The dinner venue for the Hen’s night I recently organised…

Neroteca, is located at the ground level of Somerset Hotel in KL and the expectations I had of this place were exceedingly high…

Only because, of a.) the venue and b.) the pricing…

Are you doing a double take at the pricing? Because I was…

A wide array of “Italian” offerings… mainly pasta’s and pizza’s…

What I liked though, was the presentation of garlic, bread, balsamic and virgin olive oil…

The garlic was dry roasted and smashed and you were to smear it onto the bread and dip it into the balsamic and olive oil dressing… this was quite delicious and unique…

(This special was so special that it wasn’t even listed on the board!! Buffalo Mozarella with proscuitto and rocket $80 each… yes you read right…)

Unfortunately, the uniqueness ended there…

(Roasted suckling pig with sautéed mushrooms and mashed potato $78++)
In terms of presentation and pricing to the quality and portion of the servings… there was definitely a disparity…

(Pappardelle “Neroteca” – wild boar ragout pasta $24)
We were told that the servings were large and would feed a ravenous foreigner, when ordering appetisers… so we cut it back to 3, as the waitress insisted that 3 would be just nice…

(I could be wrong, but I think this was the “pappardelle“, but since it doesn’t look like it, I’m not sure… Papardelle with (?) served with smocked scamozza $48++)
And she was pushing the specials of the day…one of them being the roasted leg of lamb…to be shared amongst 2 people…

(Fusilli della Casa – chili salame, gorgonzola & tomatoes $24)
So when 3 of us ordered that, she had to come back out to tell us that unfortunately, there were only 2 legs left…

Throughout the night (we were the largest group there), we tried to get them to refill our water, but were mostly ignored…

The damage? $1000 for 10 people… for all the food you see above … no drinks… was it worth it? Apart from the great company of friends, the mediocre food and lacklustre service?

Need I say more? Maybe in Malaysia where Italian fare is limited, this could be justified… but I can’t justify spending that much in a restaurant that’s not fine dining quality or anywhere near the top 100 best restaurant list…

Scandalous!

Apologies my Bronze friend, I’m not having a go at your choice.. just doing an honest review …

That being said, I take note that this place is often crowded and bookings are a must… apparently people like to come here and give their money away…

*Disclaimer: All food ratings are purely based on my own experiences and how I feel about the service, food and quality

Food/ Cuisine: Italian
Dining Style: Restaurant
Overall Food Rating (Based on the Dining style): 6/10
Restaurant ambiance: 8/10
Service/ Attitude: 5.5/10 (pushy when ordering and lacklustre after ordering)
Value for money: 4/10 (C’mon, you have to admit, $178 for a skinny leg of lamb with some vegetables, potato wedges and chorizo is definitely not worth that much!!!)

Address:
Ground Floor, The Somerset,
8 Lorong Ceylon,
50250 Kuala Lumpur

Tel:(03)-20700530
Fax: (03) 20702530

Email: [email protected]

Website:http://www.neroteca.com/

Neroteca is open from
10am – midnight daily except for
Tuesday from 6pm-midnight

How to get there:

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