IL Forno — Restaurant in Kuala Lumpur

Had an excellent lunch at Il Forno on the 19th floor of Hyatt Centric City Centre KL.

Food here is not “Malaysianised”.

It’s true to it’s Italian roots with light natural flavours being the star focus. This also brings to fore the freshness and quality of the ingredients used.

Started with a 9” Pizza Gamberi e Rucola - First up, there is no cheese in the toppings. This makes the pizza a lighter option than in many other restaurants. The prawns were fresh and well seasoned. The crust, that has been slow matured for 36hrs, is soft yet chewy with a mild sourish tang that is delicious. It was well charred, not burnt - bravo! The herb toppings were just right. Could be tasted without overpowering the natural flavours. A solid 8.5/10 , I would have said 9, if there had been a little more prawns on the toppings.

Next, a spaghetti alio oglio peperoncino - one of the best plates of pasta I have had for a long time. The pasta is cooked al-dente without being too chewy, just a good bite. Flavours were delicious. An easy 9/10 - Best dish of the afternoon.

Following on, a lasagna al forno - had potential but for my tastebuds, a rather unbalanced dish. I thought the pasta was way too soft. Had no “bite” and was unfortunately pretty much a pile of mush. The tomato purée was yummy but a tad too much of it meant that it drowned out any other flavours. The cheese and beef bolognese were OK but their flavours were difficult to discern given the copious amounts of tomato purée. For me, a 4/10 - I didn’t enjoy this dish.

The “tagliata di manzo” (grilled Aussie Wagyu beef) was simple yet delicious. We ordered a medium but the dish came with the ends more medium well and the middle of the cut of beef being closer to medium. Nonetheless, excellent taste and texture and a decent 7.5-8/10. Enjoyable.

Finished with the house tiramisù. Great variation to most restaurants. Instead of a delicately plated slice, the service team brought a potful out and scooped a generous chunk onto our plate.

Made for a delightful talking point. Well thought out service variation! Kudos to the chef and service team.

The tiramisu itself tasted great! Big flavours and not too creamy or fluffy. The cake gave a good texture to the dessert and the coffee flavour was bold and satisfying. Another 8.5-9/10

The restaurant itself was delightful. A great view of the KL city centre buildings and the ID made for a chill and comfortable environment.

Given the quality ingredients and great ambience as well as its location in the KL City Centre within a 5 star hotel, I’d say the prices charged also represent good value.

Can definitely see myself...

This is my 2nd time visiting the place. The tiramisu is the one that attracts me to come back. I was there for a birthday dinner. Reservation made for 6 pax at 7:30pm. We were there around 7:15pm. There is no parking space available so we have to go to the Valet and found out online that the first hour is free and the subsequent hour will be RM 15/hour. So we all agreed to stay for 2 hours. Everything went well, the waitress was nice, the ambiance was good and the food was yummy. We celebrated the birthday and everyone was happy. There is a little delay here and there but it was still acceptable as the restaurant was quite busy. We were done around 8:30pm and we asked the waitress if we get any discount for the parking rate . The waitress told us that we need to validate our ticket and she asked her colleague to assist us. We passed the 2 valet tickets to that lady and some of us went to the washroom while waiting. After waited for about half an hour, which is almost time, we walked out and started looking for that lady who took our tickets then I saw the 2 tickets “sleeping” at the entrance counter and no one was doing anything to the tickets. Then I saw a man who I assumed is the manager and asked him what happen to the tickets, he passed the tickets to me and told me to go to the concierge and get validated. So we were quite upset but we proceeded to the lift, while waiting for the lift, the lady who took our tickets approached us and told us that she has not validate the tickets and offered to validate the tickets for us at her counter. Another 5 minutes passed and she came back and told us that she can’t do it and asked us to proceed to the concierge at the lobby. When we were at the concierge we told the lady what happened and that we wasted our time waiting and etc… she validated the tickets and told us that it’s RM 15 flat rate. So we thought ok fine. When the valet guy scanned our ticket and told us to pay RM 30 for one ticket meaning we have exceeded the time. We told him what happened and he said that everything is set in the system they can’t do anything. We still have to pay extra RM 15 for ridiculously waiting here and there for the ticket to get validated. This is not fair to us and when we seek for help, no one can do anything. I rather pay RM 30 for another pizza than wasting my RM 30 for no reason! This is very unreasonable and unacceptable. The irresponsibility of the restaurant service just...

Il Forno, Hyatt centric KL: Pride and prejudice. The most beautiful F&B in Hyatt Centric – Il Forno sets the stage for great pride in all things premium Italian. The space is so stunning – a cosy living room-esque lounge is housed in the restaurant. For a glasshouse ambience with view of the commanding twin towers, head to the dining area. You can sense the haute pride in all the luxe kitchen equipment, fittings, cutlery, crockery and furniture. We were here for breakfast – and what a knockout of all senses. Here comes prejudice – much of the poetry of the food, incredible food sourcing and careful curation is lost on the pedestrian crowd. They jarred on my sensory experience entirely – we’re talking about mainland Chinese who turned up in their PJ’s, annoying Singaporeans harassing staff for pedestrian buffet items, loud kids screaming and running around. So much of the poetry is lost on the unappreciative crowd.

The humble asparagus is sweet, firm and do sprinkle some sea salt for an elevated taste. Pastries and bakes are superb and few – you taste the Elle French premium butter, and the right flaky texture means their ovens are seriously good stuff. Reggiano Parmigiano wheel is another highlight here. They serve up hearty chunks of this. Turkish honey isn’t the cheap Chinese fake make. There is so much careful planning in food sourcing, and you really taste the goodness. It’s a pity we miss the ala carte dinner menu, but I imagine it is nothing less than extraordinary. Even the fresh herb plants taste heavenly – I plucked a few and felt like I was whisked back to an agri-tourismo in Umbria. If you’re into tacky eating, please steer clear. If you have refined palates (which the breakfast crowds don’t) , good etiquette and moderate dress sense, please blow your senses here....