30’s Club Dinner @ Neroteca

Neroteca, been trying to find a translation on Google, but the closest thing I got is Black (Nero) Theca (Teca, whatever it means?). It’s one of the restaurant that I’ve got to know for quite sometime, but just that never had the chance to try, that is until last Friday.

May, the coordinator of the dinner had managed to book everyone’s time for the dinner and surprisingly, it’s full attendance! Maybe I don’t have her skills, which ended up some of the 30’s birthday dinner that I have planned previously all ended up with 80-90% attendance.

The place is not huge and I think the max that it  could fit is about 70-80 people. So I believe that it’s one of those places that expect the diner to order a few bottle of wines to compensate the limited customers that it can fit.

Similar to other Italian restaurant, assorted bread is served as starters, to go along with the Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar.

As we knew some of my friends will be running late, we started off with Speck (a combination of assorted smoked ham and Mozzarella cheese) The ham were very flavorful, couple with a scoop of Mozzarella and the bread that is served earlier, it’s like eating an Italian sandwich.

We also ordered a plate of Plemontese Salad – a juicy mixed salad with caper, along with grilled chicken and mushroom.  Topped with grated parmesan, it makes a salad dish so sinful.

Aglio Olio Spaghetti, a very easy to cook pasta dish that consists of olive oil, dried chilies and garlic. I would prefer it to be Angel Hair Pasta, because the spaghetti is a bit under cook.

Pappardelle “Neroteca”, wild boar meat with fettuccine in tomato sauce. Taste-wise, it’s pretty special and I can’t recall tasting any pasta with wild boar meat before. This is surely the 1st, I reckon.

Tagliatelle Funghi e Proschiutto, a cream sauce pasta with mushroom and ham.

Orrecchiette Pugliesi, seashell pasta cooked with broccoli and sausages.

Parmigianna, eggplant with ham and smoked cheese. This particular portion was a bit small, so I can’t really recall how it taste like.

Among all the pastas, most of the cream based ones are pretty good. The Aglio Olio is not bad, it would have been better if the spaghetti is al dente.

The Grigliata Mista, a big platter of pork belly, chicken, beef, sausage & bacon with rustic potatoes and green sauce. The serving is good for 2-3 person but even with 12 of us, we can’t seemed to finish it off. I guess it’s too meaty or maybe a lot of the meat is a bit tad dry, the only thing that I found nice is the pork belly.

We also managed to order half of a Roasted Suckling Pig. We meant to order it earlier (as it needs 24-48 hours to prepare one), but the price tag of RM360 actually kept us off from ordering it. So when the waitress asked us if we would like to order it, since it’s that’s night special, we didn’t hesitate. It’s almost similar to the ones that we ate at Chinese restaurant, just that this pig is actually fatter, with layer of fats underneath the crunchy skin. It’s a bit odd eating it without the normal sweet sauce, but it does have a different taste altogether. For the price of RM180, I think it’s a bit expensive for such a small pig.

A few photos of the gang, full attendance!

Just in case if anyone of you are still wondering, it’s actually my birthday celebration.

It’s great able to celebrate hitting 30 with a bunch of close friends, I guess in a way that shows that you’re getting mature.

 

After the candle blowing and wish wishing, then comes dessert. Trio al Cioccolato, a three layer of dark chocolate with mixed berry sauce. The base of this dessert is so good but both me and Lin can’t seemed to find the word to describe it.

Torta Della Nonna which actually means, Grandmother’s ricotta cheese cake. The ricotta cheese makes it very rich and flavorful.

Straciatella al Cioccolato, white chocolate mousse with dark chocolate chips. Not as nice as the 2 featured previously.

The Tiramisu, which I don’t need to explain further is average. I find it a bit bland as there’s no coffee taste in it.

My verdict, Neroteca is quite a nice place to hang out and chill with your friends over a glass of wine and Italian sandwich. However, it’s a smoking restaurant, which makes us(the non smokers) experience a little bit disappointing as we need to become 2nd hand smokers.

Neroteca
Ground Floor
The Somerset
8 Lorong Ceylon
50250 KL
Tel No: 03-20700530
www.neroteca.com

I wouldn’t mind coming back for the parma ham or other cold cuts, but for pastas, I think there are better ones out there. Although the ambience is nice and cozy, we find it a bit stuffy as we were being told that the air condition is acting up that day and the staff is a bit unprofessional in handling our Wondermilk cupcakes. My take, just have dinner there and don’t celebrate birthdays, because you will never know how your cakes ended up when it’s returned to you.

Overall, I had a great time. Thanks everyone for making it!