Tucked in the many restaurants at Solaris is this little restaurant called Providore (across the road from Cold Storage) that specializes in Melbournean food, which basically means Mediterranean and Italian fare.This restaurant  has quite a following for its  sandwiches .It is not a halal restaurant as many of its specialties are pork based. Friends have been telling me about this quaint cafe / restaurant way before I had heard about Solaris. Owned by two brothers, James and Luke Ding , who craved for good ‘ol hearty Melbournean fare when they came back to Malaysia after spending much of their childhood and early adulthood in Melbourne. They decided that they would embark on this restaurant project to fill a void for people who crave for good hearty  food “just like the way they make it in Melbourne” like they did.

The decor is simple enough with rustic wooden tables and cement flooring. It is designed to give  a lighthearted atmosphere for eating without fuss where the only scintillation should be on the taste buds. Like most restaurants, they have run into their own teething problems of runaway chefs, bad service stuff and bad press ,  yadda yadda  , but Providore is here to stay and they are making tremendous quality efforts to ensure that their regulars get their  cravings satisfied.

San Pellegrino – Limonata (Sparkling beverage with fruit juice concentrate)

So what’s good here? Well, their lamb ragu and tomato sauce with malfalde, one of many types of pasta served there. I must say, not being much of a lamb lover, I was completely thrown off by the juicy and succulent lamb , which was just nice and not too lamb-my. It is a full bodied tomato sauce without being overwhelming bland or tomato paste like. The San Pellegrino limonata sparkling juice is a delightful and quite delicious  accompaniment to the meal.

Lamb malfalde

Next ,we had Caesar Salad, the dressing is tangy and nice as they add in  vinegar to the dressing. It is very palatable with a generous serving of bacon and anchovies and tastes .

Caesar Salad with pork bacon

Their carbonara rigatoni is also a delight. I also took some risks as I generally do not order   carbonaras when dining Italian as I  find that a little goes a long way too quickly. But interestingly enough because the sauce was not laden with cream but rather a fine mixture of egg and cheese,  it was yummy and not the least bit “jelak” especially with the fried bacon strips mixed in.

Carbonara Rigatoni with bacon

Grilled pork loin with  tuscan cabbage and rosemary potatoes

Grilled pork loin with tuscan cabbage and baked rosemary  potatoes

The baked crisp top potatoes with rosemary and the pork loin is  a meat lover’ s plate of  haven .   The sauce is  light and brings out the subtle flavors of both potatoes and meat nicely.

Apple Strudel with two dollops of ice cream

Now these  imported homemade apple and cherry strudel,  favorites among patrons , are really to die for. James and brother, order these frozen from an Italian lady who hand makes the strudels and usually once they are sold out ,may take a couple of months until the next batch comes in. Baked in the oven with crispy , flaky crusts and combined with soft runny apple or cherry sauce and chilled just slightly by the melting vanilla  ice cream , it is definitely  mamma mia! Best served  with coffee and at Providore only the best and a personal favorite of James’ will do . Genovese and dark roast is the only way where coffee is concerned by this purveyor fine foods. But there is a selection of light and medium roast for those who prefer their coffee lighter. Wine is also served here.

Cherry Strudel oozing out of its crispy crust with two dollops of ice cream

James Ding working hard at making our coffee

Genovese Coffee Beans

Espresso

Latte

Opened daily for lunch and dinner, call 03-6203 6870 or 017-2082323 for reservations.

Address : 13A, Jalan Solaris,5, Solaris Mont Kiara

email: james@passionfoods.net

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