In the few years that he's been in KL, chef Nicola Carradori hasn't stayed still. When we first encountered him, he was the kitchen maestro at Delucca. Earlier this year, we saw him guiding Pavilion's Markethall. And now, he's running "icook," his own restaurant in Petaling Jaya.
Authentic, well-executed Italian dishes can be expected here. The house-made bread, grilled with rosemary & generously topped with sauteed chicken liver, capers & red onions, is a fitting representative of the food _ simple stuff, featuring fresh, robust flavors.
Spaghetti with tuna & olives. Prices should please PJ's crowds _ this spaghetti costs RM18.90+. Produce from the ocean is a cornerstone of icook's menu; other carb-laden choices here include seafood risotto & seafood penne.
Chef Nicola's foremost recommendation might seem surprising: roast chicken. But it's a pleasure _ not amazing, but nearly impossible to criticize. Much like this restaurant, really.
Wine will be available soon, once icook secures a liquor license. For now, there's beer.
All in all, it's a lively place, well worth visiting, with chef Nicola amiably strolling around & chatting with customers. He plans to offer cooking classes by next month, so this place could become quite a gastronomic hot spot soon.
icook Italian Gastronomia,
3 Two Square, Jalan 19/1, Petaling Jaya.
Tel: 03-7960-1691
Closed Sundays.
Simple, good roast chicken. Can't argue with that! (And this is so near where I take my car for servicing... woo-hoo!)
ReplyDeleteKenny: ooo, it's a (small) stone's throw from my Perodua service center too! Though I've avoided that center recently cos of the nasty rothmans junction roadworks. Too bad it'd be impossible for us to carpool to service our cars :D
ReplyDelete3 2 Square does need some fresh air for its F& B!
ReplyDeleteOh, did you know of a dessert place here - called Sinfully Chocolate & Co at Pj 3 Two Square. www.sinfullychocolate.com.my
Carpool to service our cars? Uhm... right.
ReplyDeleteThe Rothmans (former roundabout) crossroads with working traffic lights dah siap di. Was in that area yesterday. So no more fear! :)
rebecca: ya, i haven't been to sinfully chocolate, though they have another branch that's conveniently located at mont kiara. always thought the name is kinda misleading, since they specialize in sandwiches and various cakes, not chocolate, heheh :D
ReplyDeletekenny: i just had a premonition that those traffic lights will break down on the afternoon that i plan to service my car. and i'll be trapped in a crawl that starts all the way from jalan gasing. shudder! :D
Oh this is just belakang my place!
ReplyDeleteqwazymonkey: wow, that's convenient! unfortunately for me, it's a 45-minute drive from the office and a 30-minute drive from home, heh :D
ReplyDeleteMy last Italian meal was 2 months ago! I think is time to have some nice italian food again!
ReplyDeleteCK: ya, you should! I'm a pasta addict! I need to have spaghetti at least once every two weeks! :D
ReplyDeleteoh WOW 3 2 square!! This is like down the road from Wendy's house. We are so making this our new after-work restaurant. Do they open till late on weekdays..? hehe
ReplyDeleteBtw, if jalan universiti is too jam then go round the jaya 33 side. I find that faster sometimes even from Federal highway..=p
Adam
looks like a nice Deli. all the best to the chef!
ReplyDeleteadam: oh, they close at 9.30pm (kinda early, but the square does seem to get dead by then). and thanks for the tip on how to avoid the worst of the jam! pj terrifies me! :D
ReplyDeleteeiling: yeah, the chef seems to be quite happy here. he finally has his own restaurant, heh =)
Oh that's slightly early but I think we can make it! So far we only head there because I like going back to Tram Car...my old faithful place since it's days as Cable Car in Jaya shopping centre lol.
ReplyDeleteWell..when girlfriend stays in SS2 there is no choice but to brave pj jams..! haha =P
adam: gosh, cable car/tram car is one of those places i've always meant to visit (i remember they had an outlet in sunway pyramid too), but never ended up there. heh, the best way to avoid PJ's jams then is to get married, move in together & live far away from PJ. just kidding =)
ReplyDeleteHmm. Jokes aside, your premonition does have a statistically high chance of coming true given my own experience of that area's infamous traffic jams.
ReplyDelete(Seriously it took them this long to realise a quartet of traffic lights might be a more sensible than a winner-takes-all, anything-goes Malaysian-style roundabout? Eeks.)
Kenny: I prefer roundabouts! Cos I'm usually aggressive enough to muscle my way through, while more wimpy drivers dawdle! :D p.s. hurry up and pee! :p
ReplyDeleteooo! I liked delucca actually. so now this place should be cheaper too.. will definitely check it out!
ReplyDeleteciki: oh yeah, i think you've met chef nicola too! though i'm not sure whether you recall him =)
ReplyDeleteYeah .... the panini is good too, had the roast beef and grilled zucchini one. Quite reasonable too, about RM15 or so only. Good ciabatta/foccacia. Though the coffee could have been better.
ReplyDeleteJ2kfm: ya, I figure this place should do pretty well! It seems to be one of the best options for unpretentious Italian food in PJ. The dinner crowd was fairly large for a weekday =)
ReplyDeleteIt was really good at the beginning, I work in 3Two Square so I was quite excited. But as it so often happens it is going to shit already.
ReplyDeleteThe food quality dropped considerably over the past few weeks...the menu was changed and some of the most exciting dishes (i.e. red pesto chicken penne) were removed)...the free bread basket they give used to be crisp, now it's "old" and doughy...the service in busy hours (lunch especially) is crappy, once I sat there for 10 minutes and no one brought even the menu...
It's a real shame, I thought this place had potential, and it was a real breathe of fresh air for this area...but it seems to be going in the wrong direction.
hugo: yikes, am really sorry to hear that. i was really expecting them to get better with time, since they're still trying to strengthen their customer base. let's hope it's just a temporary glitch, and that they'll get back on track very soon...
ReplyDeleteDear Customer,
ReplyDeleteonly to inform you about icook Italian gastronomia is open also in Sunday from 11.30am to 10.00pm.
have a nice day and for who must know, my concept is to give every week new specials and sure always try to make good Italian food.
On March 2012 icook Italian gastronomia open as " culinary studio" and I invite you to email me icookforyou61@gmail.com if you are interest in learn Italian cuisine.
Our food quality is not dropped at all, sure we are not here to say...we are the best, but be sure in icook Italian gastronomia you can really say...Chef Nicola cook for me good Italian food!!!
see you
Chef Nicola owner of icook Italian gastronomia Petaling Jaya