Here's the concluding chapter in our Giovino trilogy.
Grilled baby octopus. Awesomely addictive; made us wish we lived near the ocean.
Dolmades (parcels of long-grain rice, seasoned with herbs and rolled with grape leaves). Light enough to please people who relish rice but prefer not to gorge on it. A subtly flavoured variation of the Middle Eastern warak ainab, which tastes more pickled.
Lentil soup. A comfortingly thick, hot and healthy broth _ bursting with lots of lentils _ that truly hits the spot for a rainy night.
Wild boar cooked in red wine, served with mashed potatoes. Nicely prepared; the tender meat carried none of the gaminess often associated with wild boar.
Moussaka. We've never been fans of moussaka, but this changed all that. Hands-down, the best moussaka we've ever tried, thanks to the extraordinarily comfort-foodish mix of melt-in-the-mouth eggplant, soft sliced potatoes and succulent minced lamb, layered together and baked in a Bechamel sauce that wasn't sour or cloying like most other versions.
Bifteki. This looked like steak, but it was actually fork-tender minced beef stuffed with emmenthal cheese and bacon. A deliciously unique delight; if we had to recommend only one dish here, we'd be hard-pressed to choose between this and the moussaka.
Chianti Classico Castello di Quercetto 2007 (Toscana).
Giovino,
Changkat Bukit Bintang.
