Pizza Uno @ Centrepoint Bandar Utama

When one speaks about Italian food, I gotta admit that I am not as adventurous as most of you! The most expensive Italian meal that I'd ever had was at Villa Danieli of Imperial Sheraton Hotel but that was during my birthday last year. Even if you ask my opinion on Il Padrino or anything that starts with Nero, I'd just scratch my head and gave you all those blank stares :) don't get me wrong, I love Italian food but the truth is I won't purposely go looking for Italian restaurants unless they are really that DAMN good!

However, there is one particular place that holds a special place in my heart - Pizza Uno! But the first time I came to this place was not with Jenn but with my MBA classmates. It was year 2002 and I was still living in Puchong at that time and not very familiar with PJ or BU area. Then I realised that Jenn liked it here too when we went out for movie some time later (we were still normal friends at that time). When we started dating, we would come here whenever there was a craving for Italian food. Both of us simply love the ambience and the dining atmosphere at Pizza Uno. Things got a whole lot easier when I bought a house in Bandar Utama, as it's about 5 min away from our love nest. It's a good thing that we share a lot in common, especially in food...

Red and white wine bottles are placed on a barrel at the entrance.. to let you know that they serve wines in case you are in the mood for one :)

Tables are placed outside to accommodate diners and it is usually packed during dinner time.

There are weekend specials which are not available during normal weekdays. Initially I was planning to have my usual dish but the specials really piqued my curiousity. Therefore I went for their crab meat spaghettini, which is the smaller version of spaghetti. They were very generous on the crab meat but the whole dish was lack of flavour and frankly, quite bland eventhough spiced with lime and chilly.

Jenn opted for Herb-scented chicken with mushroom risotto - chunks of juicy roasted chicken with creamy arborio rice and mushroom. This was very good flavour-wise and the chicken meat was juicy and tender.

A bottle of mineral water for both of us... with a slice of lemon in each glass. Over-priced but they don't serve water so no choice.

Leo's verdict - whenever Jenn & I craved for pasta or pizza, we would normally come here to eat... convenient location and comfortable settings. Not necessary the best place for Italian food, but the quality is OK enough to warrant a visit (by the way, I am not a fussy eater so don't take my word for it... it's solely based on my taste bud). Apart from the dishes I mentioned above, their garlic prawn pasta is to die for and there's one particular dish that I want to mention here - Napoli Pizza, which is the anchovies pizza. Some might think that it's very salty but somehow I love it! The crust is thin, crispy and prepared using wood fire.

Pasta Zanmai @ 1Utama Shopping Centre (Old Wing)

Last minute shopping before the holiday began, and Jenn was feeling hungry after walking for a while. Pregnant woman... always hungry!

We'd come to know about this place for a while now but never step our feet inside. Anyway the outlet is design in such a way that the front half is allocated to sell Japanese products while the other back half is where the restaurant is.

You can observe the chef whipping out the dishes through the transparent glass.

Rather big menu with separate dessert + beverages menu.

The interior looks nice and cosy... with 2 big lamps in the middle of a few round shaped table + sofa.

Jenn is a ig fan of avocado and so when she saw a dish with this ingredient - Kani to Avocado no Gomadare Shitate, or crabmeat & avocado pasta with sesame sauce @ RM26 - she quickly ordered it. The set comes with small salad and miso soup. It will be less RM3 if you opt for pasta only. This dish came in quite a big bowl and boy, the crab meat (not crab stick) looked fresh and big chunk too. The sesame sauce made the difference to the pasta.. its aroma blended with the freshness of crab meat and avocado, made me couldn't stop slurping the spaghetti. The salad is equally nice, veggie was fresh and actual crab meat slices were used with sesame dressing. Guess I'm a sucker for sesame oil and its stuff... lol!!!

Leo's verdict - So far, I was impressed by the quality of the food. Too bad that I was not hungry at that time, and so I didn't get to try their other dishes. I'll make sure that I come back soon...