Earth Hour - Who Says We Gotta Dine In The Dark?

Today all humanitarian and nature lovers have joined hands in showing their support towards "Earth Hour" and we as the food reviewers from Ben-M4U didn't miss out on all the action by supporting this noble cause. How did we do it despite our tight schedule going around tasting and reviewing dishes? Go on a diet for a day? No Way!

Our routine goes on as usual. However, we option for a candle light fine dining get away instead in a newly operating Italian restaurant known to locals and tourist groups only as Olio. The name Olio as we generate its definition from an American dictionary refers to a collection of various artistic work be it musical, literature or in dining sense it literally brings the meaning to a mixture of stew , chicken and vegetables.

Dissatisfied with the explanation, i took the courtesy to scout for its meaning behind the Spanish-English dictionary. A much more precise definition of Olio will be "culinary" in Spanish it is pronounced as olla and the usage of the term olla is rather wide spread in example "olla podrida" - spanish stew.

We arrived rather early and it wasn't until two 2 hours later for the restaurant to begin its daily operations. In the name of love for food reviewing, we waited in anxiety. We are individuals with high sense of tolerance but our stomach kept grumbling for we have not eaten anything all day.

The result of 2 hours waiting

While waiting we had to pamper our appetite by devouring on char siew fun also known as pork chop rice . My friend Datuk as usual had to place unusual instructions when it comes to ordering dishes in satisfying his curiosity and this time he deliberately ordered for fried rice with char siew . It sounded simple to prepare but none of us has ever eaten char siew fan in such a unique fusion.

Yet, the 5 ringgit fried rice with char siew proven to be a good bargain. The blend of sweet yet crispy char siew accompanying a savoury display of rice well fried with eggs and beans complimented our taste buds . Affordable, simple and unique are three words used to describe our evening snack.

Fried Rice w/ Char Siew

I personally had regular char siew fun - plain rice with char siew that is simply juicy , so juicy that while chewing it felt like juices from the meat smeared all over my tongue. My other friend E, who is responsible for all the sharp photos and detailed mapping for this blog pampered himself with hokkien noodles and though the noodles isn't the best in town but its worth every dime and time. This food joint can easily be spotted behind Renaissance Hotel in Melaka. Char siew fun is priced at RM 3.50.

Char Siew Rice

Dry Prawn Mee

All ya food lovers need to do is to get your lazy butts up and walk a few steps to the back of the hotel and there will be a huge parking space. Walk across the parking space and you will be able to spot a run down sign board that says Yong Tau Foo. This joint has been around for decades eversince i was little and dad used to bring me for movies before the Federal Cinema got torn down . Last i checked, this restaurant has been around for almost 40 years all throughout Melaka's development. Eating here isn't just about its tasty dishes but it is an experience no money can buy to be a part of Melaka's legacy.

Time really flies when we're having a good time and just as gust of wind passes by, two hours have passed and we are all prepared for the fine dining in Olio. We have tried making a grand entrance just like Al Pacino and his posse from the GodFather but we felt so small upon walking in for every angle of the restaurant portrays a certain amount of stature and comfort. Dim lights, fine linens , bottles and bottles of replica representing wines from all over the world.

My dad's a privillege member of Renaissance thus we have cash vouchers to bail us out in case we ran out of cash . Warm smiles and never ending assistance from the waiters and Maitre'D gave us a wonderful time. Menus are designed to be unique looking like a pastry board kitchen helpers uses to give dough a roll and the top and bottom of the menus are decorated with miniature rolling pins as if we're reading a scroll.

The prices for pastas ranges from RM 32 to RM 40 excluding tax depending on its ingredients and style. I have tasted the pasta trilogy which is priced at RM 40 and to be honest, the combination of three different pastas spirullini, spaghetti bolognese and seafood spaghetti brings a new blend to my taste bud. A must try, rest assured, its worth every penny.

Today, we ordered Zuppa Fungi {RM 16++ } as a starter. Basically zuppa means soup in Italian, so we actually had mushroom soup. Kindly do not be intimidated by the bombastic jargons written in the menu, there are English translations! . E, ordered Anti Pasti and no its not somebody's aunty in Italian. I believe europeans will be most familiar with this term which represents a style of fusion salad and right here in Olio, its free flow only for {RM 25++} .

Zuppa Fungi

AntiPasti

E kept refilling his salad so often for Datuk was enjoying the salad and kept begging E to refill. AntiPasti or antipasto refers to the meaning of "before the meal" Antipasti includes cured meat, pepperoncini,olives, roasted garlic mushrooms, anchovies, artichoke hearts smeared with either mozarella or provolone. Just the sound of it makes me hungry don't ya think so?Yummy! is all i can put into words. The salad itself is so appetizing that E went for several rounds of refill cleaning up the salad bar.

It took the kitchen some time to prepare the refills again. Such big eaters we are must have given them the shock of their lives. Just as Ray puts it, we are cheap, be proud of it. Rm25 ++ means we have to finish every single salad ingredient left in their kitchen. Accompanied by huge white candles,aromatherapy and voices of Andrea Bocelli, Il Divo and Pavarotti it is an evening to die for and if i am with a date instead of these two guys of course, grins!

Are we done yet? Hell No! if we are going for fine dining, we're certainly not going to miss out on a main course no matter how costly it can get. We had Uzzolo Pizza , authentic italiano pan crusted pizza . It was delivered in a large portion and it was prepared with a lot of passion judging by its outlooks.

Pizza Quattro Uzzolo

The pizza is so crunchy if felt like we were munching nachos dipped with tomato puree , smoked salmon and ham . Fantastica! it isn't just any pizza, it is "the" pizza, a refine work of art. Uzzolo cost us RM 42++. The food amount to RM 83 and obviously since this is a hotel's F&B outlet, there has to be service charge Rm 8.30 . No wonder they were so nice to us. Government tax is at RM4.15 eventhough we are currently suffering from recession and the total is RM 95.45 quite a fair price for such authenticity in their cuisine.

Datuk was grumbling all evening on the reasons the kitchen took such a long time to refill the salad bar . He even walked to a table that says "reserved" and took their spoons away for our cutleries were cleared off from our table as soon as we were done .

According to Datuk if we have spoons, and E shamelessly parade around the salad bar, they might just refill in time. It was hillarious but it was indeed a tremendous dining experience.
It is a bit pricy, but the experiences are worth the time and money. A definite must try!

Before we left, the waiter asked if i wish to place orders for any dessert to end the evening, i asked for the menu and he came back with two blank papers and placed it in on the table leaving us in confusion. We were terrified that this might be our last meal and that's our wishlist or will in case we cannot afford to settle the bill.

Haha , to our dismay, the waiter came back with a huge stamp machine and stamped the papers with a list of desserts, the names and its prices. The waiter stamped so hard that it leaves our table as well as our hearts a terrifying impact!

Pictured : Terrifying Impact

Olio, there is no need for directions, it is an outlet of Renaissance Hotel Melaka. We didn't order any beverages besides water but we have every intention to re-visit this joint for the wine buffet price at RM59.90 ++ . Till then, this is N from ben-m4u reporting to you, me dio mucho gusto conocerlo, hasta luego, see ya later!