Aria @ Damansara Heights

Aria serves some of the most affordable yet delectable Italian cuisine in Bukit Damansara. It has a cosy, friendly environment and its pasta and salad lunch buffet is the best value meal in town.

Bruschetta Platter – Platter of tomato ,mushroom cream & smoked salmon bruschetta

Aria comes across as a modern yet unpretentious place to hangout for happy hours on the weekdays, from 6pm onwards. It boasts of a menu of good quality, reasonably priced dishes, and with a great variety of choice. Located in the swanky damansara heights neighbourhood, one might be surprised that Aria serves some of the most affordable yet delectable Italian cuisine in Bukit Damansara. Its pasta and salad lunch buffet is the best value meal in town, and the Whisky Bar upstairs makes a rather nice venue for whisky aficionados to relax and enjoy themselves. It is also a great space for hosting private parties. The Italian menu hews to tradition – along the lines of hearty pasta and pizza dishes – but most of what we sampled had a certain flair and penchant for authenticity.

the Whisky Bar upstairs and a great venue for hosting parties

The most memorable was the tenderloin steak seared a medium rare. It was a perfectly cooked, handsome slab of meat, and priced at RM55, hard to top. I mean, I’ve paid double the price for a less than perfect steak before, and believe me when I say the steak at Aria is good!

my perfectly cooked steak

So to start came a little Bruschetta Platter trio – a dollop of creamy mushroom , a swirl of smoked salmon and smattering of full bodies tomatoes. With a basket of soft bread and excellent focaccia, and olive tapenade, this would have made a fine small meal all by itself.

italian bread and olive tapenade

Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon

The magic decanter (they sell these at Aria) – just pass it through the decanter and the flavours open up..

We liked every appetizer we ordered – Sautéed enoki, Portobello & Button Mushroom in extra virgin olive oil, Mini Crab served with Avocado & Tomato salsa, and a vibrant platter of Tomato, Mushroom cream & Smoked Salmon Bruschetta. But my favorite that night, would have to be that simple dish that came wrapped in paper, called the Mixed Mushroom Surprise. Imagine unwrapping this parcel only to release mouth-watering fumes of delicious aromas of mushrooms. Not just one, but three types of mushrooms baked in their own juices, with cherry tomatoes, olives, olive oil, garlic and onions, for the longest time till they were plump with the sauces they produced. Too good for words.

Mixed Mushroom Surprise – Sautéed enoki, Portobello & button mushroom in extra virgin olive oil

smells divine!

Cocktails – Sangria and Aria No. 1

The Crochetta di Granchia tasted OK but they had some shells in it and it was a bit dry. Not my favourite that night. The pepperoni pizza came with the routine toppings and was mundane rather than a standout. It was a little dry as it lacked sufficient tomato paste to cement the entire pizza, ingredients, cheese, bread and all, together.

Crochetta di Granchia – Mini crab served with avocado & tomato salsa

pizza

The pasta dish though was terrific, and for me, the highlight of dinner was of course, the steak.

Liguine aglio olio smoked duck in a special sauce was fragrant and cooked perfectly al dente. The duck slices just had a wee sliver of fat and was nicely seasoned. The olives, cherry tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, parsley, capers all worked together harmoniously to create a flavourful sauce for this dish. A sizzling, medium rare Fillet di Manzo was to die for. It had a gorgeous seared outer which was nicely charred, lightly salted, and on the inside, pink, succulent and bursting with juices. Like I said, the most affordable and decent quality steak you will find in town.

D’ Anatra – Liguine aglio olio smoked duck

Fillet di Manzo – Grilled beef tenderloin served with porcini mushroom sauce

Desserts are also Aria’s forte. We polished off the Chocolate Volcano and Creme Brulee and marveled at the gorgeous porcelain glass cups the creme brulee was served in, boasting 2 inches of nicely torched cream.The Chocolate volcano was perfectly executed with a hot bleeding lava center. Textbook!

creme brulee

Chocolate Volcano

Upstairs of Aria is a great place to host private parties.

A fantastic place to have dinner, or enjoy happy hour. We will be back next for the salad lunch buffet!

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