Pure Pleasure at Bianco
by Elaine Loke and yetmee

What comes to your mind when you think of Italian restaurants here in the Klang Valley? Usually it will be dimmed lightings, with checkered table clothes and a more romantic setting. When it comes to Bianco (meaning "white" in Italian) we would like to think it means "purity in pleasure", read on to find out why.

Bianco is an Italian restaurant, located at the Tropics Shopping Centre, in Damansara Perdana. Imagine a whitewashed charming sea front café from a Mediterranean island nestled amongst the hills of Damansara Perdana. The restaurant is separated into 3 different sections: indoors, the garden (which can house about 20 people), and the platform area outdoors (psst..great for an outdoor event or party) shaded by an electric canopy. During the day, it is bright and sunny but at night it is cool , breezy and romantic without going over the top.

View to Garden (picture courtesy of yetmee)

The platform (picture courtesy of yetmee)

This restaurant is the sister restaurant to the lovely Bianco, (please see article Designer food without Guilt by Denise Chin) part of the chain from Bijoux Holdings. It serves the daily menu of lunch and dinner. They open from 11am till 11.30pm.    Bianco has the same basic principle as Bijou, where all the food is MSG free and homemade, and you get real Kalamata Olives and not just any ol' black olives. They also serve wheat free spaghetti and wholemeal spaghetti. That  principle is easy, healthy, authentic Italian food.

Bianco is also managed by friendly and experienced staff under the experienced eye of Steven, the manager. Steven emphasized that the strength of Bianco and any restaurant should always be the service, quality of food being a given factor. He prides himself in his team's strength in that regard. Personal and aiming to please, he gave examples of customers' appreciation when in one instance the kitchen staff responded to a customer’s food allergy by specifically making food to his requirements. There is also careful attention to details like colorful plastic cutleries for children and their won personal pizza with a smiley face on it on the kids' menu.

Mushroom and Feta Crostini

A must have appetizer, is the Mushroom and Feta Cheese Crostini (RM10). It's actually sautéed mushrooms with herbs, and mixed with feta cheese, just before serving on top of small thin slices of toasted baguette. This is a refreshing change from the usual tomato brushetta. The mushroom is juicy and fresh and loaded with a heavy hand, and surprisingly, goes really well with the feta cheese (which is usually only served with salads and cold).

A signature dish at Bianco's would be the Ravioli Bianco (RM 18), which is minced chicken meat and mushroom stuffed ravioli, topped with tomato sauce, homemade right at Bianco. The ravioli here is bigger, and cooked al dente. Usually, ravioli is served with cream sauce at most Italian restaurants, so trying this dish is a refreshing change. The minced chicken goes very well with the mushroom and tomato sauce, and tasted great with grated parmesan sprinkled on top.

The Chicken Ravioli in Tomato Sauce

Pesto Linguine (picture courtesy of yetmee)

Next, it was the Pesto Linguine (RM18), a very popular dish at Bianco. It is linguini and homemade basil pesto topped with chicken piccata and fresh rocket. The pasta is well mixed with pesto sauce (blended from anchovies, pine nuts, olive oil and basil), served with deep fried chicken breast and topped with fresh rocket salad. It is served warm to accentuate the taste of pesto (Yetmee; a new experience for Bianc's style of pesto linguine, as all the three ingredients should be eaten together to get the unique fusion of taste of warm fried crusty meat, with the almost spicy taste of fresh rocket leaves and the subtle aromas of the pesto sauce.). (Elaine:Now, I'm new to pesto linguini, mixed with the rocket salad, which made me a bit cautious before taking a bite. However, the taste combination was very unique, fresh and delicious, which easily made it my favorite dish of the day).

The Bianco Special

Another one of Bianco's signatures would be Bianco Special Pizza (RM 18). All Bianco's pizzas are thin crust pizza, by the way. Bianco's special is topped with creamed spinach, ricotta cheese and topped with a fried egg. Sounds like a weird combination doesn't it? The way to eat it is to spread the egg across the pizza, with the ricotta cheese. We were also doubtful with the topping, but after our first bite, we couldn't stop! This is the creation of Bianco's owner, and they are rightly very well proud of it, it is also popular with their customers. The taste combination is exceptional, blending the ingredients that go so well together.

The Elvis Presley Dessert Pizza

After all these delicious mains, comes the dessert, starting with the Elvis Presley Pizza. It is well known that Elvis Presley's favorite food was deep fried peanut butter and banana sandwich, hence the name! Topped with soft gooey melting peanut butter, fresh baked banana, chocolate sprinkles and caramelized nuts, it tasted great especially when eaten straight from the oven. (YetMee: absolutely to "die" for especially if you are peanut butter fan like me!!).

A similar pizza is the apple cinnamon pizza. Topped with fresh apples, almost flakes, raisin and cinnamon on a thin crust, one could never ask for another sweeter dessert. It tasted fresh, with the ingredients complimenting each other very well.

A sweet twist would be the Candy Crush. It is home made Italian gelato topped with smashed up crunchy chocolates. Sounds sinful but really a total pure and  guilt free indulgence because the gelato, which is all full of chocolate goodness, is made low-fat!

Everything at Bianco is home made, except for their linguine and spaghetti pasta. They do not include monosodium glutamate (MSG) in their cooking, and do not use chicken or beef stock at all. Everything is made from scratch from the freshest ingredients. Another plus point is that they place the utmost importance in their service, and the staffs must be very alert, and placing the customers as their priority.

They always say that it is the little things that matter and at Bianco, they mean it.

Special Promotion at Bianco

• The Twelve Ringgit Lunch
  A choice of pizza or pasta, with ice lemon tea at just RM 12 nett! Served from Tuesdays to Fridays at 12 to 2 pm.
• Tea Time Special
  Have any of Bianco's home made pastry (cakes & cupcakes!) with coffee/tea at just RM6.
  Bianco also serves house wine and beer