Humbly hidden on one of Plaza Damas' least-traveled corners, Bistro Fiore deserves to draw devoted disciples of Italian comfort cooking or Japanese soul sustenance _ or better still, both.
Patrons can make pilgrimages here for lunch and dinner, but the afternoons are exclusively blessed with a divine deal: set meals that cost slightly north of RM20+, kicking off with crisp salads, pure and simple with vinaigrette dressing.
Come fry with me: snatch a seat at the counter and watch the cooks toil in saintly silence with their pots and pans in Bistro Fiore's open kitchen, plating bite-sized cuts of chicken with potatoes and peppers to whet customers' appetites.
The starters don't stop: soups that runneth over with spoonfuls of mushrooms and veggies.
Each set features one main course: the mentaiko pasta is the most miraculous we've had in many moons. Deeper within, there's sufficient roe to smother every strand of this spaghetti with a precious lusciousness. Like manna from the sky.
Everything else might be less heavenly but remains worth worshiping, like the thick-crust pizza, its tangy tomato base creamily topped with a holy trinity of poached egg, tuna and cheese. Enough for two to share; the calories in this seem too much of a cross for one person to bear.
Squid-ink risotto, a shrine for seafood but a surefire spark for carb comas.
Bistro Fiore is a pork-positive restaurant; temptation of Biblical proportions lies in the chunky belly curry, savory but not spicy, so satisfying with the soft, omelet-enshrouded rice.
Luckily, we can spell 'steal': these sets come with coffee or tea, hot or cold. Complimentary crusty bread is thrown in too to complete the culinary communion, but changing water into wine requires RM20+ per glass.
Forgot to confirm whether sets are served on weekends, but let's hope some Good Samaritan will check for us. Note that Bistro Fiore is closed Mondays; if the counter level is full, customers can find salvation in more seating upstairs.
Bistro Fiore,
H-0-11, Plaza Damas, Jalan Sri Hartamas, Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: 03-6211-481