Reviews: Carlos and Porto Romano

I've been putting off these for some time. This isn't supposed to be a food blog but I get a lot of pleasure out of having intimate conversations over good food. Which I've had quite a lot of recently. It would be too selfish of me not to share. That, and I'm sick of the soggy receipts sitting in my tote.

Carlos, Pavilion
DL accompanied me for a good 12 hours to celebrate my release from prison last day at the firm. We had a really wonderful time (thank you, Uncle!). Apart from retail therapy, we also watched Romulus,My Father. Very poignant, but requires full concentration and lots of empathy. If you're after instant gratification this is not for you, i.e. no one takes off their clothes/ dies in a gory manner.

We couldn't quite decide where to eat and decided to settle for Carlos, which is located along the alfresco dining strip at the Pavilion. It was reasonably packed. We managed to get a table by the window, in spite of the terrible service (staff were slow to respond to EVERYTHING).


Our drinks arrived first. My Strawberry Milkshake (MYR9) looks pretty, but I felt it wasn't cold enough and it was made with Nestle ice cream! In Malaysia, Nestle ice cream is about the crappiest you can get. I get visions of preservatives and cancerous tumours whenever I see it. I hate locally produced ice creams with a vengeance. David liked his Cafe Latte (MYR9) fine though.


I decided on Seafood Quesadilla (MYR24), which proved to be an excellent choice. Now, I've had very little exposure to Mexican food, limited to tapas and fajitas at La Bodega and tortillas served on a liveaboard dive trip at the Great Barrier Reef. This was excellent stuff! Lots of gooey cheese dripping between the fresh seafood (calamari, prawns, mussels etc), wrapped in a tortilla shell. It came with three dips - sour cream, guacamole and salsa (which was heavenly - DL kept stealing mine).


DL's Carlos Mexican Burger (MYR21) was pretty good too. The beef was grainy and covered in cheese. It came with a small salad, potato wedges and salsa dip. As far as local burgers go, this was pretty decent.


Porto Romano, Mont Kiara
I was in charge of organizing JL's birthday and we'd passed this quaint looking building the week before. LC claimed she's heard good things about the food, so we decided upon there.

A couple of days before the event, BE and I decided to give it a test run. We really liked our Ox-tail Soup (MYR19), which came which huge chunks of Ox-tail. The meat was tender and fell off the bone easily. The soup was flavourful, but not too spicy.


We also shared the Traditional Paella (MYR32), which is essentially risotto with seafood. It was very good and the portion is just nice when shared between two. However it was just a little underwhelming as I'd had The Best Paella Ever in The Balcony in Byron Bay, during my second year anniversary celebration with X. That, would have been too much even for two.


I was still satisfied anyway. On Saturday, my overdressed friends (they thought it was fine dining. The place is a two storey standalone building and looks kind of posh.) and I (permanently underdressed) turned up for lunch. There were 9.5 of us as VC brought her baby.

I don't think the fireplace is real. A little impractical in our climate.

I forgot to take pictures of the starters, but the Garlic Bread (MYR8) was reaaally good. We also had Summer Minestrone (MYR18) and Porto Romano Seafood Soup (MYR18), which were excellent.

Neapolitan Pizza (MYR27) : The toppings were creepy unusual - anchovies and olives.

Porto Romano Salad (MYR18): I still think the seafood salads at Delicious and Dome are nicer. There was just something missing.

Roast Rack Lamb (MYR36): I liked how it was marinated. Quite good.

Dory Fillet (MYR27): Flaky and fresh, but I didn't like the lemon butter dressing. Think the fish would go better with a creamier sauce.

DL brought some Shiraz Rose by Jacob's Creek, as recommended by Mercato's sommelier. LL (Privates of the Carribean, anyone?) ever so trusting, believed him when he said it was Ribena and was pretty shocked when she took a sip. I'm personally not a fan of wine hence have no comment. It should be noted that corkage is MYR40 per bottle though.

The restaurant remains a bit of a hidden secret for the moment and is great for privacy. The past two times I went, our table would be the only one with Malaysians. It's located just past Mont Kiara International School. There are branches in Taman Tun and City Square, though I heard they're not as pretty.