Tucked away in the tourist belt of Batu Ferringhi, Penang stands Mario Ristorante. It is known for its Italian cuisine with a wine list to suit many palates and dining comfort. Although it has been established a number of years, not many Penangites have yet to discover this lovely place.

Located on the same row as Bella Italia and The Eclectic while standing directly opposite Rasa Sayang Hotel, Mario's naturally draws in the tourists crowd.

This was our first visit to Mario's and we had Michael joining us for the dinner. There are indoor and sidewalk sittings. We sat indoor as the weather was a bit warm. The interior design is extremely cozy with warm colors, giving this place a very Italian-nish flair.

A glance at the menu shows the usual array of pasta and pizzas. We picked our orders and in no time our very first dish arrived. The Bruschetta - topped with a mixture of chopped tomatoes, basil, olive oil, garlic and sprinkle with black pepper. An order comes in two pieces and we had a twin order to share among us.

This restaurant has an open kitchen that gives us the opportunity to watch the food being made and cooked in the woodfire brick oven.

Appetizer made up of the Veggie Wonder. It is an array of sauteed mushrooms, green and red pepper chili, eggplant, carrots and zucchini. Topped with olive oil and cubes of fetta cheese, it tasted superb with a zest of lemon.

For starters, we had the Clam Chowder soup served in a homemade sour dough bread bowl. This creamy soup comes with the right thickness. The bread bowl can even be eaten too! There are not many places where you can have a dig of the bowl after you are done with the soup. This soup is a must try!

On the menu was the sizzling Fajitas with a choice of beef or chicken. We opt for the succulent beef which is marinated and cooked in their own special sauce with strips of green and red pepper and onions. It is serve sizzling hot. The order came with three pieces of warmed fresh tortillas.

We had an additional order for the tortilla. This freshly made tortillas are much different in texture and taste from those available in other franchise restaurant. Beef pieces and tomatoes are laid on the tortilla spread with the sour cream and guacamole. Shredded cheese are sprinkled on top before it is roll up. This is indeed a very flavorful dish.

Nice snippets of the surroundings...

Hubby stood beside the open kitchen and watched the chef prepare the pizzas. There are many varieties of hand tossed pizzas to choose from and we had the classic Margherita. It is soft on the inside and slightly crunchy on the sides. Simply delightful!

After the meal, we lingered on over a cup of hot tea from Twinning's. We had the Darjeeling tea and the Camomile Tea - pure flowers of Camomile Herbal Infusion, both with delicate flavours.

We really enjoyed the delicious dinner and will definitely be visiting again. This is one place that I would recommend to you if you are looking for a nice place to unwind with great Italian food. It is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Address : Mario Ristorante
152B, Batu Ferringhi
Penang

Tel : 04 8813775

A SPECIAL DRAGON-i PROMO FOR What2See READERS

After our family dining experience at Dragon-i Queensbay Mall with our friends, I received an email from the management of Dragon-i. They are offering the following incentive to all What2See readers and is valid from September 23 till October 31, 2008.

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One complimentary Xiao Long Bao (with every purchase of RM50 & above) upon producing the print-out coupon on this page. This steaming hot juicy dumplings Xioa Long Bao will be exclusively available for diners at the Dragon-i Queensbay Mall outlet only.

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All you have to do to redeem this wonderful offer is simply click on the coupon below, and print it out. So get printing and you are on the way for a yummylicious makan session. I like to say thank you to the management of Dragon-i for the offer given to my readers.

On a separate matter, click here for more of my review of this restaurant.

The long awaited Big Apple Donuts and Black Canyon Coffee have finally set foot in Aeon Seberang Prai, Penang. People in others states had been enjoying themselves in these two outlets for quite some time whereas Penangites were only able to do so lately.

We visited these two outlets during one of our jalan-jalan cari makan weekend.  After hours of window shopping and wandering around the new complex, we found ourselves hunting for the 'much hype about' donut and coffee outlet. There was a long queue with around fifty people patiently waiting in line at Big Apple. My son and myself also join in the queue for this snack. After an hour and twenty minutes of waiting, we manage to get our hands on the donuts. Most of the varieties are relatively common except for the spikey durian. We bought a big box with twelve assorted donuts.

With the precious donuts in hand, we cross over to Black Canyon Coffee to have some beverages. Fortunately for us, the waiting time for a table at this outlet is only fifteen minutes. Browsing through the menu, it shows that this restaurant also offers varieties of food. As we just needed a drink, we only went for the coffee. I had the Mexican Coffee which comes in a beautifully designed boot glass.

Hubby and son had their cold Coffee Frost and Iced Coffee. The icy coffee was just refreshing. Hubby was a bit disappointed to say that there was an absence of the fresh coffee aroma in the surroundings as commonly found in Starbuck and Coffeebean. He wants to try out their black coffee the next time around.

We stole a quick bite of the spikey durian donut as food from other outlets are not allow! The freshly made donut is quite fluffy and the creamy durian filling is very fresh.

 

At the moment, these two outlets can only be found in the mainland. Hopefully we get to see more of these two outlets in Penang island itself soon. All in all, it was a lovely day out for the family. Till date, our most enjoyable food in this new complex is the bbq lunch at Che Go.