentioned “Bangsar location , therefore Bangsar prices..”. Well, what can I say, the gelato was delicious but we hope that Vineria will increase their portions so that we can keep coming back for their Gelato!
All in all, a nice restaurant, tucked in the back of Bangsar Shopping center(BSC). You need to walk past Kiehls on the ground floor, to the inner depths of the back part of BSC. Vineria offers a gorgeous, chill-out balcony area with lazy sofas and excellent furniture for watching the world go by. It is extremely ‘tai-tai’ (lady of leisure) in ambiance. The service was just so-so because we were seated outside and it was difficult to get their attention. We needed to call a couple of times before we got any service. The food is definitely above average. We had a memorable lunch at Vineria.
Vineria
G-133, Bangsar Shopping Centre, Bangsar, KL.
Tel: 603 2287 7889
The Proscuitto & Melone; Spanish beef and Rock Melon looks good ….. perfect for adding it to my plate of aglio olio
ah, so you are a fan of the AO! nice.. i love that too.. simplicity at its best
Phwarrr…. the lamb looks good. Can’t wait to visit my Kiehl’s store… plotting it in my calendar now. LOL
yesh munkey .. Kiehl’s rocks.. so does the lamb at Vineria
Ciki, my food wiki.
And how can you eat smoked salmon again after that glorious piece you had at Sage? Nothing will come close again. Nothing….
thank u LL.. someone wise, she told me – you must do research .. otherwise not worth reading.. hehe.. she’s a clever cookie..
sigh, i know.. after sage, its like nothing else will do.. sob.. sob..
ooh the fusilli looks good! i usually avoid fusilli as well as penne cos they’re often stodgy and don’t soak up the sauce well (personal preference, i guess). but this one looks light and springy and smothered beautifully in the sauce!
hmm.. shall i just copy paste that back into my blog. your comment says it all, dear sean;)
a good place to bring my Muslim friends.
yup!
hhm…me thinks my hard-saved up $ is for Sage tis mth. Vineria hv to wait! But tht gelato is antr thing all toge! hehehe.. will jz buy frm Gourmet & glare at the wait staff if they give me too little! kekeke
gr8 idea TNG! .. you go girl!
truth to be told… I have not been to any restaurants in BSC except for Ming Room
i’ve never been to Ming! not enough makan kaki la..
Nice shots babe!! You actually went that day ah?
thank u babe! hehe
The gelato looks very interesting!
Nice shot of the lamb!
Looks like a really small serving for that price though… 
a cool gal knows her red meat well. rawk on, babe! ;D i wanna try this place la. hopefully they are open during the cny week la. wei, whatchu tokking abt?? your pics are wonderful lah!
I should have gone to this vineria instead of twenty one. Food there sucks!
I was at Bangsar last weekend but did not come across this place…hmmm
Your pics are really eye popper ! POP!!!! nice shots
HAHAAAA Tai Tai ambience
Cute!
ps – Bar Italia sure looks like they are doing well …
gee the gelato does have bangsar price tag on it!
omigoodness, i went there and had the exact same items. we must be siamese twins.
Terrible experience and painfully slow service which annoyed me. Food when it arrived was tasteless. Recommend all avoid.
Nice looking restaurant, heard mixed reviews but tried anyway last night… food was awful. Bread basket was rock-hard, wines (red and white by the glass) were warm, red emperor fish smelled foul, medium well lamb rack was served purple and bloody. Needless to say we left without eating. YMMV.
thank you for your frank feedback. I am sure Vineria will read this and use it constructively. Cheers
OMG what a nasty experience. FOOD POISONING ALERT – I ate a seafood dish that smelled weired, but the waited told me that was how it was supposed to be. I then spent the next 24hrs vomitting my stomach out. Cheap ingredients, poor kitchen hygiene. Avoid avoid avoid.
Dear Scooby thank u for you feedback. Poor u, food poisoning. I am sure Vineria will be acting upon this feedback once they read it. Cheers!
Mmmm – I had funny smelling seafood too. Yuck yuck yuck.