KEN HUNTS FOOD: Pasta Zanmai @ Gurney Paragon Mall, Penang.

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Pasta Zanmai @ Gurney Paragon Mall, Penang.

Ever since the opening of Gurney Paragon Mall, long queues of crowds have always been spotted, especially during the weekends; Sushi Zanmai being the outlet with the longest queue followed by Rakuzen and Pasta Zanmai. Intrigued by the Japanese-Western twist, I was rather excited to pay this place a visit, well, I am also a huge fan of Pasta dishes. Pasta Zanmai is located strategically beside Rakuzen and Sushi Zanmai, at level 6 of Gurney Paragon Mall. Do try head to there earlier, ideally as soon as 11am to avoid the queue. Most dishes were just okay-average but I will definitely back for more, for novelty than absolute taste that is.

The only dish that impressed me on that day was this Oyster Shooter/ Hiroshima Oyster with Ponzu Sauce (Rm 12). The succulent and freshly shucked Oysters were very delectable, the seafood-sweetness can be clearly tasted, together with the crunchy Kombu (Japanese Seaweed) soaked in Ponzu sauce, which made of Japanese Shoyu, Mirin, Japanese Vinegar, Lemon Juice and a touch of grated Ginger. This is a must try dish that every seafood lover should not miss! Try it to believe.

There are quite a lot of dishes that I would love to try out and finally, I've decided to go with this Large-Sirloin Steak Spicy Pasta (Small- Rm 16, Large- Rm26). The Spaghetti was cooked perfectly to my liking- al dente but it lacked of the kick; and I actually caught in a whiff of Buttery aroma when the waitress served this dish to us. The Spaghetti was stir fried together with some Shimeiji and Shitake Mushrooms, Butter and Garlic, with a pinch of Chili Flakes but they weren't sufficient, it was too mild for me. On the other hand, the slab of Sirloin Steak was a standard satisfactory either as it was slightly over-cooked to my liking; probably medium-well.

Mini Seafood Tomato Sauce Pasta & Grilled Chicken Omelette Garlic Rice (Rm 26) comes in a set, this set fits those with bigger appetites. The Pasta comes in smaller portion but it wouldn't be small at all, for the Garlic Fried Rice. The Mini Seafood Tomato Sauce Pasta comes with some Clams and Greens, the Spaghetti was cooked al-dente but the the dish was slightly under-seasoned in my opinion. It doesn't possess any uniqueness as though the "X" factor was missing. The recipe needs some fine tuning though.....

The Grilled Chicken Omelette Garlic Rice which comes along with the set was huge in portion. The Fried Garlic Rice was covered with an Omelette, topped with Grilled Chicken and drizzled with Japanese Yakitori sauce. The rice was moist but it does not possess the standard "Wok Hei" if you must know. The Grilled Chicken was okay-average and nothing to shout over. Overall, it was a standard-average dish to me.

We had a pot of warm Ocha/ Japanese Green Tea for Rm 3, same price goes to cold Ocha as well. Not that thick and intense the way I like, rather diluted.