Porto Romano, The Intermark: Melting Port of Mediterranean Cuisine

Intermingling the cuisine of Albanian, Italian and Mediterranean cuisine, Porto Romano reigns into a luscious melting pot of rustic and bona fide dishes to please even the finicky food connoisseurs!

The latest addition to the Porto Romano restaurant group is located at The Intermark, Kuala Lumpur. Ristorante Porto Romano is the brainchild of Eddie and Sonila Wong, a dynamic husband and wife team who dreams of showcasing some of the best dishes from the Mediterranean shores.

The restaurant is already famous in the city since a few years ago and is still proudly sharing a plethora of scrumptious dishes today. The whole ambience is decorated with combination of a classic theme of light and dark furniture with a wall showcasing memorabilia of classic movies from the past! There is a gorgeous marble bar that featured a lovely range of wines and decked with state-of-the-art coffee machine. Private dining rooms are also available at this outlet for private functions. I spied an open concept kitchen discreet tucked in the corner of the restaurant.

My first visit and I am already an ardent fan of Ristorante Porto Romano! The menu has a long list of rustic and authentic dishes from antipasti, soups, pizzas, pastas and mains to desserts and coffees. Food connoisseurs are assured of quality for the price and Porto Romano features nothing but the best of Mediterranean dishes one can find here in the heart of the city. There is just a simple rustic and authentic emotion injected into all the dishes I tried and the flavors are well balanced while the execution is near perfection of each dish! I spied so many other dishes that I would have to come back for like Stuffed Mussels, Beef Carpaccio, Ravioli with Lobster Meat, Paella and Crema Catalana.

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Breezy Cocktails for Sultry Nights

Porto s Wallace Bay
Stroll into Porto Romano for a light fruity cocktail named Wallace Bay made perfect for those steamy Malaysian evenings. Monikered by PortoRomano’ Romano’s proprietor, Eddie Wong, after a unique island in Sabah which belongs both to Malaysia and Indonesia, the Wallace Bay is a sweet quencher – evoking a splendid refreshing breeze, like its name, ideal for those warm-ish evenings.

30 ml Scotch Whisky
30 ml Pimms
15 ml Limau Kasturi (Kaffir Lime)

Place mixture into cocktail shaker, add ice, shake, strain into a martini glass. Enjoy it on your balcony.

Porto Romano’s Sandokan

Inspired by an Malaysian pirate character in an Italian TV series, this cultured version of grog is created for landlubbers who want to do yo ho ho and a bottle of rum with a hint of citrus but minus the scallywags.

30 ml white rum
30 ml limoncello ( an Italian lemon liqueur)
1 Tbs lemon juice
6 pcs mint leaves

Place into cocktail shaker, add ice, shake it like a swashbuckler until the mint leaves are totally crushed, and strain into a martini glass. Growl arrrr….and have a swish.

Ristorante Porto Romano @ The Intermark, KL

We were delighted when we heard that we were invited to Ristorante Porto Romano for a food review. This melting port of Mediterranean cuisine restaurant, Porto Romano, isn’t new to us.

We first had Porto Romano many years back when it was still located at City Square, Kuala Lumpur and it was a good experience. Then it was relocated to The AmpWalk along Jalan Ampang due to the redevelopment of City Square. And now, Porto Romano has moved back to The Intermark / DoubleTree (formerly known as City Square) after spending two years at AmpWalk.

This new resto-lounge outlet at The Intermark is the recent addition to the Porto Romano family. The other outlets are in Mont Kiara and Taman Tun Dr Ismail. Verdict: Porto Romano is a bit on the pricey side but some of the dishes are pretty good. Their risottos, pizzas and pastas are our favorites.

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Porto Romano @ Mon’t Kiara

“Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are.”

Hmmm…I don’t know about that. I eat almost everything and anything. On most weekday lunches when my lunches comprise steamed broccoli, cauliflower and kai lan, I’m a cow. Dinners are slightly more adventurous for me, but Italian cuisine seems to be my favourite; especially after a rough day.

Going to KL for Italian food is a nightmare on a weeknight. Porto Romano in Mon’t Kiara is less stressful and prices are friendly on my wallet. A plus point about this Mont Kiara outlet is that the place is quiet enough to have a decent conversation.

rif and I shared the Porto Romano Salad (RM20), a colourful creation arranged in a large seashell. The vegetables were crisp and lightly accented by the tangy dressing. We enjoyed the mussels, squid rings and prawns; all fresh and succulent.

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Porto Romano @ TTDI

It was a bitter-sweet day on Friday. Sweet because it was bonus day at hubby’s work place. Bitter coz he had to leave early morning to Manila. Even more bitter coz I had to wake up at 6.30 a.m to send him off to Sentral, ok I kid.

So continuing our ‘bonus tradition’, he asked me to pick a place to eat coz dinner was on him. Free meal, woot. I like.

It was a close call between MichelAngelo @ Solaris and Porto Romano @ TTDI with the latter winning thanks to many good food blog reviews.

Plus it was cheaper too (I’m that thoughtful)

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Porto Romano Taman Tun TTDI Italian Food

Fancy for more Italian food?

Try out Porto Romano in Taman Tun Dr. Ismail.

The restaurant serves Italian-Mediterranean cuisine.

Very good service and a cozy ambiance.

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Porto Romano @ Mont Kiara

Passed by this particular Porto Romano outlet at Mont Kiara many times while heading to Solaris. And since we are to look for place to eat around this neighbourhood, suggested this Italian Mediterranean restaurant to Cass. After this dinner, I was recommending this place to few other friends, and found that this restaurant seemed to be missed, probably over-shined by its neighbour, Wendy’s.

The traffic was rather smooth, and we managed to be on time, at 7pm for dinner. Having 2 floors seating, I opted to sit upstairs. Though the lower floor seemed pleasing to me, the upper floor was even better. Cosy, romantic ambiance and spacious enough. The business was really good as the restaurant got filled up in next hour or so, and saw quite a fair share of Korean and Japanese (as Mont Kiara is one of THE area for expats).

Overall, the dinner was reasonably priced, yet with high quality and good tasting food served. Will definitely have more dinners here in days to come.

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Porto Romano @ Mon’t Kiara

About twelve hours earlier, a very much Chinese family was sailing on an armada, a culinary one, to be exact. The word armada itself was inspired by the restaurant’s logo. I still can’t decipher the existence of the dolphin in that logo though.

We had a good time going through the Mediterranean-based menu and joked about the names of some of the dishes. It was really fun.

We loved Porto Romano and had already planned for another family’s birthday here. Well, that’s just an excuse to try the lambshank!

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Porto Romano

Simple but nice place to have Mediterranean food in the Taman Tun Dr Ismail, KL area

Porto Romano is set in an unassuming corner shop lot in Taman Tun Dr Ismail.

(It’s in the middle of the block of shop lots near Canadian Pizza/ behind La Manila. Need another landmark?: The Shell Station is nearby too)

Here, the ambience is simple, comfortable and classy – basically, a nice place to have a nice dinner that’s not too formal

A peek inside Porto Romano

That day, we were having an early dinner so we skipped the starters and jumped straight to the mains… They claim to have the “best lamb shank in town” so of course being lamb lovers, we just HAD to try it out:

Overall, I enjoyed the food there and look forward to revisiting it to sample their other specialties

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