Portofino Italian Restaurant Bangsar South, The Sphere — Restaurant in Kuala Lumpur

The seminar stretched for 2 days so the next day, I decided to have dinner nearby her place rather than being ambitious by going further. As clever as a squirrel jumps.. I didn't anticipate the Italian restaurant that I wanted to go was fully booked. With the dinner time just started, the patrons were not going to leave anytime soon.

Luckily for me, the alfresco area was empty as all of them wanted to dine indoor.. and it was drizzling at that moment therefore it was quite cooling.

Started in Lucky Garden in Bangsar, Portofino is a well-established Italian restaurant with their own legion of loyal customers. This outlet in The Sphere is their second offshoot and definitely larger than the original one.

◾Margherita Pizza - the default order for the kids ◾Mushroom soup with rosemary croutons ◾Buffalo Caprese Cheese - fresh Italian buffalo cheese, tomatoes, basil pesto, oregano, extra virgin olive oil.. no-brainer choice everytime I saw the word "buffalo cheese" ◾Pan-fried river prawns with extra virgin olive oil, garlic, chilly, fresh basil and cherry tomatoes. Served with a side of toasted bread. Lovely tapas size prawn dish that got me swooned. ◾freshly shucked oysters - subjected to limited availability, I was glad that they still had stock.. freshly shucked and I simply squeezed the lemon on top before slurping everything in.

Delicious food, friendly service and lovely atmosphere... These 3 factors are enough to make them a mainstay...

Went there for New Year's Eve dinner. We made reservations and prior to this, we actually asked if there would be a minimum spend in conjunction with New Year's Eve to which they said no. What they failed to mention however, was that there would be a limited menu with exorbitant prices! We were given a Christmas festive menu which only had 2 pages and the prices were hiked up way more than 20%. Iced Lemon Tea was RM14 when it's usually RM7.90. Spinach ravioli is usually RM35 but it was RM45 on that day! Bruschetta (usually RM10) was RM16, Tiramisu (usually RM16) was RM26 on that day! I think it's completely unethical to increase prices just for the festive period! A smarter way would have been to ensure each pax dining in on special days have a minimum spend per pax which I'm sure customers will understand as many other establishments already practice this during big days. That or have a completely different menu, not just blindly increase the prices as you wish! Besides this, they refused to serve us water as "the water filter broke down" which we all know is a classic trick used by restaurants to force you to buy bottled water to increase your minimum spend per pax.

Oh also, the only thing worthy of a mention was the Spinach Ravioli and Tiramisu. The bruschetta was nothing to shout about, iced lemon tea was bad, mushroom soup was super watery, turkey...

Reservation was made few hours before berbuka time, efficient communication.

Place is nearby surau too! So after ordering, can quickly go to 1 level downstairs, less than 5mins walk distance

So far we (me and my boyfriend) ordered: Spaghetti carbonara, squid ink ravioli and truffle pizza, and mocktails Carbonara, ohhhhh sooo thick and creamy taste, additional points for the smoked duck nyamm My first time trying ravioli! It was sooo good!!! I hope they increase the portion! I want more!

I love the ravioli! And the pizza, personally i think the middle part seems like a lil bit undercooked (?)

Oh the highlight: Sauce, its handmade sauce (the waiter specifically caught our attention by saying its their handmade sauce - coooool) ! So nyammy when i eat it with the pizza especially, i can rate the spiciness and the zing was rated level 7 out of 10, i feel like i wanna know whats the secret ingredient of this sauce

What i like about this place, it serves dual community: muslims (halal meats) and non-muslims (alcohol) so it is good to hangout with other groups of friends

A lil bit at pricey range, as for tonight we spent RM98/person for 1 main dish/person 1 shared pizza 1 drink/person

But the ambience is cool and cozy!

Will definitely come back again for the ravioli.

Edit: I should visit here more often in order to give honest...