This marks the beginning of my Intermark food crawl. Kicking of with a rather interesting fusion of cusine with Albanian, Italian and Mediteranean influences.

We settled down and was prepared to start with a cold beer to cool down. Eddie suggested that I start with wine. Awesome as I wasn't really in the mood for bubbles. House wines are Canepa's Classico range. Red or white I had bothI have a weak spot for grilled vegetables. Verdure alla Griglia ~ Grilled Vegetables is a beautiful appetizer of very colourful platter of tomatoes, aubergines, capsicums and zucchini. Light with a refreshing taste of balsamic vinegar with the some pungent chopped garlic. This is such a must order for my next visit!Zuppa ala Porto Romano ~ Porto Romano Seafood Soup is beautifully satisfying. Fresh seafood in a tomato base and herbs, I was happily slurping this soup. Every bite of seafood made this my favourite soup for the night.I am not much of a rice eater. But when it comes to risottos, I am quite amazed by my ability to eat rice. Here at Porto Romano, the Risotto Fruitti di Mare ~ Seafood Risotto was worth the wait (allow 20-30 minutes wait time if you order this). Every bit of the Italian Arborio rice was coated with the rich and creamy white wine sauce while the seafood was cooked just right.A little salty but nevertheless yummy would be the Spaghetti alla Puttanesca. A beautiful and el dente pasta flavoured with savoury Meditteranean anchovies, fillets, capiers and olives. Tender pieces of aubergine added colour to this very vibrant tomato based pasta.Stinco d'Agnello ~ Braised Lamb Shank is braised in oven fire slowly till its tender. This rich piece of tender meat is coated in a tasty tomato base that bears the juicy flavours of the lamb. Quite a generous size, I would advise to order this for sharingDessert! The Torta di Mele ~ Apple Pie arrives in a petite parcel and a dollop of delightful vanilla ice cream. Rich in cinnamon with lightly tangy apples and sweet raisins, this was my to die for dessert.Not much room left in our stomachs...the story continues soon at Porto Romano. Stay tuned for the next episode!

CNY is round the corner. To usher in the Year of the Dragon, Neroteca is offering a range of Italian meat delights, with authentic flavors of lamb, pork and beef based cuisines. This is not just another Italian restaurant. Neroteca is a porky Italian restaurant. Cozy, tucked in the middle of KL city and serves pork...this place is already getting brownie points event before we taste the food. And it had quite a selection of wines!The selection of cold cuts was delightful. Nothing overly salty and perfectly cured, every piece was a delightful bite.Steak tartare was my fave for the day as I have yet to find many places that actually serve it. Fear not as the beef is really not all that raw. The other ingredient added into the minced Angus sirloin beef actually "cooks" the meat.Main was a trio of meat. The Porchetta ~ deboned suckling pig stuffed with sausage and capsicum. It was a bit too gamey for my personal liking. This I suspect is a personal preference as I am rather new to pork dishes (having on picked up pork dishes a couple of years ago).Sirloin Tagliata was a beautiful piece of meat. Grilled to perfection, it was nicely charred outside while the centre remained juicy and pink. Perfect! These are the experts at work.The best of the trio would have been the Grilled Lamb Rack. An utterly succulent lamb was bursting juices and melt in your mouth goodness. Some may argue that restaurants should not go wrong with lamb. But seriously, I have met my fair share of terrible grilled lamb. There's a selection of pastas as well but for now I am contented with my meats and beautiful wines. This new year head in for their wine and food pairing to usher in the auspicious year of the Dragon.

At the junction of Jalan Maarof and Jalan Bangsar where the old Gaja used to be is now a no frills Italian restaurant. We hopped in there on 2nd January to celebrate the new year and out of curiosity we wanted to know what there really were.

I didn't know what to drink. I was thirsty and wanted something celebratory yet too crazy since Tuesday was a work day. The manager Shah suggested Sangria. This I have to say is one of the best Sangria that I have had. Its a blended one. Rather potent after a few glasses Appetizer was Mozzarella in Carrozza. Mozzarella and anchovies sandwiched in between bread then deep-fried with tomato salsa. This is one evil appetizer that tells me that I should run more least I end up being missyfatkit rather than missyblurkit. If this had more anchovies for a saltier kick, I would have given it a perfect 10.The Spaghetti alla Pescatora was yummy. Mixed seafood in a spicy tomato base. Very appetizing and I was actually hoping to finish this on my own. Pasta a tad soft but its a small matter since I should have told kitchen that I liked mine al dente. I kinda liked the Ravioli di Pesce. Each ravioli was packed densely with generous salmon and coupled with a creamy salmon sauce, it was a good meal.Pizza Chorizo was worth the wait. Again a thin crust pizza with yummy lamb sausage, grilled peppers, olives, tomatoes, mozzarella and ricotta cheese. Spicy and savoury the way I love my Chorizo pizzas. And it certainly went well with the Sangria that I was having.Left with barely any room for dessert after the carbo loads and sangrias, I need to return real soon!

Nestled in a quiet part of Mont Kiara is Ristretto. Easyparking makes this one of my fave chill out place with hubster when we each will bring our own entertainment while we nibble and enjoy our drinks and of course each other.

Special Cappuccino is unlike many other cappuccinos around, this is an interesting chocolatey cappuccino. The chocolate is intense yet not overwhelming. And the secret lies in the milk. It is chocolate milk!Soy Chai Latte with a subtle blend of spices is one of my faves at Ristretto. It is just right and the soy milk makes it delightfully smooth. A good drink to warm one up during the cold rainy night that we were there.One must try the Mexican Chicken. Richly oozing with cheese and spicy well marinated meat. Its amazing how every mouthful was a mouthful of meat, mash potato and cheese. If you're a pasta lover, Ristretto has quite a few for you to choose from. The Meatball Arrabiata is made with their own homemade chicken meatball. The sauce was a tad salty that night. But that aside, the whole pasta was really quite good.I'm an apple pie child. Here at Ristretto the apple pie is just nicely sweet with a hint of cinnamon. The slightly tangy apples and the to kill for pastry (almost like a buttery crumble) makes this my favourite dessert here. Some may find the apple a wee chunky but this is the way I like my apple pies. Yummy...may I have more pleaseeeee

Let's start 2012 and Openrice Malaysia on an auspicious note. Let us toast with yee sang to good fortune, health and abundance of blessings with the Yee Sang at pork free Zuan Yuan Chinese restaurant at One World Hotel.

Yee Sang or known as Raw Fish Salad is definitely a highlight every CNY. Its healthy and yummy in one big colourful dish. Every ingredient is chosen for a symbolic reason. The following all goes into Zuan Yuan's Yee Sang with Polo Clam and Shredded Sweet Turnip in Truffle Oil. And the best of all we get to play. A whole table of adults (and kids) with our chopsticks lifting the salad mix as high as possible while uttering wishing for a better year. Let's see...
• More good food (haha...what can you say when you have a table of foodies?)
• More good health (this I find it most important)
• More money
• Better cameras
• Bigger house
• Cheaper fuel
• Faster cars (OK... I said this. hehehe)
• More good friends
• And everything awesome and good!And the results of tossing! Pretty delightful fresh yee sang bursting with the sweetness of the tender polo clam. Every bite bore the luxurious earthy flavours of truffle oil. CNY meals always come with fish. And fish must have its head and tail as it symbolises having leftovers of money and an increment in prosperity. I love the lightly spicy Steamed Red Grouper with ‘Medan’ Sauce. Nothing overly spicy but it was a unique flavour for CNY.Wok-Fried Butter Tiger Prawn with Papaya and Milk was a hit that night with its vibrant colour. Prawns in chinese sounds like laughter "haha". Indeed we were all laughing and enjoying this prawn dish that symbolised happiness and laughter. I remember asking my mum in law why did she serve the chicken with its head, ass and feet? She said it was to symbolise togetherness. The Poached Village Chicken with Pickled Radish and Chilli didn't exactly come with the head, ass and feet but it was decorated aptly to represent those parts. A clever play indeed. Chicken was tender and I adored the crisp flavourful pickled radish. Addictively good, I spooned extra pickled radish and ate it on its own.It never fails to amaze me how CNY dinners feature vegetables in delightful flavours that makes eating vegetables easier for many people. Stewed Mixed Vegetable in Bean Curd Parcel with Dried Oyster and Sea Moss was a flavourful dish bursting in flavours. Every mouthful symbolised good news (oysters - hou si), prosperity (sea moss - fatt choy), opportunities (mushroom - donggu), good luck (carrots - apparently its considered red and auspicious) and lots more that I couldn't quite remember what they symbolise for. But most of all, a mixed vegetable dish was to symbolise family harmony.