Friday, May 14, 2010

Trattoria Silver Spoon

As a kid, I used to dread the arrival of Mother’s Day. My family and I would work all day and night to bundle up different colours of carnations and wrap them with decorative plastics before selling them at the wet market on the day itself. It was exhausting and most of the time, I just couldn’t wait for the last stalk to be sold. We would then replenish with some good hawker food in the market. If I’d saved enough, we’d have the then infamous pandan layer cake from Australia Cake House as well. I believe that’s how we celebrated Mother’s Day throughout my primary school years. Back in the 80s, business was rather good. As time went by, demand decreased and my folks decided to just let go of this side income. I guess people are just being more pragmatic these days by bringing their parents out for a good meal on such occasions.

It was at Silver Spoon on the eve of this year’s Mother’s Day celebration that I think my momma got her first carnation. I must say that it was very thoughtful of the restaurant to present a stalk to every mother who dined there over the weekend. Momma inspected the quality of the carnation and said it was of a good grade. Gosh. Worth celebrating as well was Silver Spoon itself, for braving (greater) Kepong’s generally conservative foodscape by offering a contemporary Italian menu that is usually found at the posher neighbourhoods in town. And it’s just right across the road from one of my favourite pork noodles stalls!

What I thought would be an unacceptable starter for my folks turned out to be a hit with their tastebuds - the homemade chicken liver pate that was flavoured with brandy and thyme. The portion was well-calculated to have all the toasts equally layered with a thick spread of the rich and smooth pate. Of course, it was not as decadent as pate de foie gras but I guess to have it served relatively fresher than the canned ones and at a more affordable price, it’s quite a satisfying starter. I’m better off talking about rice congee than risotto for obvious reasons but I suppose a good stock is invariably important in both. For the signature pescatore, the menu stated a tomato and white wine sauce, which I thought was flavourful and soaked the well-cooked rice nicely. What amazed me was the selection and amount of seafood in the risotto that adding a delicate touch of brininess to the sauce. Besides the crowning semi-shelled slipper lobster, there were also mostly fresh squid rings, scallops, prawns and mussels. All at a more affordable price than the simplified, literally cheesier version I had at another more upscale restaurant. I liked the homemade potato gnocchi for 2 reasons – the aptly soft dumplings and a dense Napoli sauce that was aromatized with a few Italian herbs. One thing about my folks (dad especially) is that they tend to compare all pizzas and lamb shanks to Porto Romano’s, which they claim suit their tastes best. Mont Kiara’s branch, that is. They liked the lamb shank braised in white wine, vegetables and brown lamb stock here but commented that the sauce lacked depth and some smokiness. I disagree with my folks as both sauces are different. But all of us really enjoyed the creamy, savoury mash potatoes bedding underneath the shank. There was a point when we almost requested for an extra portion of it. There’s also a list of pizzas on the menu and our BBQ chicken pizza, with its crispy thin crust, tasty BBQ sauce, some sun-dried tomatoes and a generous portion, was good.

Novelty may not be clearly defined in the menu but what really worked, for me, were the bold flavours. Mention Kepong and most will relate it to D’Foodland and Ji De Zhi. Maybe they should note this silver spoon too.

Trattoria Silver Spoon
2, 1st Floor
Wisma Menjalara
Jalan 7A/62A, Bandar Manjalara
52200 Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia
Tel: (+603) 6277 0445

Thanks to Sean for introducing this place in his informative blog.

17 comments:

Sean said...

that risotto looks excellent ... they didn't have it on their menu last month, so it looks like i'll have to make my way back here to try it. and i guess i should check out the pork noodle stall too, rite :D

J said...

Oh my.... everything looks so good...
*drool*
(How's the pricing though? Affordable?)

"Joe" who is constantly craving said...

i need to go c if garmin will lead me here without getting me lost..then i should safely say i will come here soon!

Selba said...

Your parents plant carnations?

Mother's Day is not being really celebrated here in Indonesia. Not so sure because the influence from the western part of Mother's Day isn't so strong such as Valentine's Day or not. I even still can remember that Valentine's Day wasn't such a big deal during the old days, it's just become commercial in the past 20 years. And btw, we have "Hari Ibu" in Indonesia which falls on 22nd December but also no real celebration of it.

Interesting to see the semi-shelled slipper lobster on the top of risotto :)

Kenny Mah said...

That's really nice of them to give the moms a carnation each - nice touch!

And I know, it's a challenge satisfying our parents' palate, right? :P

choi yen said...

I think my mom will prefer Chinese cuisine for Mama's Day celebration but this year I don't have any dinner for her :P

Rebecca Saw said...

Nice!
So far pretty good reviews of this place. Cant wait for my turn nx week to try this!

AugustDiners said...

Beautifully written review. I hope your mom enjoyed her mother's day celebration.
p.s. those pictures are simply amayzing!

UnkaLeong said...

Hmmm...Supposed to be dining there with Becks this Wednesday..but alas, work beckons :( Food looks fab!

HairyBerry said...

sean, ahhh, now i know why you had the mushroom risotto instead! ;D the pork noodle stall opens only in the morning, i'm afraid. but it's worth waking up for! the la mian-ish type, dry-tossed with lots innards and minced pork! ;D

j, the pricing is affordable. the pizzas were less than RM30, i think. the mains are pretty affordable too. i think the pescatore and lamb shank were around RM30++ each. give it a try! ;D

joe, gimme a call lah if you cant find the place. it should be easy to find once you exit the LDP (towards kepong). if you know desa parkcity, lagi easy. ;D

selba, oh no, my parents get the carnations from cameron highlands. ;D but it'll be interesting if they did cos then, i'll be living among the mountains and fresher air! ;D and wow, thanks for sharing Hari Ibu in Indonesia! They say that everyday should be valentine's day. I guess everyday should be mother's and father's day too, dont you think? but of course, i cant afford to bring them out for dinner every night..hehehehe. the risotto was delishhhhhhhh! ;D

kenny, you are totally right. my folks are like a cross between gordon ramsay and simon cowell! but it's good to hear their comments cos they make sense all the time! especially on hokkien mee...hehe

mimi, wei, very soon, you'll be celebrating mother's day too! ;D are you excited? :D when you do, blog about it ya! ;D

thenomadgourmand, you are going there on wednesday? cool stuff! hope you'll enjoy it as much as i did!!! ;D

augustdiners, thanks for dropping by and the compliment! ;D my mum definitely enjoyed her day. so did i! hehehehehe.

unkaleong, yikez! it's ok lah, can go another time. if i'm around, i'll come crash your dinner, ya! ;D

HairyBerry said...

mimi, wei, very soon, you'll be celebrating mother's day too! ;D are you excited? :D when you do, blog about it ya! ;D

thenomadgourmand, you are going there on wednesday? cool stuff! hope you'll enjoy it as much as i did!!! ;D

augustdiners, thanks for dropping by and the compliment! ;D my mum definitely enjoyed her day. so did i! hehehehehe.

unkaleong, yikez! it's ok lah, can go another time. if i'm around, i'll come crash your dinner, ya! ;D

sc said...

is the owner the same one that used to run chef ken in menjalara? i recalled reading somewhere.. food looks droolworthy..

FBB said...

going there tonight. hope i dun get lost. by the way, hairy berry, i cant remember what you look like boy. you dont write, you dont call...chis!

jason said...

Pricing, pricing?

HairyBerry said...

sc, yeah, i've read about that somewhere as well! and like you, i also forget already! hahaha! worth a try! do check it out when you are in the area! ;D

fbb, so sorry! i was caught up with work lah, recently. and as u know, i've got tonnes of exams before that lah. WE MUST MEET UP SOON!!!!!! thanks for remembering me! ;D

jason, i thought the prices were reasonable. mains were around RM20-RM40. starters were RM15 and above, me thinks. it's kinda similar to cafe prices but with better food! give it a try! ;D

Simon Seow said...

Woah. I didn't know there's such a nice Italian restarant 5 minutes drive from my house.

HairyBerry said...

simon, ya lor! me too! must thank sean for introducing this place! ;D