Cariso Delicacies Corner

This is my version of Aglio Olio Spaghetti.

I am using Barilla Spaghetti No.5 (blue box packaging).

Spaghetti – I used about  ~50 cents coin of diameter measurement and put into the boiled water, added with a tablespoon of salt. 8 minutes. [...]

Rosso Vivo @ Kuta, Bali

There are a lot of restaurants and cafes located along the Jalan Pantai Kuta.

One of those that attracted my attention is this one, Rosso Vivo. A classic and elegant style of Italian restaurant.

The Kuta Beach is located right opposite the road.

External compound is equipped with cushioned bamboo sofas.

Complimentary bread and toast, came with a tiny plate of sauce, slight spicy.

Carote e zucca (Pumpkins and carrots soup with fresh basil and cream) (Rp. 55,000 = ~RM19) [...]

Little Italy @ Kuta Square, Kuta-Bali

During the first night at Kuta, we took a stroll at night to explore the streets around Kuta beach. There stood a waiter at the entrance of this Little Italy that handed out pizza which was cut into mouth-piece sizes each, for sampling. I took a bite on the pizza sample…..

“Hmm…..good! What flavour is this?”

“Margherita, this one!” He showed me on the menu.

The result was, I ended up having supper inside this restaurant on the following night. I was impressed by the Italian boss’s marketing strategy.

Fruit Punch (Rp.35,000 =~RM12). Very nicely mixed. Love it! I could taste the sparkling 7-up!

Pizza Margherita (Rp. 60,000 =~RM21)

Tomato sauce, mozzarella and basil.

Thin crust. Normally those ‘hard edges’ were those that one normally tends to skip eating, BUT this one, definitely NO, we ate all as they were simply not-that-hard and crunchy too!

Easily finish up as it was simply too tasty. I don’t feel JILAK at all even after eating half of the whole pizza!

A total of 15% (service & tax) applies.

Little Italy Italian Restaurant
Add : Kuta Square, Jln Bakung Sari, Kuta, Bali.
Tel/Fax : (0361) 752154
Email : [email protected]

Go here for Bravo Italiana (New Menu) Part I

The standard of desserts served here is high, or at least above my expectation.

Strawberry Panna Cotta (RM8.90) My rating : 8/10

Impressive presentation. Very ‘ladylike’ with poise.
Soft pudding-like texture made of gelatin. It may look very sweet but in actual it’s not. For a person like me who doesn’t like too-sweet kind of food, this is definitely a great choice. The sweetness is acceptable. Everyone of us couldn’t stop scooping for more and more.

Tequila Key Lime Pie (RM8.90) My rating : 9.5/10

A must-order dessert. Very unique. Delicious. The top layer is the whipped cream with tequila added into it. Middle layer tasted lime flavour. The bottom crust is made of the digestive-crackers.

When first looking at it, I thought it’s an ordinary cake, later then only I found out that it’s far better than those usual cakes which tasted oh-so-sweet(!). The combination of this tequila flavoured ‘top layer + sourish lime in the middle + the thin crust tasted heavenly! It’s the middle lime part that made me addictive, precisely!

You know what?! I’ve never missed thinking of this dessert everyday now since the day I ate it at Bravo Italiana!

Tiramisu (RM12.80) My rating : 7/10

Served in ‘cake’ form. Decoration of peach slices added colourful attraction to this dessert. I found that it’s not too sweet though, perhaps overwhelmed by the rich chocolate taste.

Chocolate mousse (RM8.90) My rating : 6/10Very rich in chocolate & rum taste. Couldn’t take much unless you are a real chocolate lover as it’s full of chocolate layers, every layer of them!

Caffe Romano (RM14) My rating : n/aA mixture of coffee, wine and orange with a scoop of ice cream on top. It’s like a ‘special’ float with different layers of taste. Once mixed up, it’s like coffee in orange?! Well, frankly speaking, I did not know how to appreciate this drink, therefore it’s up to you to rate after trying.

As a gentle reminder to all – Only two types of the above-mentioned desserts are served each day. Why not you call them upfront to find out if your favourite dessert is served on the day you wanna go?!

Lastly, I wanna thank PTP and the restaurant’s owner, Mr Limmie for this fantastic food review. I had a wonderful time there. :p

Bravo Italiana (located same row with BATA).

This is another food review session @ Bravo Italiana, thanks to PenangTuaPui. My first visit at Bravo Italiana was a pretty satisfactory one. Therefore the night when I was told about the food testing on its newly launched menu, I jumped up HIGH! :p

When seeing the photos below, don’t be astonished and garu-garu kepala asking “How come cariso can shoot like photographer uh?!”. Haha! Those nice photos were mostly taken by Albert Yap from CamoStudio and also some shots were taken by Allie .

Mind you, I am being rather stringent in the below rating and review.

This reminded me of a song at nursery, “A mask for you, a mask for me. Boo Boo Boo! Who can it be?!”

Mixed Bean Soup (RM4.00) – My rating 7/10

Soup of the day, comes with red bean, potato, carrot, onion and pasta. I was in fact astonished at the amount of ingredients used. This is definitely better than a lot of other ‘soups of the day’ as it’s indeed big portion and rather filling. The red bean is very soft. As a gentle reminder, one must not order this prior to eating cabonara spaghetti or any other heavy dishes.

Bruschetta (RM8.80) – My rating 4/10Toasted bread topped with plum tomato, Italian herbs, olive oil and melted cheese. It’s rather plain in taste except overwhelmed by the sourish taste of plum tomatoes. As it’s been exposed to the air for a rather long time before I ate, the moment when I tasted it, the cheese was no longer sticky but turned solid and therefore didn’t seem to blend well with the ingredients and bread. The toasted bread generally is rather hard, it would be nicer if it’s toasted mildly. The herbs didn’t seem to add any flavors onto the toast though.

Spaghetti Carbonara (RM24) My rating 5/10

Spaghetti sautéed with mushroom, beef salami, egg yolk, parmesan cheese, white wine and cream. Thick creamy look but milder in taste. I was not satisfied with the texture of the spaghetti as it was not al dente. Too dry to my liking.

Baked Oyster Vesuvio (RM28 for half dozen) My rating 7/10

” Wowowo!!!” Here comes the baked oyster.
Baked oyster topped with fresh marinated tomato, sweet pepper and melted cheese. The oyster was rather chewy in texture, creamy but mild in taste with generous amount of ingredients. Prefer it to be saltier though.

Scallops Glatine (RM28 for half dozen) My rating 9/10

Baked scallops topped with mushroom, cream and Mozzarella cheese. When this dish was presented to us, there’s another “WOW” ! After having the first mouth, there’s more “Hmm….” followed by big grins !

Texture of the big scallops is solid and juicy. The whole piece of baked scallop with cheese tasted very rich and creamy in general. I prefer these baked scallops more if compared to the baked oyster mentioned above.

I believe eating a maximum of 2x scallops with the above 2x baked oysters is considered filling to me.

Italiano’s Combination (RM39.80) My rating 7/10

Baked mozzarella Aust steak & seafood with fresh Italian herbs and extra virgin olive oil. Very deep-fried look. The steak is cooked with less tenderness, certain portion seemed to be rather chewy. The freshwafer ‘fishy’ taste was there, only diminished by addition of lemon juice. Prawn –very freshly baked prawn, tasted heavenly with sprinkles of peppers. Looking at the side dishes served, hohoho! This dish is considered too filling if it’s to be consumed by one person. If you are carnivorous, this dish is definitely your choice!

Salmon Simone (RM28) My rating 7/10

Marinated fresh salmon fillet with orange basil sauce. Orange plus basil sauce made the salmon tasted more appetizing but overwhelmed by sourish taste. Prefer it to be more plain as I believe the salmon itself would have tasted good with milder sauce. The salmon was served in thick portion. However, I prefer it to be thinner (Haha! Where got customer like me one ah?!) . Mashed potato is deep fried with crust layer externally and molded in a triangle-3D shape, rather special uh?!

Lamb shank alla Milanese (RM32) My rating 7/10

Braised NZ lamb shank with fresh Italian herbs, garlic, toato, mushroom and red wine. A bit ‘dry’ looking externally (due to long exposure in the air perhaps as we were busy on photoshooting?!) but it’s actually very tender and juicy internally! This should give credit to the owner for willing to invest long hours in braising the lamb in red wine. Prefer the gravy to be a lot more though. Mashed potato is very potato-ish. The serving portion was considered large with the generous amount of side dishes.

The below two dishes will no longer be available in the new menu… I guess the owner believed that if a bunch of us don’t know how to appreciate it, then perhaps the rest of you also won’t love it?! Anyway, you can feedback to owner if you insist?!

Pizza Rustica (RM33) My rating 7/10

Anchovies, capers and classic pomodoro sauce. A rather special thin crusted pizza with addition of anchovies on it. Each slice of pizza has a piece of anchovy on it. Can you detect it?! To most of us, it tasted exactly like ‘salted fish’. I found it very very creative & daring as I’ve never tasted pizza with such combination. However, this gonna be removed from the menu.

Pollo alla Cacciatora (RM22) My rating 3/10

Baked whole leg chicken with basic ingredients – extra virgin olive oil, green pepper and wine. Look like normal express lunch set like nasi bryani set (?!) Not rich enough in aroma though. This one has also been removed from the menu.

Stay tuned for Part II : Bravo Italiana (New Menu) Part II.