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My bro had casually told me about this new Halal Italian restaurant located at Courts Megastore. Apparently, his friend who worked there informed him about it. Last I recall, there was a restaurant there, called 'The Box Bistro'. I guess it was replaced?
It's nice to hear of yet another Halal restaurant opening. And an Italian one at that. Okay, so this ain't exactly the first one that's not a pizza joint (the other one is called 'Badoque' at Simpang Bedok). And so I asked my bro for the name of this new place cos' I wanna do a search online.
He had a hard time recalling before finally declaring, "Ahh..! BEEF Italia!"
O__o… 'Beef' Italia? What kind of restaurant would want to call itself, 'beef'?! And so began my keen search based on italia + halal + restaurant + courts megastore. And duly came up with VivItalia. 'VIV' la, not 'beef'!
Anyway come his birthday, before we start irritating one another with questions like.. "Where to eat…?" I decide to just settle for this place.
True enough, Vivitalia took over the premise from The Box Bistro, alright. But then again, their logo says, "VivItalia.... By The Box Bistro". Hmm...
The interior looks almost similar, save for the dining area area near the entrance, which has been converted into an open-concept baking area - where the pizza oven is. You can see your pizzas being made, from where you are seated.
We were greeted by a Caucasian fella' who spoke with an very obvious Italian accent. You know, like the guy on the 'Pasta Fresca Salvatore' commercial? And later on, my order was taken by another guy who looks similar to the first one. Yes, Italian accent, likewise. Siblings, I suppose.
As it turns out, we came 2 days before their grand opening on 2nd June. So it's not surprising to see that they have some (major) teething issues. Right then, they were still interviewing new staff and the ones there were pretty clueless. Seeing that they're still new, I guess I won't comment on the service. Maybe save that fir when I come back here again, when they're fully up and running.
Check out their Opening Promo! One-for-one! Today!
And check out the weekend promo for the Diabolo!
The bottom right corner was somewhat reminiscent of The Box Bistro alright. Local Malay food at somewhat exorbitant prices. Maybe for the 'makcik/pakcik' with traditional tastebuds...
And a decent variety of pizza, pasta, fish & chips, starters, toast/'reeyet' (whatever that is), salads etc. Even kids portions.
I'm glad to say that they've retained the existing indoor playground that can easily keep the kids occupied. This is the kind of playground that's padded/netted for extra safety.
And yeah, that's my lil' one in action...
I have no idea why this drink is named after some juggling prop but it's actually their idea of giving the italian soda a fancy name.
From what the guy explained, the diabolo is a concoction of 7-up, soda water and syrup. Can try at home. Cos' this drink is very, very refreshing. My mum love it so much she finished it before most of the food arrived.
She had the mixed berry while my dad settled for the blueberry.
Birthday boy chose the smoothie while myself, the perennial lover of all flavours with mint, chose the super refreshing 'frosted mint'.
I wonder what's the different between 'mint' and 'frosted mint'?
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I realise there are too many pics so I decide to split this topic into 2 parts. Part due coming soon!
7 comments:
I'm big fan of your blog.
thanks to you, we discovered this new restaurant vivtalia. funny name but great food.
We tried pasta and fish n chips.
i like the alio olo , prawns are fresh and well cooked but maybe little too spicy for me.
we did not try the pizza but look good at next table.
amazing that I've been to Ikea for years. now we got something new with good food.
vivitalia, a place to recommend.
Faiza
Very interesting blog! thank you very much for your advices!
I tried the Meat Craze Pizza at vivitalia.. I can tell you, as a Meat lover...this pizza is crazy! I loved it! it took around 15-20 minutes to come, that I found a bit long, but I guess when it's not busy it should be faster.anyway, I am ready to wait a little bit for this crazy taste.
Price are ok for pizza/pasta/starters, a bit overpriced for locals.
didn't try the pasta yet, but I plan to go there again this weekend with my friends.
congrats' to the team, the atmosphere is very nice.
I did not find it overprice. you mean the local dishes? pizza pasta is less expensive than Pastamania for much more tasty food. those italian guys want to please uncles with a set of local indonesian dishes, i like the concept.
Faiza - Hi there! Thank You so much for reading my blog and commenting here (at least I know there are really people reading what I wrote). Glad to know my recommendations are of help.
Your mention of the spicy Aglio olio makes me wanna go for it soon! And u shd try their pizza! You're right abt their stuff being more worth iit as compared to Pastamania.
Hi Noor! Thanks for reading.
I've been thinking of their meat craze pizza nowadays. Wonder how much meat they can put on that thin crust. I wanna check out their other pasta too. Aglio olio & marinara. Basically the tomato-based ones.
Price-wise, I guess as Faiza said, maybe u r referring to the local food that's over-priced.
Hi All!
Thank you for your answsers!
To answer you, they can put A LOT of meat, on this crazy thin crust!
yes, I was talking about local food a bit overpriced, but I agree that on pasta and Pizza, their price are really reasonable!
Since I read your words, I can't wait for trying their spicy Aglio Olio pasta! I'll go there tonight!
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