Romantic Dining Spots – La Cucina at Pullman Bangsar

[Romantic Dining Spots]

My partner in crime and I visited La Cucina at the Pullman Kuala Lumpur Bangsar to try out the latest offering from their new chef who has just taken over La Cucina, the hotel’s urbane dining specialty restaurant with an eclectic Italian and Mediterranean inspired cuisine.

The restaurant is located at the Lobby Level, and is the first specialty cuisine restaurant at Pullman Kuala Lumpur Bangsar. The inspiration behind La Cucina comes from the warm hospitality of small countryside homes along the beautiful Mediterranean coast, where guests are invited into the kitchen, the “heart” of the house, to become part of the family meal. To that end, there’s an open kitchen concept where there’s no walls or glass separating you from the chef in this rather cosy restaurant which seats up to 60 pax.

The restaurant is designed with warm orange hues that complement the home-style table settings with bunches of colourful flowers and warm decor. The centrepiece of the restaurant is definitely the cooking suite at the centre of the restaurant where you can watch the chef in action. It’s just like being on the set of a reality cooking programme where you get to watch the action happen live in front of you.

Chef Ramiro Alberto Moya recently took over the kitchen and created a new menu which features selected delicacies from the Mediterranean coast, encompassing both traditional recipes and modern interpretations. On the menu is fresh seafood, prime cuts of meat, game and anti-pasti, which will leave you spoilt for choice while Vinoteca within La Cucina offers a good selection of wines from some of the best wineries around the world.

11696292_10153934862030278_8073028981740499559_o — A healthy apple juice to start the meal

11703413_10153934861995278_1131756954901416070_o — Chef Ramiro Alberto Moya personally served the starter!

Starter – Trilogy of Tartare – RM45.00nett

A beautifully presented plate of Tuna, scallops and salmon with mango cubes, lime juice, strawberries, lemon juice and coriander ginger juice. This was a wonderful little appetizer which really perked up my palate and got me hungry for the dishes to come! Great combination of flavours and textures.

11110376_10153749073845278_3847642825265168252_o — La Cucina has a great big oven where the pizzas are baked

Pizzas – Vegetarian Delight – RM32.00nett

We opted for half and half as they was no way we could finish two (2) pizzas!

The Vegetarian Delight was a light buttery crust topped with plum tomatoes, fresh brown mushrooms, spinach, pomegranate, dried figs and Pecorino flakes. My partner in crime who’s more into vege enjoyed this more but I thought it was quite nice with the sweetness from the dried figs made it not so much like having a salad on pizza crust.

Now bring me my meat!

Smoked Duck – RM32.00nett

This one was a winner in my books! The other half of the pizza crust was topped with smoke duck breast with basil pesto and artichokes heart. I love smoked duck and the basil pesto and artichokes balanced out the duck’s saltiness making this one really addictive pizza.

11187323_10153749073885278_7644726789577309499_o — I kept eyeing our main dish which the chef allowed to rest before serving us

11206579_10153749073995278_4935144501592057660_o — Chef Ramiro Alberto Moya putting the finishing touches to the Perfect Tenderloin

Main – Perfect Tenderloin with red wine sauce reduction and cauliflower puree

Chef Ramiro pan-seared the Australian sourced Angus beef tenderloin to medium rare (medium rare for me, medium for my partner in crime) with a beautiful shade of pink in the middle. Nice and tender – just how I like it! The steak is left to rest for at least 5 minutes so all the delicious jus from the steak is reabsorbed back into the meat.

The tenderloin is served with red wine sauce reduction, cauliflower puree and a dash of grain sea salt. The result? A delicious and tender steak that’s oh so flavourful! BTW I really do suggest that you opt for medium rare instead of medium as my steak was noticeably more tender than my partner-in-crime’s steak which was cooked to medium.

This was specially prepared for us but for the actual menu the steak will be a striploin done the same style and priced at RM75.00.

Medium rare - lovely and pink on the inside. The meat was just so juicy and tender. — Medium rare – lovely and pink on the inside. The meat was just so juicy and tender.

There were so many desserts to choose from.

11539243_10153934861960278_7688583643877783531_o — In fact there was a whole chiller of desserts to choose from

11411629_10153934861785278_192337151188192267_o — Was tempted to try the chocolate fudge cake

Dessert – The Opera – RM18.00nett per piece

Chocolate sponge cake layered between mascarpone cheese with coffee dipping. What a lovely way to end the meal. Not too sweet or rich and with lots of dark chocolate.

And speaking of cheese, as La Cucina has an open kitchen concept, the ingredients were stored in chillers all around the kitchen and we got to see the product and ingredients that actually went into the dishes.

11722526_10153934861985278_239921684705096903_o — The bar is located right next to La Cucina and here’s where you can get an ice cold draught beer, cocktails, wine or liquor. Of course they’ll also serve you if you’re dining at La Cucina.

11538138_10153934862020278_3125277278518315872_o — We also took the opportunity to explore the ground floor and this was part of the lounge which had semi-transparent drapes for a little added privacy

11174376_10153749074245278_9002544685028730552_o

If you’re looking for a restaurant that’s not so mainstream to take your date for a nice and rather romantic meal, you could consider La Cucina. There’s ample parking in the basement in the evenings as most of the office workers in Menara TM would have left by then. After your meal you could have some drinks in the lounge and for a little added privacy you could have it on the sofas then pull the semi-transparent drapes around.

La Cucina is located at:

Pullman Kuala Lumpur Bangsar,

No 1, Jalan Pantai Jaya Tower 3,

59200 Kuala Lumpur,

Malaysia.

Telephone: +603-22981857

Website: http://www.pullmanhotels.com/gb/hotel-7962-pullman-kuala-lumpur-bangsar-/index.shtml

Operating Hours : 12.00pm to 02.30pm (Lunch) and 06.00pm to 10.00pm (Dinner)