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2014-01-09
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Last December I had the opportunity to attend a Christmas dining experience with Aria Traditional Italian Dining.I've been an absolute fan of Italian food, although sometimes I need to watch the waistline with all the pastas and cheese but Italian food never fail to amaze me to bits. I'm still on the hunt for that perfect Melanzane alla Parmigiana all over KL tho.Ambiance-wise, Aria was pretty impressive. It was cosy and dimly lit, but nevertheless true to it's name it definitely speaks Italian
I've been an absolute fan of Italian food, although sometimes I need to watch the waistline with all the pastas and cheese but Italian food never fail to amaze me to bits. I'm still on the hunt for that perfect Melanzane alla Parmigiana all over KL tho.
Ambiance-wise, Aria was pretty impressive. It was cosy and dimly lit, but nevertheless true to it's name it definitely speaks Italian fine dining. I could foresee myself spending a dinner date here, sharing pastas over candle light dinner enjoying a couple of wine. And since it was Christmas season at that time the restaurant was tastefully decorated with Christmas spirit.Aria was introducing it's Christmas menu, a Christmas style buffet serving a variety of bruschetta platter canapés, roast turkey, spaghetti aglio-olio, roasted tenderloin and crème brûlée for desserts. Sounds like a normal Christmas dinner to me, but what made my heart sank was when they announced it was a buffet instead of a beautifully plated dish. But if it's a buffet, then a buffet it is.
First up was the canapés, a variety of Bruschetta platter with the selections of sautéed mushrooms, tuna and tomato with generous sprinkling of basil. While the tuna was excellent (despite it was served on crackers instead of bread), the mushroom and the tomatoes on the other was lacking flavor. And to be honest I love my bruschetta to be nicely toasted, with a hint of garlic and olive oil and this one was point bland. The Italians made them nice and simple, it's the perfect party food and for you to mingle around but this doesn't exactly live up to it's standard.
Moving on to the mains, I had the spaghetti aglio-olio shortly right after. Although it was meant to be light and simple it was definitely nicely seasoned. I enjoyed this one more than the rest of the mains, the spaghetti was a definite al dente and the mushrooms were really nice.But the for rest of the main, I had a mixed review on it.
First up was the roasted tenderloins. It was definitely on the dry side, but the mushroom porchini sauce kinda save the day, so it's in my good book. I never actually liked beef before, because I'm picky with my meat but this one was alright. Presumed that you topped it off with generous servings of the porchini sauce.
But the main star of the night - was actually the mixed vegetables. It was nicely seasoned, perfectly tossed with olive oil and vinaigrette dressing and I can actually have heaps of servings of this. And them brussels sprouts! Total mouth watering. The carrots were really nice too.
The roast turkey on the other hand was...uhh. To be honest, I didn't finish my portion. Not too sure whether it's the buffet style, or maybe the food was left out a little bit too long while waiting for the rest to arrive, or maybe that's just how they like their turkey? For me, no, I don't like dry turkeys. The problem with turkey is that they can get a little bit too dry if you dont prepare them nicely. It was just too chewy, and unlike the roasted tenderloins where the porchini sauce came to save the day, the turkey sauce did not. I was deeply disappointed because I was actually looking forward for this one when they revealed their Christmas menu for the night.
The turkey stuffing was alright, nothing much to rave on although they did complement the turkey well. I only wish the meat was slightly moist instead of chewy and dry, and I most probably would have enjoyed the turkey more.
For desserts we had crème brûlée and despite the disappointing main for the night, the crème brûlée was the bomb! I enjoyed this a lot, and was secretly wishing for another serving but cant be too greedy no?All in all, it was a pretty decent meal for a Christmas menu, although in great honesty, I had better Christmas buffet with the family back in Borneo. Maybe the Christmas theme was not their strong point as the turkey and tenderloin was just so-so, but the pasta and the Italian salad was superb so do not be disheartened with Aria.
Aria still lives up to it's traditional Italian food dining so I would definitely love to come back to check out their Italian menu, and the wide array of house wine that I'm definitely keen to try out.
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