Bottega brings a taste of Italy, Spain and France to KL! More than just a restaurant, it is true to its name. It serves as a shop – a bottega – of Mediterranean goods. Anyone can purchase wine, oil, coffee, fresh pasta, meat and much more from the shelves to whip up an Italian feast at home! However, Bottega’s chefs are happy to take care of the cooking if you don’t have the skill.
Ambience & Amenities
Bottega is quite rustic compared to other upscale Italian restaurants. The large, covered patio has tables with mismatched plastic chairs. Once inside, it’s easy to see Bottega’s home-like layout in the three small dining rooms branching off the main hallway.
Enter the restaurant and turn left at the front counter to get to the toilet. It’s at the end of the hall. The washroom is very much like one in a typical Malaysian home, with a water basin and bucket in the corner for bathing. Thankfully, there was a sitting toilet and also a little sink.
Menu at Bottega
Click on menu pictures to enlarge
Bottega KL’s menu has all the Italian favourites: pizza, pasta, risotto, panini sandwiches and antipasto. The dishes are authentic and include pork deli meat, so it is non-halal. They also stock Italian beers that are hard to find anywhere else in KL. Unlike other Italian restaurants, Bottega offers free filtered water. Seriously, this is so rare that we felt the need to confirm with the server that the big water bottle on the table was complimentary.
Bottega also does double duty as a shop. The restaurant’s foyer has pantry goods on the left, chilled items on the right, and a meat and cheese fridge in front.
Food at Bottega
The Ham-Salami-Cheese Board (RM68 for two pax) was a surprisingly big spread. There were two hard cheeses and crumbly gorgonzola. Prosciutto, mortadella, sliced ham, and three kinds of salami made up the meat section. The dips included beetroot, olives in spicy oil, and artichoke. There wasn’t too little of anything. We both got our fill of all the ingredients on the board.
The Pecaminosa (RM44) pizza has a thin base but an excellent chewy crust. The white anchovies are less salty than the dark-coloured ones, so it wasn’t overwhelming when paired with the savoury porchetta. The tomato sauce was notable, full of tangy flavour. Among the prominent flavours of the porchetta, anchovies and sauce, the pumpkin was the only ingredient that didn’t make an impression. The chunks disappeared and didn’t really improve anything. We ordered two bottles of Forst (RM26 each) to wash it down with, our everyday beer when we honeymooned in South Tyrol.
Saturday Worthy?
Everything we ate at Bottega KL was delicious. We’re looking forward to our next visit and plan to return here for our anniversary. I like that there’s a little South Tyrol twist to some of the dishes, which makes it a bit different from other Italian restaurants in KL.
Price for 2 Pax: RM191.30
Ham-Salami-Cheese Board (2 Pax): RM68.00
Pecaminosa: RM44.00
Forst Beer x 2: RM52.00
10% Service: RM16.40
6% SST-FOOD: RM6.72
8% SST-ALCOHOL: RM4.16
Rounding: RM0.02
Bottega KL
Address: 1A, Jalan Ceylon, Bukit Ceylon, 50200 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur
Opening Hours: 11:15am to 11pm every day except Sunday, Closed on Sunday
Alcohol Served: Yes
