Favola Italian Restaurant, Le Meridien Kuala Lumpur
Our first dining experience in Favola went well, so we had no qualms about returning to try more from their extensive menu. Once was for a food review and another time for dinner to celebrate our anniversary since Favola was open on a Sunday.
It was our first encounter with burrata (this was some months ago), a cheese very similar to mozzarella (it is afterall made of mozzarella plus cream) but creamier. We're definitely big fans of burrata now after trying it here. Simply prepared with sliced fresh Roma tomatoes, rocket leaves, Parmesan cheese and truffle shavings, it is one of our favorite Italian starters. It is slowly gaining popularity in KL, as I have seen and tasted it in several other Italian restaurants in KL this year.
Burrata with fresh Roma tomatoes
Bread at Favola
All sorts of olive oil
From the crudo bar, we also had the octopus antipasti, which has been blanched, sliced and marinated with garlic, chilli flakes, sea salt, olive oil and served with black olives, sprouts, radish and cherry tomatoes. What a beautifully vibrant dish!
Octopus (RM40)
Wouldn't have thought of trying the soup here at Favola, but Chef Antoine picked the zuppa di vongola (RM40) for us to sample. The soup is made from stock, chilli flakes, thyme, rosemary and garlic - it has a slight kick from the chillis and was very tasty. Plus love the fact that the soup came with fresh clams (which I like very much) and Merguez sausage. I wouldn't mind ordering this next time.
Ah can't go wrong with mushroom! s. The garlic and thyme roasted giant portobello was topped with spinach and Lombary Taleggio cheese. YUMMMM!
Starters
Of course that was not all we had... we now move on to pizzas! Usually we would just go for meat or vegetarian pizzas, but the Venetian pizza (RM55) which was laden with seafood such as lobster, scallops, prawns, clams, and calamari turned out to be great. The pizzas are cooked in a wood fire oven, see how the crusts are slightly charred. The tomato base also not too overpowering and just went nicely with the rest of the ingredients.
Venetian pizza - 10 inches of goodness
The beauty of this lunch was that Chef Antoine picked all the dishes for us. I think a lot of it wouldn't normally be ordered by us as we are quite "safe" when it comes to eating out, usually sticking to what we know. We certainly enjoyed all the new things th! at we tr ied including the BBQ Cod Fish (RM90) and Slow Cooked Lamb Shoulder (RM90).
The cod fish is as it should be, the flesh coming off in flakes served with a tangy sundried tomato dressing. It is quite pricey though, especially if one does not have the Starwood card.
The lamb shoulder was slow cooked with tomato jus, olives, rosemary and garlic. I would have preferred if the meat was a little more tender, but Hubby enjoyed it and didn't have a problem finishing almost the whole portion.
For pasta, you can choose your pasta and mix and match with your favourite sauce. We had the spaghetti polpetta (RM40), one of Favola's signature items. The meatba! lls are made using Wagyu trimmings and cooked in a fresh basil tomato sauce. The meatballs were very good, tender with a nice bite. I certainly enjoyed this.
For desserts, Chef Antoine prepared a trio of dessert samplers for us. We had the chocolate mousse topped with strawberries (cant remember now if this was the zuccotto), tiramisu and raisin cake with oreo ice cream. Loved them all, and the tiramisu was much better than our initial visit to Favola.
Raisin cake - moist
Tiramisu
Chocolate mousse with strawberries - light
On our second visit, photos turned out a little darker as we were seated in the corner where it was quite dimly lit and am not a fan of using the flash (esp when I'm not doing a review as it draws too much attention).
We enjoyed the seared jumbo sea scallop (RM55) the last time we came, and proceeded to order one EACH this time. Yes, we had four scallops each to ourselves LOL. This time, it was served atop some grilled mushrooms which I much prefer since I love mushrooms and scallops! If you ever visit Favola, this is a must-order!
Since we enjoyed the risotto here the last time, we decided to order risotto again, but with a different topping. We had the risotto verde pisello (RM75) which is green pea risotto with seared Wagyu chuck flap tail. Have to say this was also very yummy, and the beef was nicely cooked.
The ravioli was decent, but did not really stand out for us. We did not really taste the black truffle (we had high expectations since it was mentioned on the menu) but the pasta itself could not be faulted. (couldn't access the online menu this morning, but will update name of this dish when I can)
Beautiful wall of masks
Opening times: Sunday to Friday: 12.00pm to 2.30pm (Lunch); Monday to Sunday: 6.30pm to 11.00pm (Dinner)
Service: A little slow during our 2nd visit, quite difficult to get the waiting staff's attention even to refill water or make our order for desserts.
Location: Favola, Level 8, Le Méridien Kuala Lumpur, 2 Jalan Stesen Sentral, 50470 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. (Directly opposite KL Sentral station and next to KL Hilton)
Tel: 03- 2263 7434
Parking: RM8 for the first 2 hours, RM5 for every subsequent hour.
GPS Coordinates: 3.135685, 101.686524
Website: http://discoverlemeridien.com/menus/
*Part of this meal was an invited review and the other was paid fully by us.
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