[Photo Album]

 

Janet and I headed over to Gallo Wine Bar recently for a wine and tapas night at a relatively new “speakeasy type” wine bar which was unexpectedly tucked away in the suburb of suburb of Taman Desa, Kuala Lumpur. “Gallo” means rooster in Italian and Spanish and there is no signage to the outlet so you’ll need to look out for the little tent chalk board beside the stairway leading up to the wine lounge.

 

Litoral Pinot Noir, Viña Ventolera, Leyda Valley 2012

The vineyard that produces this wine – Ventolera is a new venture between founder, Vicente Izquierdo and one of Chile’s top winemakers Stefano Gandolini. The vineyards, which were planted in 1999, are located in the cool climate region of the Leyda Valley, just six miles from the Pacific Ocean. The area is one of Chile’s newest and most radical cool climate wine region, strongly influenced by the cooling effects of the Humboldt Current that flows up from the Antarctic, which is an integral part of producing elegant wines.

The Pinot Noir was an easy to drink and very smooth wine with nuances of strawberry compote combined with hints of leather. However, even though its very easy to drink, it is a full-flavoured and expressive Pinot Noir.

This bottle is the wine of the month and is priced at RM230++ per bottle instead of RM310++ (normal price) or RM400++ for two (2) bottles.

 

Cheese Cracker – RM18.00++

We thought this were deep fried fu chuk at first before we took a bite and realised that these were baked slices of Permesan cheese! They were incredibly delicate though and broke easily so best to be very careful when eating these. There’s also strawberries, rock melon and green apple and a honey sauce for dipping.

 

Lambor-guinness – RM18.00++

Lamb and duck bacon meatballs in a Guinness Sauce with some garlic toast on the side.

 

The Grown Up Mac n Cheese (RM35.00++)

This was my favourite dish of the night – a very hearty mac and cheese served in an iron cast pan to keep it warm. The duck sausage was a welcome change from the normal chicken/ beef sausages and provided a nice gamey flavour while the Jack cheese added a ton of richness to the dish. I recommend to share this one though because as nice as it is, you will get full pretty quickly.

 

The Mushroom Threesome – RM18.00++

This was a nice dish to go with the wine. Essentially three (3) types of mushrooms namely Portobello mushrooms, button mushrooms, and Eringi (king oyster) mushrooms deep-fried with served some duck bacon and onion rings. A very addictive dish indeed.

 

Mantau Slider in Selection of Beef Brisket Asian Slaw – RM25.00++

Pulled beef brisket topped with housemade young mango slices sandwiched in a fried mantau bun.

 

Smoked Salmon Roll with Vodka Cream – RM18.00++

I love smoked salmon so this was a dish that certainly appealed to me. Smoked salmon slices rolled up and topped with a dollop of vodka cream and  caviar, served with slices of orange atop mixed salad. A nice summery starter.

 

Not Your Ordinary Chicken Yakitori – RM15.00++

A whole chicken leg sliced into bite sized pieces, topped with yakitori sauce and served with leek. Not bad but I failed to find what was extraordinary about it.

 

Sea Prawn Yakitori with Pickled Papaya & Lime Zest – RM20.00++

Juicy prawns with some piquancy coming from the lime zest and pickled papaya.

 

Mushroom Pizza – RM15.00++

A thin crust pizza topped with button mushrooms, mozzarella cheese, and truffle oil. I really enjoyed this Italian classic.

  

Brie Cheese – RM16.00++

A whole piece of Brie (cheese) topped with gooseberries, strawberries, walnuts, and drizzled with a cranberry sauce. Definitely not your typical cheese board/ dessert albeit a very welcome change. The creamy Brie went extremely well with the sweetness and piquancy of the berries. Also a very Insta-worthy dessert indeed.

 

I think Gallo Wine Bar is a nice place to chill over some wines and conversation with good friends in a very cosy and comfortable setting. It’s a good addition to the suburb of Taman Desa, elevating the food and beverage/ restaurant scene there and providing a more intimate setting for a romantic or casual rendezvous.

  

Gallo Wine Bar is located at:

5-1-1, Jalan 2/109F,

Taman Danau Desa,

58100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

(There’s no signboard so look for Monkey Bar which is at the corner lot then proceed upstairs to the first floor via the staircase at the side.)

 

Telephone: 03-7971 9005

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/winebar.gallo/

Operating Hours: 4.00pm to 2.00am

 

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The photos above were shot with the Panasonic Lumix LX10.

Lighting conditions were pretty challenging due to the fact that there were mostly downlights using incandescent lightbulbs which gave a very yellow hue however I used the “Appetising Food” mode and the white balance worked to perfection, saving me a lot of post-processing work. I must say that the pocket-sized Lumix LX10 is quite a capable little thing!

To find out more about the camera, head over to http://www.panasonic.com/my/consumer/cameras-camcorders/lumix-digital-cameras/advanced-creative/dmc-lx10.html