Senja @The Saujana Hotel Kuala Lumpur

As I walked into Senja, I was immediately mesmerised by the lovely interior - sleek, modern and elegant with a beautiful Colonial feel. Natural light pours into this recently refurbished restaurant through the French-style windows and you also get a view of the pictureresque lake from the restaurant. Everything I love about a restaurant, right here in Senja.

Furthermore, Senja has recently welcomed a new Chef de Cuisine on board, Chef Emiliano di Stefano who brings with him more than eight years of culinary expertise and global experience, having served with many celebrated restaurants in countries such as China, Middle East, Italy and India. During our meal, we got a taste of his new menu (which will be unveiled in September) which showcases his take on vibrant, authentic Italian cuisine with a creative twist. 

We started our meal with a duo of antipasti - the Insalata Eva (RM42) and the Gamberi alla Parmigiana (RM53). Love Chef Emiliano's beautiful plating of his food. The latter is a tender tiger prawn wrapped in crunchy eggplant, and served with a tomato veloute, Pecorino cheese shavings and cherry tomato confit. We also love the fresh, light and healthy Insalata Eva salad, which consists of mesclun, zucchini as well as smoked salmon two ways (one with guacamole and another with apple and honey vinaigrette) and olive croutons.

Pizza from the wood-fire oven for the kids. They sure enjoyed this! Chef Emiliano ensures that his pizzas are as authentic as you can get from Italy, by using imported flour from Italy as well as bottled water to make his pizza base. 

Next, Chef Emiliano served us a dish from the region of Piedmont where he hails from, the mushroom risotto (risotto ai funghi). The risotto is cooked in mushroom stock and then cep mushrooms are cooked separately and topped on the risotto. The risotto was perfectly cooked, delicious! We also picked up some tips from the chef on how to cook risotto correctly, will share this in a future recipe. ;)

Piedmont-style mushroom risotto

The Tagliata di manzo (RM150) is a fantastic and simple steak dish originating from Tuscany area - the Black Angus striploin is grilled to medium rare doneness and then sliced, and served with a balsamic jus and red wine reduction, saffron mashed potato, caramelised pumpkin and gingered broccoli. Chef Emiliano tells us that he slices against the grain so that the beef is extra tender.  You can also opt for Wagyu beef striploin (RM240) for this dish.

Tagliata di manzo nero Angus con salsa al balsamico e riduzione di vino rosso, zucca caramellata e broccoli allo zenzero

Enjoyed this - look at the beautiful pink meat ;)

We ended our meal on a high note with Chef Emiliano's tiramisu (nuovo e vecchio tiramisu - RM38). So light and wonderful, I could easily eat two portions of this.

The inspiring, affable Chef Emiliano with babysumokids ;)

Opening times: Tuesdays to Fridays (Lunch) 12.00pm - 2.30pm; Tuesdays - Sundays + Public Holidays (Dinner) 6.30pm - 10.30pm. Closed on Mondays.

Location: Senja Italian Restaurant, The Saujana Hotel Kuala Lumour, Saujana Resort, Jalan Lapangan Terbang SAAS, 40150 Selangor, Malaysia.

Tel: 03-7843 1234 ext 6122

Website: http://www.shr.my/the-saujana-hotel/dining_161-en.html

GPS Coordinates: 3.108554, 101.575981


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