Apart from the food, one of the restaurant appeal is its environment. The decor are designed as if you just walked into an Italian homey family run restaurant. You are at a corner street restaurant in Italy. Not that I’ve been to Italy but that’s how I imagine it would be.

All Italiannies chain of restaurant has the same theme. Once you walked in you will be greeted with sepia-toned photographs decorating the walls, lacy white curtains, dark wooden furniture and checkered tablecloths. All that plus the music and lighting it offers a comfortable and relaxing environment to dine in.

Italiannies has always been our favorite place to have some good pasta. The restaurant is known for their rather generous portions. Their tag line, “So much, so good, so share” and written on their wall, ” The best way to enjoy Italiannies, bring friends and a big appetite.”

Usually right after you sit down and ordered your meals, you’re served with a plate of bread. It always feels warm and fresh from the oven. They poured some olive oil and balsamic vinegar for us to dip the bread with. It is a nice starter. We munch on the bread while waiting for our food.

A few weeks ago during the fasting month of Ramadan, we when to Italiannies, myself and Izwa. I only had the time to write about it today.

We ordered the Quattro Platter to start. It is a combination of deep-fried risotto balls, calamari, stuffed mushrooms and zucchini fritte served with marinara sauce and alfredo dressing for dipping. Although everything in this dish were deep fried non of it were oily at all. The risotto balls is simply marvelous. It’s crispy and yet it melts in your mouth with the taste of cheese bursting from the center. I’m not a fan of cheese but this works for me.

For the main entrees we ordered a the Penne Bolognese. A simple pasta dish which happens to be our favorite. Meat sauce served over penne pasta. There is nothing fancy here, a bolognese is a bolognese is a bolognese. Maybe we were not in an adventurers mood. We were breaking fast and wanted something simple.

Overall we didn’t get over our heads in ordering, even though we were fasting for the whole day. Two dish is enough, Italianies offers a generous portions.

Italianies is a great place to dine with a group of friends.

Izzi is part of “Izzi Pizza”, an established chain of popular restaurants specializing in Italian and Asian cuisine in Jakarta, Indonesia. Izzi Kuala Lumpur is the chain’s flagship restaurant and the first of several outlets to go international.

I don’t think it has anything to do with Izzi broadband, but they do have free Wifi at their outlets.

We went to Izzi at Bukit Bintang, one of its big outlets. It’s cozy and they played nice easy listening music. The waiter who greeted us was very friendly. Maybe we were just lucky and he was in a good mood. Whatever it is, happy waiter makes happy customers.

We ordered a regular pizza, shared by two people. It’s just nice.

Since both of us are such meat eaters, we ordered Beef ‘n’ Izzi. Pepperoni, sausages and some beef strips were the topings.

It’s good, well not the greatest pizza I had ever had, but it’s ok. I like the pizza’s thin crust.

The pizza cost RM 34.80.

For the deserts we ordered Apple Strudel and Chocolate Dome.

Izzi’s strudel is a favorite among regular Izzi customers, so say the waiter. We tried the Apple Strudel and we could see why it is a favorite. It was lovely, the pastry is just nice and the filling was not too sweet.

Apple Strudel cost RM 3.90.

The Chocolate Dome on the other hand is a must try for chocoholics and all chocolate fans out there. It is especially made for those who crave dark chocolates. The smooth dark chocolate desert was heavenly. Highly recommended for choc lovers.

Chocolate Dome cost RM 4.90.

Overall it was a satisfying lunch. Sharing a pizza was a good idea, we were not too bloated. It’s just nice.