Discovering Authentic Italian at VIA.PRE

It has never come across our mind that we're having authentic Italian food in Penang. The meaning of 'Authentic Italian' to Attila is non-Halal Pizza and it must have the taste as similar as the one that he has ever tasted in Europe. We're now having another authentic Italian restaurant in Penang that is called VIA.PRE and it's located at Weld Quay, diagonally opposite QEII. The restaurant is somehow hard to be discovered as it's hidden behind the white pillars without any signboard. Thanks to Chef Tommes that has shared the information about this place to us. VIA.PRE is a restaurant and it's a deli. There's a wide selection of Salami or cheese that you can buy from here. Every single piece of meat, bread or cheese is freshly prepared or baked whereby their motto is to eliminate from using processed, MSG or flavoured ingredients in the menu. Upcoming plans are to have a longue and a grill here, stay tune! 

Starting of our meal, we're served with a small basket of bread that consists of Baguette and buns that is served together with mixture of olive oil and vinegar. Attila and I like the Paprika bun for its special taste.

Browsing through the menu, I've decided to try the Aglio & Olio Tutto Mare. It's a seafood spaghetti that is cooked with chili, garlic and olive oil. Here inside the spaghetti are the fresh seafood such as clams, squids, scallops and prawns. The seafood is definitely fresh for its juiciness and tenderness. One of the specialty in the pasta is the Bottarga. Look to the grated orangish garnishing on top of the spaghetti! As explained by the friendly owner in his Italian slang, Bottarga is the tuna egg that has been compressed and processed before being grated as a decoration onto the pasta. It's authentically imported from Italy. Bottarga tastes a little alike the salted egg yolk, not too salty yet it has mild sweetness at the end of the tongue.

Attila has chosen to take the Alto Italia Pizza whereby it consists of pormodoro or simply to be known as tomato, the mixture of cheese such as fontina, asiago and gorgonzola and lastly the speck or the pork bacon. I've totally no clues about the various types of cheese yet this thin layer is a perfect combination of taste. The saltiness of the Pizza is enhanced by the pork bacon and the added pork Salami. Attila has been so satisfied with the delicious Pizza but it appears to be a little too salty for me.
Ending our Italian meal with Come Viene Viene (a fantasia dello Chef), chef's composition of dessert that is created on its imgination. I can't spell out every single name of the dessert in this platter but there's a Cinnamon Apple Pie with Vanilla Sauce, a Panna Cotta or the cooked cream with strawberry sauce, an Amarena Cherry that is coated with chocolate and nuts, a chocolate ball, a piece of cookies and a puff. The dessert platter is not really impressed me but I'm hoping to try out on my next visit, if they've Tiramisu here.

It's a great news for Attila to know about the authentic Italian restaurant that can fulfill his appetite in Penang. He's thinking... if he'll further extend his contract in Malaysia.

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