Garibaldi Italian Restaurant & Bar is an award-winning restaurant which serves authentic Italian cuisine. Located in Bangsar Village, it caters to those seeking comfort food in a warm and cozy setting.
Recently, I had the chance to visit Garibaldi with my family for dinner. And although we did not request for a room during our reservation, we were ushered into a cozy room away from other diners, probably since we were a big group consisting of 9 people.
We loved the setting, with a aptly placed sunflower light box that brightens up the room. A waiter is at hand to answer all our questions regarding our menu and also serve us personally.
First up, we had some bread sticks while going through the menu. It came nicely presented in a tall glass and we were curious what was the red stones at the bottom of the glass. Turns out they were red coloured sea salt. The bread sticks were crispy and we had a great time opening up our palette with this.
Soon, the Sun Dried Tomato Focaccia was served. The bread was very soft and goes well with the dipping sauce which I presume was vinegar and olive oil.
Up next we had dishes off the a la carte menu. We had the Antipasto Italiano (RM48) which our waiter recommended since it is a tasting of 6 starters on the menu. On the platter we had a tasting of Bruschetta, Rucola, Parmigiana, Bufala, Moscardini and Vitello Tonnato each.
Of all, I particularly favoured the Bufala which is buffalo milk mozzarella cheese with basil, ox heart tomatoes and “Particella 34” olive oil. The mozzarella was different from most I've tasted as it doesn't have a pungent smell and has a very creamy and smooth texture.
I also liked the Moscardini which is stewed baby octopus “a la Veneziana” in tomato sauce on white polenta. The baby octopus was fresh and not chewy, and combined with the to
mato sauce, it makes a very fragrant dish.
The Fettuccine Pomodoro (RM24) is home-made fettuccine with fresh tomatoes, basil and parmigiano. As a tomato lover, I find this dish very delightful as the tomatoes are really fresh and the fettucine springy in your mouth.
We also had the Risotto Mare (RM55) which is seafood risotto in tomato sauce. It's quite similar to the Spanish seafood paella, and as a seafood lover, I find this dish very tempting as the seafood used in it is very fresh. But I find the couscous a little too buttery, so it's best to take a proportionate amount of seafood and couscous in every bite, otherwise you'll find it too much to stomach halfway through the dish.
My uncle had the Degustation Menu (RM165) which is essentially the full course menu consisting of 7 courses, but since they were fully seated that night, his dishes took quite a long time to be served. Although he had his dishes served with around 20 to 30 minutes in between, he waited quite some time for his main course, which is the slow cooked Wagyu tail a la “Vaccinara”, as it was served a good 2 hours after we arrived at the restaurant!
But we were grateful that the waiter and establishment did not rush us throughout our meal as we actually dined way past their opening hours. Kudos to the chefs and staff!
We had some dessert after the satisfying main course and we had the Cioccolato (RM28) which is molten lava chocolate cake with hazelnut gelato and raspberry coulis. The lava cake was sinfully good and the hazelnut gelato a smooth and creamy one.
We also ordered the Strudel (RM27) which is crispy baked fillo pastry filled with apple, raisin and pine nut served with cinnamon gelato. The strudel was heavenly, as it was freshly baked, so piping hot till you knew it just came out of the oven! The cinnamon gelato didn't really get to me though, since I wasn't a fan of cinnamon.
Lastly, we had the Gelati E Sorbetti (RM9 per scoop) and we chose passionfruit and lemon sorbet out of a wide range of flavours. Both chosen flavours didn't disappoint as it was both very smooth and pleasing on the palette after consuming lots of buttery dishes. I particularly loved the lemon sorbet, as I find it has just the right amount of sourness.
All in, our visit to Garibaldi had been a pleasant one, with good food, ambience and great company. Definitely a place to go to impress that special someone or just have a great fine dining experience with friends or family.
Garibaldi is open daily for lunch (12pm-2.30pm) and dinner (6.30pm-10.30pm). The dress code is smart casual, no shorts, slippers or jogging shoes for gents. Online reservations can be made at http://www.garibaldi.com.my/.
Garibaldi Italian Restaurant & Bar
Lot10 & G22, Bangsar Village I, Jalan Telawi 1,
59100 Bangsar, KL
Tel: 03-2282 3456
The author is a huge foodie lover, especially desserts. She finds it difficult to stop to admire and take photographs of food before digging into them, often regretting after eating halfway.
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