PETALING JAYA, May 17 – Who says pasta has to be served hot?
When the weather is already sweltering, cold noodles will often hit the spot better. Which is why the Chilled Capellini at San Lou Pasta Bar in PJ feels like the right dish at the right time.
And the right place too, if you love pasta.
San Lou Pasta Bar is run by 32-year-old Stephen Swee, who had formerly worked at Basilico, an Italian restaurant in Singapore.
But why the “San Lou Pasta Bar” though? The small restaurant is located on the third floor of Infinity Tower in PJ, hence its name.
The small restaurant is located on the third floor of Infinity Tower in PJ, hence its name. — Picture by CK Lim
Swee’s expertise lies in pastas; the aforementioned Chilled Capellini is served with pan-seared seafood (prawns, scallops and squid) and dressed in a zesty Thai sauce rather than something more cream or tomato based.
Despite his Italian cuisine training, Swee fully intends to embrace his Asian roots, hence the pasta bar styles its menu as offering a more Italian-Asian fusion cuisine than something strictly Italian.
This offers the Mentakab-born chef plenty of room to play with, as evidenced by our pair of antipasti.
The Naughty Eggplant Parmigiana seems 100 per cent Italian – the eggplant is rolled with sweet basil and Grana Padano, and served with homemade marinara sauce and Pecorino.
Naughty Eggplant Parmigiana (left) and 8 Spices School Prawns (right). — Pictures by CK Lim
But instead of normal breadcrumbs, Swee uses the far finer Japanese panko which gives these luscious eggplant-and-cheese balls a lighter coating, more crisp than crunch, shall we say.
Our second antipasto, the 8 Spices School Prawns, is more straightforward. Here sakura ebi (or Japanese pink shrimp) are deep fried before being dusted with some of Swee’s “magic seasoning”. Whatever spices he’s using, the results are addictive.
Gratinée Amatriciana. — Picture by CK Lim
In addition to the Chilled Capellini, we also ordered the Gratinée Amatriciana (orecchiette with smoked pancetta braised in red with wine and homemade tomato sauce, finished with a cheese gratin), Truffle Mushroom Risotto and Tuscan Pork Jowl (bucatini tossed with pork jowl and grated 24-month Grana Padano cheese).
Everything was superb. I have mentioned it before but it’s worth repeating: Swee’s expertise lies in pastas so these are a “can’t miss”.
Truffle Mushroom Risotto (left) and Tuscan Pork Jowl (right). — Pictures by CK Lim
Which makes the dessert selection seem almost perfunctory by comparison.
Our orders of Lemon Yuzu Tart and Tiramisu (with a pipette of vodka so we can determine how boozy we’d like our dessert to be) were fine but it’s the pastas that we were thinking of long after we paid and left.
Lemon Yuzu Tart (left) and Tiramisu (right). — Pictures by CK Lim
Truth be told, we were already discussing what to try the next time we dropped by – the Kambing Stew Rigatoni or the Homemade Egg Tagliatelle with Chilli Crab. Maybe both?
San Lou Pasta BarNo. 3-3, Infinity Tower, Jalan SS 6/3A, PJOpen Wed-Fri 5-10pm; Sat-Sun 11:30am-2:30pm & 5-10pm; Mon-Tue closedPhone: 011-1092 0938IG: https://www.instagram.com/sanlou_pastabar/
* This is an independent review where the writer paid for the meal.* Follow us on Instagram @eatdrinkmm for more food gems.
