Un Tavolo Per Tre

When I woke up on Saturday, the sky was blue and the bees were buzzing. After much difficulty, Lem managed to drag herself out of bed and we made our way to Galleria. I finally got to eat my Red Rooster. I was so peeved that they didn't have the hawaiian pack. I like having the banana and pineapple fritters to balance the salty chicken and chips. So after all that anticipation, I was let down by the whole experience. Still, I am going to bring 2 whole chickens back to KL and eat it with goreng pisang! Whilst browsing the shops, we were drawn to the loud music coming from the other end of the mall. Turns out Shannon Noll, the runner-up to Oz Idol, was performing and promoting his new album! Exciting stuff eh. Yeah he is no Kylie...

I've been looking forward to dinner at Rialto's in Subiaco. It used to be called Alto's and the food was truly superb! Fine, subtle and unassuming. Now, it has been gutted, expanded and completely revamped. Crushed red velvet walls, indigo and pink mood lighting,...I always feel dubious about restaurants with trendy interiors. More often than not, the food never taste as good as it looks. It was completely packed so that was reassuring at least. The maitre d, or maybe he was the assistant manager, was tanned and greasy, as seems to be the prerequisite for all Italian restaurants. 'owever, I suspect 'e is French because 'e is so 'unky and dropping 'is 'h's. Whatever, Steven Seagal called and he wants his look back!

I decided to start with the warm goats cheese with fig compote (above). It was very nicely done. Very good quality goats cheese served with thin slices of toasted foccacia with caramelised pieces of figs. So cheesy and salty! Its a large portion for one. I only managed to eat half and flogged the rest to my friends. Koala loved the stuff! After that, we had to wait an hour for the next course. By which time we were no longer hungry! Steve (Seagal) tried to be all charming but we weren't having any of it. Finally my blue manna crab angel hair pasta with chilli and tomatoes (right) arrived. The presentation was not much to look at but the taste... Wow! This is what good pasta is. It gets tastier with each bite. The crab was plump and sweet. The sauce was not overpowering that you couldn't taste the crab anymore. I finished it eventhough my jeans were bursting at the seams! Koala's red emperor was disappointing. The fillet was overseasoned and to me, thats a sign that the fish is not fresh. Lem's pangrilled duck was very tasty.

Feeling dissatisfied with her meal, Koala insisted we share dessert eventhough we were all really full. Well, there is always room for dessert! We ordered the profiteroles with chocolate sauce (left). Look at the picture and tell me it does not look deeevine! It really hit the spot. Koala scooped up every single bit of the sauce. She even contemplated licking the plate, in manner of Nigella of course not dog, but we decided that Steve might think we were 'itting on 'im.