Charming Amuleto @ MidValley

A month ago I had the pleasure to be invited for Amuleto’s Wine & Dine dinner event. Since I was there with a certain cheese, do forgive me if some if not most photos here has been “cheesed” to death. Ching and Mike Yip was here too, along with a few other bloggers, media representatives and somewhat famous people from the  fashion industry. Why fashion industry?

Just taking a look at the interior of this restaurant says it all: it’s flashy,  bold and vibrant colours emits chicletty vibes to the atmosphere, so that one cannot help but feel uppity and cheerful in this lovely venue.
 
 

Here we can see a healthy selection at their salad bar, well, of course with the unmistakable introduction of the chocolate fondue machine the word “health” goes out of the window, replaced by “sinful delights” 😉

Our dishes were served to us in separate portions, where we get to taste from delightful tid-bits to full main courses, specialties of Amuleto who are wholly owned by Crystal Jade, infamous for their myriad of other restaurants with its own unique specialty. One worth noting is its Crystal Jade restaurant in Singapore, famous for their oh-so-juicy xiu long pau!

First up was the Vegetable Beef Roll that appeared sumptiously appetizing. Two thumbs up for the preparation, if not for the thick filling taste you get as you pop one into your mouth..

「 it comes in a plate of four pieces, skewered in sticks and topped with roe for RM10 」
 

Next was the Papaya Salad with Chicken Floss in Thai Style. Now this was awesome, I totally loved the sourish-sweet taste of the thai-styled sauce, and it gives that tangy, refreshing feeling to one’s tastebuds. It’s priced at RM12, which is decent IMHO.

「 oh just a little contribution to the Breast Cancer awareness month, clickety-click! 」
 
 

Next up was the Soup Quartet. Uniquely conceptualised, it stays true to the casual chic styling of the restaurant’s motto. Using large straws to sip on these heavy soup (filled with fibres to fill you up), one order of the Soup Quartet (RM12) allows you to taste 4 different soups which are Mushroom Soup, Onion Soup, Pumpkin Soup and Brocolli Soup. All are satisfying but my take is on the Pumpkin Soup with its smooth texture and rich taste!

Then came the Greens Tempura with Shredded Dried Scallop. Made of assorted leaves (eatable, of course), my take on this is that it came out pretty uniquely, like the rest of the dishes we’ve tried so far. Priced at RM18, it is crispy down to every leaf, it serves great as a light though expensive snack. However it was pretty oily when we had it, and to me it was like eating nothing much but air… But I guess having greens always help with our bowel systems XD
 

Suddenly a hissing sound came from behind and this pan of sizzling rice cakes topped with cheese and ever-curling bonito flakes appeared in front of us. Watching the bonito flakes moving as if alive has always been very eye-catching for me, but even that didn’t deter us from digging into the Sizzling Cheesy Glutinous Rice Cake with Seaweed and Katsuobushi right after I managed to take a shot of it. It might be too heavy for some, but after tasting it it’s no wonder why that apparently this dish is the latest craze to hit Hong Kong.  

「 the sizzling pan meant that the cheese was still melting into perfection, priced at RM20 」

Now if there’s anything new I learned here, it’s the word Rosti. Rosti is apparently like a roti canai, but it’s made of potato and tastes like a huge piece of hash brown. I really like it, and to top it off (pun intentional),  they serve it with different kinds of topping to suit your taste buds, be it savoury (mushroom sauce, like in the picture) to sweet (don’t remember what, but they have it!)
Priced at RM12, it will certainly fill your stomach if nothing else has yet.

「 Rosti with Mushroom, served with Mayo on the side for RM12 」

Amuleto Fried Seafood Spaghetti with Olive Oi was up next, and yes, this happens to be their prized dish. Unfortunately the dish, priced at RM15, didn’t quite live up to the expectations. Presentation was only so so, it look more like an overdose of dark sauce on the pasta. However they have quite a number of seafood (especially prawns) served with the dish, and each morsel was a fresh bite as you can tell by their bouncy texture.

「 our model cheesie seems to have trouble with her depth of field,  forking her eyes instead of the pasta 」

Our final main meal of the day was the Wasabi Steak. Now as you can probably tell, it does look like a stairway to heaven. However, and you can trust me on this, after taking a bite of this beautifully done steak, you’ll feel like you’re breathing fire in hell! I was glad that the wasabi they serve wasn’t the poor quality ones that tastes like flour overdose, that was clearly apparent as my nose turned all green and steamy with just a little dose of it on my steak. Luckily I had the lovely mash potato to help calm my nose down! Priced at RM36, it is definitely worth a try if you want some explosive action in your mouth, though you may be a wee bit disappointed with the size of it.

Now with the savoury food done and dealt with, the fondue set finally comes out much to our excitement.

The assortement of dips that came with our Chocolate Fondue for Two set was simply gorgeous, ranging from bite-sized fruits, cute spheres of flavoured ice-creams to even cuts of french bagguettes, which our host recommended us to try. The whole set is beautiful to look on, providing warmth, vibrant colours from the dippings and of course, the lovely melted dark and white chocolate served in a heart-shaped bowl.

This lovely set is priced at just RM30, which is certainly affordable, perfect for a delightful date with your loved ones. Once in a while it’s okay to indulge yourself in sinful activities such as these you know, I can assure you it’ll make your day a lot more better. Didn’t you know that chocolates are known aphrodasiacs? Just make sure not to take too much of it! Oh, and do watch out: you might just burn your lips if you’re not too careful…

Yes, hot melted chocolates tend to do just that, white OR dark 😛

「 the cheese mesmerized by the trickling melted chocolate, such as sight to behold 」

I didn’t take much pictures of the people there, thanks to the food session. Pretty hard to concentrate after going through all the food we ate as you can see eh? 😉 However I did take one of Mike Yip (together with Cheesie), who was there as a professional photographer too. I don’t doubt his pictures beat mine by a hundred times, but I’m still pretty proud of my pictures… Did they get you salivating into your keyboard? If it did, then it’s good enough 😀
 

This is all thanks to I-Mae and Mr Keith To, from Arcis Communications and Vice President of Crystal Jade respectively. Down to earth and sucesptible to criticm (yes, I actually told Mr Keith about some aspects of the presentation of some of the food among others, and he listened and commented back with a perfectly healthy arguement of different insights) these guys certainly are passionate about the things they do. For more information on Amuleto, read the description below:
 

Amuleto by Crystal Jade is located in MidValley Megamall, same row with D’lish and Chillies. It’s available for private and corporate functions as well. Amuleto can sit up to 136 seats. Smoking is permitted outside the restaurant and the back of the restaurant. WIFI is FREE!!

For reservation and enquiries, please contact:
Tel: 603-22874128
Fax: 603-22872119