COME TO MONTE'S

AS WE WILL BE IN UK FOR A FEW WEEKS, came down to KL to see ma fa and bro (father and brother) yesterday, so last night we went to one of their favourite places to dine which is Monte's on the first floor of the infamous Bangsar Shopping Centre (BSC for those who know).

The family restaurant recently underwent, together with the entire complex, a complete refurbishment - possibly to get rid of its previous image - and although not very different from what it was before ie big and spacious, is now a bit smarter, with lots of plant separators.

It's a traditional steakhouse with salads, fish and whatnots, fairly reasonably priced for KL, and what is there is quite excellent, like the ribeye (RM56) I had last night - it was tasty, succulent and perfectly "medium well" done. Mac's Filet Mignon was "like butter" he reckoned; smooth and silky.

Their Oxtail is always good, thick and delicious with lots of meaty bits, however the Potato Skin starter was, like No2 son said, like eating a curry puff, because although it had a bit of melted cheese and minced beef on top, there was lots of potato underneath and for some reason a dash of curry powder. Edible, but like I said, it was an expensive curry puff.

The service is fairly quick and efficient considering the size of the place and the fact that it was packed as usual for a Sunday night. What I miss though is their Set Dinner Menu which was excellent value: starter, mains, coffee and dessert for just about RM35 or so if I remember correctly. Shame they had to give it up cos of the higher rental I guess.

Whatever, I wish we had more places like this in Penang: good plain food which doesn't cost the earth, great service and which I can rave about.