When my girl got back to town last Friday, I heard that she went to the franchise pizza place and was so disappointed with the seafood lasagna that she used to love a lot. They had a choice between beef and seafood before but eventually, they did away with the former which my girl actually preferred to the latter. I do know that owing to the poor quality control, there may be differences between outlets. She always complained about one in Sungai Petani and even here, she would prefer the one in the town centre after having had a few let-downs at the other outlet on the far side of Sibu.
Well, she went to the better of the two that day and she grumbled that they seemed to scrimp on the ingredients on the seafood lasagna now and instead of the tiny shrimps and whatever else, the one that she had that day had those imitation crab sticks instead. Between the two of them, she and her colleague, the bill came up to some RM60.00 plus…and with the 10% service charge plus 6% government tax, the total came up to around RM70.00!!!
Anyway, to make up for it, I decided to bring her here…
…for lunch the next day – Saturday.
We did not want any steaks…
– I thought that would be a bit too heavy for lunch and I, for one, would like to try something new instead of stuff that we had had before, nice though they might be. In the end, we ordered one Pizza Bracio di Ferro (RM29.00)…
…and yes, it was very nice. I don’t recall ever having any pizzas with egg on it like this…
…and I love eggs…and ham so to me, this one was a winner!
I had seen a photo of their new pasta dish with squid ink and it turned out to be their Pasta All’Nero (RM28.00)…
I was quite hesitant in ordering that as I had seen people sharing disgusting photographs of their black teeth after eating that and normally, when we buy squid, we would rinse and rinse to get rid of all the ink. However, my girl said she had seen and heard a lot of this squid ink stuff but she had never got to try – that was why, in the end, I relented and ordered it…
It was quite bland – not much taste at all which probably was a blessing in disguise as somebody said on Facebook that he tried it once somewhere and did not like the smell nor the taste. This one that we had was all right, just that it did not have the wow factor and to me, it was not something I would be in a hurry to go back for more.
I cannot remember for sure if we had this before or not – their Pasta Tomato Amatriciana (RM19.00)…
…which wasn’t too bad by us and anytime better than the one with the squid ink.
I’m not really a fan of tomato-based sauces for my pasta dishes…
…but my girl loves it more than the rich and creamy carbonara ones. Anyway, there was bacon in this one and without fail, anything with bacon will get my double thumbs up.
The bill came up to RM76.00, a bit more than the previous day’s lunch for two and this time around, there were three of us and without a doubt, my girl enjoyed what we had here a whole lot more. I do hope they will add some lasagna selections to their menu one of these days and rest assured that we certainly would be making a beeline back to the place to give theirs a try!
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
This place looks so nice! I like the ambience! And, it’s Italian food somemore! I fell in love with Italian food since coming back from the Italian cruise, Costa, at this time of last year. The pizza looks good. Maybe I should have one this weekend but definitely not Pizza H@t. 😛
Nice place, ambiance ok…depending on the music they play. Did not like what they were playing that day – there is just that much Taylor Swift one can stand. The whole album(s) proved to be a bit too much for me. 😦 Ya, I just cannot understand why people want to go to that franchise place – food is at best, just so-so and it is not at all cheap. Been years since I last dropped by.
Even though I am not a strong lover of Italian food, I do enjoy carbonara…perhaps once a year. The pizza looks really good! I make my own spaghettini from time to time, but I don’t use meat. I have problems (usually) with red meat, as I have had gout so I steer clear of beef. But when I make spaghettini, I put tomato sauce, onions, garlic and red peppers…and sometimes I will add a little cream cheese. It is quite good! 🙂
I get gout attacks if I drink beer so I’m off the stuff for good…and I would not touch liquor either.
The pizza looks super yummylicious! Yep same here, never seen any pizza with egg in the middle..Like you too, I don’t fancy tomato sauce base for pasta.. I prefer white creamy cheesy fatty pasta, yummzzz…
Ahhhhhh!!!! I see we do share the same likes…sometimes. 😉
I would not want to eat the new pasta dish. Black is in trend for everything, first is black burger bun and now is pizza, what is next??? Pizza looks good though the crust is a bit thick.
Not really thick…very nice and crusty and fragrant – certainly not like that one I had at the Bosnian-Italian place in Kuching. The crust was HARD!!! So painful to eat! Generally, not nice there plus more expensive some more – will never ever bother to go there again. I think you have that impression as usually they would fold (fold in/up, not roll) in the sides, probably to hold all the ingredients in the pizza so it looks like it is thick when, in fact, it is not so, not at all.
Squid ink pasta has been around for a long time, although it is a recent thing in Malaysia.I remember it was already available in Italian restaurants when I was a uni student in oz many years ago. Not that I actually tried it, as I was less adventurous in eating then. I did have a go at it when I was back in oz recently and I have to say, it was quite nice, with a slight “fishy” taste.
That was exactly what I was expecting – the “chow chor” seafood smell/taste as in oysters and the like but this that we had that day had nothing of that. Maybe my tastebuds are already as old as me, not so sensitive anymore…but I could not taste anything out of the ordinary in what we had and at that price, I would much sooner go for something else – another pizza perhaps. Ah well, at least, we’ve tried…
Food looks really good, why don’t you order porterhouse steak! ahhh…. ask them to open a branch here! LOL
I would prefer such heavy meat dishes for dinner…
Opps!!… It is black pasta and not pizza.
Never mind which – I’ve tried, will not bother to order again.
Amatriciana.. I wonder what that means, a region or a cooking style. I have never seen this word before, Amalfitano then yes..
Search me! It’s Greek to me…but I got this from Wiki – never too late to learn…in my case, that is, of course! 😉
Sugo all’amatriciana (Italian pronunciation: [amatriˈtʃaːna]) or alla matriciana (in Romanesco dialect) is a traditional Italian pasta sauce based on guanciale (cured pork cheek), pecorino cheese, and tomato. Originating from the town of Amatrice (in the mountainous Province of Rieti of Lazio region), the Amatriciana is one of the most well-known pasta sauces in Roman and Italian cuisine.
Nothing to do with that French footballer, obviously. Hehehehehe!!!!
The pizza tempts me, hehe…
No problem getting great ones where you are. These guys actually worked in Singapore for sometime before they came back to open this place here.
ooo, italian food is among my top three favourites, so i like all the pics in this post. the pizza looks nice, with a vegetable/herb-sauce twist … and i like the creamy looks for the pasta. yeah, squid ink doesn’t carry a very obvious taste (just like how some people find squid bland as well), though it can be kinda ocean-y 🙂
Exactly! I found it bland and yes, I do think squid is bland too. I actually expected that ocean-y taste and smell, typical fishy quality of seafood but I was disappointed. It would be so nice if it were something like the gooey orange stuff in the heads of udang galah…even though black. I would love that! Yummmmm!!!!!
Bacon and egg pizza!! That looks surreal! And the egg looks moist enough. I can almost taste it! Soon Sibu… soon…
When? Aren’t you going to be tied down with your baby very soon? 😉
That pizza looks very attractive and I am sure very delicious too! I don’t think I want to try squid ink pasta. The black colour is not appealing at all. I also don’t like tomato based pastas as the tomato taste is too strong for me.
Ahhhhh…we’re one of a kind.
Hey…I would say the food here looks nice!
Pizza look yummy too. BTW..what’s the green thing around the pizza?
On Facebook page, they say, “Our daily fresh handmade pizza baked with creamy spinach base, mozzarella, parmesan, mascarpone, cheddar, smoky turkey ham and topped with sunshine egg,” so it’s spinach then.
so so so…mouth watering.!
the squid black liquid can be flavourful in its way. especially famous for spanish black squid paella.
Never tried, no Spanish joint here. Lucky thing we have one Italian and thankfully, a very nice one at that. Count our blessings! 😀
black squid ink pasta :D.. it has that certain taste to it. Not too fishy though, more to the savoury, oily side of things. Not a big fan, but I dont mind having one 😀
Maybe my old taste buds aren’t all that sensitive anymore – couldn’t detect any distinct taste in what I had that day.
You have a table near window? I know this place quite dim even though day time. Nice pic.
Pizza with egg? Wow, something new!
Yes, right beside the window but the blind was down. Would be nicer if they had pulled it up. Nice, can try the next time you come back.
I’ve only seen pizzas with eggs on it in Australia!
It’s a very Aussie thing to do, but the eggs are baked together in the wood fired oven.
Squid ink pasta looks nice, I wonder if the seafood vendors here sell the ink sacs?
Not sure about the one here but it was nice. Anyhow, I love eggs, any kind in any form…so maybe you can’t take my word for it. Hehehehehe!!!!
Likewise, so I’ll take your word for it! 🙂
I love eggs too – any type of eggs cooked any way! Haha!
We can check this place out when you come back – you have not been to this one. The food’s great.
That pizza and pasta is quite unique!
That black ink reminds me of a squid stew in the Philippines that uses ink as well
Very nice…except the one with squid ink. 😦