Spaghetti Carbonara at Manila Place

The other day, I received a mail from a visitor. He, I assumed, who was very polite and he suggested me to try out more varieties of cuisines and not just local hawker food. I had to agree with what he said as many visitors of this blog may have easily been misinterpreting that I would only hunt for local hawker food. It was a call for action as I see it, but as the concern for time and cost implies, I sincerely hope you valued visitors would bear with us.

We were lingering around in Gurney Plaza, wanting to celebrate our dear friend's birthday. We couldn't decide which restaurant to go on a Saturday night, and after some indecisive moments, we finally decided to go to Manila Place for dinner.

For those of you who are new to this restaurant, Manila Place had actually been relocated from the outdoors of Gurney to the now ground floor of Gurney's new wing since last year. The interior was beautiful, with decorations and furniture which resembled a little like the modern Western. 

It was crowded and we had to wait around 15 minutes before finding ourselves a seat. All of us ordered the set-course meals but personally I think the menu of the set-course meal was a little confusing as some of the items were not included in it, but after the help of the supervisor, we were ready and happy with our orders.

honey lemon tea

iced lemon tea

While waiting for the food to be served, my friends decided to distract themselves from the grumbling stomachs by camwhoring (though I only included a few photos as I think the others are mostly explicit).

birthday girl

 mushroom soup

The food was served faster than we'd expected. Mushroom Soup, right, a simple yet stunning way to start off the meal. The soup was creamy and it wasn't the usual kind of creamy and dry soup which would make you feel thirsty. Instead, it was the kind that would make you drink one bowl after the other.   - 8.0

 smoked salmon spaghetti carbonara

First off was the Smoked Salmon Spaghetti Carbonara. Let me see what I could say about this stunning dish, alright did I just say stunning? Indeed it was really tasty, and at first look there were just a few slices of salmon, but on closer look under the spaghetti, it was a salmon paradise. I've tried this Italian delicacy once else where if I recalled, and in comparison this was far better, the fish was fresh and gave a nice oily fragrance. I know some people dont't eat salmon because of it's strong fishy taste, but it's a hate it or love it kind of food. So if you love salmon, this would definitely worth a try. The carbonara (cheese pasta) blended incredibly with the spaghetti, and that itself made my day.   - 9.0

 beef bolognese spaghetti

Next up was the Beef Bolognese Spaghetti Pasta. According to my friend (long story short, it's because I don't eat beef), it tasted averagely good. The dish was served with toasted garlic bread with bolognese pasta (mixed tomato pasta).   - 7.0

 spaghetti carbonara

Now, the Spaghetti Carbonara. I was eager to try out this dish when 3 of my friends ordered this. Unlike the Smoked Salmon Spaghetti Carbonara, this was served with slices of chicken ham instead of salmon. Carbonara, it is like a love potion, pour it on no matter which variety of spaghetti and the end result is still the same. Although the first impression this dish gave was just simple, what followed wasn't simple at all but more like a mixture of adjectives - creamy, yummy, tasty.   - 8.5

 mushroom and broccoli spaghetti pasta

Next up was the Mushroom and Broccoli Spaghetti Pasta. If you're spotting the same pasta (carbonara), then I think we're both having the same thoughts. It tasted a just as good with a little twist, with juicy and succulent mushrooms this time.   - 7.0

 grilled chicken with creamy sauce

The birthday girl was indeed the special one, ordering other than spaghetti. The Grilled Chicken with Creamy Sauce, in her opinion was just close to good on her food-o-meter, probably because each of us ordered spaghetti and she didn't. The grilled chicken was wrapped in a sweet cheezy cream sauce and served with potato wedges. The cream sauce somehow wasn't creamy enough and tasted a little too dry when eaten together with the grilled chicken.   - 6.5

The atmosphere and the food here leveled with an affordable to a little expensive varieties of food to choose from. But all in all, it manged to put smiles on our faces :)

Prices .

Smoked Salmon Spaghetti Carbonara - RM 24.90 (set)

Beef Bolognese Spaghetti Pasta - RM 21.90 (set)

Spaghetti Carbonara - RM 19.90 (set)

Mushroom and Broccoli Spaghetti Pasta - RM 21.90 (set)
Grilled Chicken with Creamy Sauce - RM 24.90 (set)

A set-meal course includes a drink (lemon,honey lemon or peach tea), mushroom soup with 2 pieces of toasted garlic bread and a main course dish.

Bonus .

This restaurant is located on the ground floor of the new wing of Gurney Plaza.

170-G-A2, Gurney Plaza, Persiaran Gurney, 10250 Penang.

To make reservations or inquires, please call 04-2262005

Opens from 11am to 10pm daily.

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