Porcini Promotion @ Villa Danieli, Sheraton Imperial KL

Hailed as the king of mushrooms, porcini mushrooms are a type of edible wild mushrooms and are usually harvested in the fall. From now until 31 October 2016, diners can enjoy this prized ingredient at Villa Danieli as part of their Porcini Promotion. In this promotion, Head Chef Gaetano di Stefano will be featuring fresh porcini with a range of premium ingredients. The menu can be viewed here.

We always use dried porcini when making risotto, so it was a real treat to finally getting to try it in its fresh form. Fresh porcini has a deep, nutty flavour and a lovely, meaty texture. To start, I had the Vongole Saltate Con Funghi Porcini (RM68), sautéed clams in white wine served with porcini and cherry tomatoes. I was expecting normal sized clams, so imagine my surprise when I saw these giant clams instead. For this dish, the chefs have used tuatua giant clams from New Zealand. The clams are best savoured together with the sliced porcini, cherry tomatoes and sauce.

Hubby had the Zuppa Ai Porcini (RM62), porcini soup served with truffle oil and crispy beef bacon. Rich, creamy and comforting, the soup showcased the porcini's lovely nutty flavour.

For mains, Hubby had the Gnocchi Porcini E Burrata (RM68), potato gnocchi served with porcini and burrata. According to the chef, three types of cheeses are used - Parmesan and goat's cheese are added to the gnocchi when cooking, then topped with burrata as a garnish, making this a rich dish.

Our dining companions had the Filetto Di Salmone Con Funghi Porcini (RM115), pan fried salmon fillet served with porcini, green asparagus and saffron lemon sauce and the Stinco d’Agnello (RM125), slow cooked lamb shank served with porcini and rosemary lamb jus.

Meanwhile, I had the Filetto Di Manzo Alla Rossini (RM165), Black Angus beef tenderloin served with pan fried foie gras, grilled porcini, celeriac puree and beef jus. The beef was expertly cooked to medium rare doneness, much to my delight. In this dish, the porcini is cut into chunky pieces, to allow maximum enjoyment of this meaty delicacy.

Chef Gaetano has also cleverly created two desserts using porcini mushrooms - Budino Di Pane Ai Porcini(RM45 - Porcini Bread Pudding served with Vanilla Ice-Cream) and Mousse di Porcini e frutti di bosco (RM48 - Porcini Mousse served with Mix Berries and Vanilla Sauce). The mousse did not quite do it for me, as it tasted too savoury to be classed as a dessert.

However, I was pleasantly surprised by the porcini bread pudding; in this dessert, the porcini has been blended into a paste and then added to the bread pudding and baked. You can also enjoy the scent of truffle oil which has been added into the dessert; overall the savoury and sweet flavours worked really well together. We enjoyed this unique dessert very much! Pretty ingenious. :)

The Porcini Promotion is available from now until 31 October 2016. For more information or reservations, please call Villa Danieli at 03-2717 9922 or e-mail villa.danieli@sheraton.com


Pork-free.

Location: Villa Danieli, Level 5, Sheraton Imperial Kuala Lumpur Hotel, Jalan Sultan Ismail, 50250 Kuala Lumpur.

Tel: 03 -2717 9900

Website: http://www.villadanielirestaurant.com/

GPS Coordinates: 3.158813, 101.700203



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