Tummy Expansion

I mentioned in my previous post that this week would be a week for binging. And it has already started from the first day of the week - Sunday! Of course it's not the Raya fare yet, since our Muslim friends are still in the fasting month. But, that doesn't mean that I cannot have an early start in exercising my stomach muscles so that it will be able to expand to accomodate all those delightful Raya goodies and food!

So, you know what this post is going to be about...food! And like any good blog post on food, I am kindly and considerately including photographs of the food that has since inhabited my soon-to-be cavernous tummy. Now, if you're in Kota Kinabalu right now, there's currently a great place to go for your fix of Italian food.

The name of the place is Fratini's and just in case you're not too sure where it is, it's at Warisan Square (that more 'upmarket' shopping place beside Centre Point). Just walk to the block where Guardian Pharmacy is and you'll easily spot the red, white and green colours of the Italian flag which is also part of the logo of the restaurant.

Now, I use the word 'currently' because the restaurant is having a promotion on it's pastas and pizzas. I am sure that it's a good place to eat at any time of the year but what makes this place extra special right now is that you get 50% off of your orders of pastas and pizzas. How great is that? And the offer is good all through the day, not just at some odd hours which some restaurants are wont to do. But, the promotion ends very soon, like tomorrow (30 September)! So, if you are in Kota Kinabalu and want to sink your teeth into something authentically Italian - go, now!

So, this was the place where I had one of my first practice sessions for the coming open houses (my first was just the night before - a huge portion of lamb chops at the same restaurant I talked about previously). But, such extravagant feasts are best enjoyed in the company of friends so right after church, my wife, Adelle and I headed for the restaurant after a brief detour back home to get Adelle's lunch (it was a spur of the moment thing this). The friends whom we were supposed to have lunch with went ahead first.

The restaurant itself was pleasant with some Italian song playing softly in the background, and even though it was lunch time, it wasn't very busy which was good. Our friends had already ordered their food when we arrived so my wife and I made our choices from the rather extensive menu - which was quite difficult for me; everything sounded delicious based on the description in the menu. But, I finally made my choice after consultation with my wife and while waiting I proceeded to give Adelle her staple lunch of rice porridge.

So, here's what we had with accompanying pictures. First the pasta:

Penne Allo Zafferano (saffron and smoked salmon penne)

Fuisilli Alla Norma (pasta spirals in tomato and egg plant)

Linguine Al Frutti bi Mare (linguine with mix seafood)

Ravioli ai Gamberoni (Tiger Prawns filled Ravioli)

Now, the pizzas:

Supremo (half-topped with cream sauce, cheesem tuna, prawns tails, onion, chili and capsicum and the other half - tomato sauce, cheese, chicken breast, onions, capsicum and pineapple)

Hawaianna (tomato sauce, grated cheese, diced pineapple and chicken pastrami)

Now, I don't remember the exact taste of all those food I have mentioned, but I do remember that everything was absolutely yummy! I don't remember finding any fault with any of the food at all. Even Adelle, who was also eating the pasta after she had finished her porridge, enjoyed the food. Just ask her and she'll tell you! To chase down all that wonderful food, my wife and I decided to share a drink. We ordered a juice combo of avocado and banana. We found the drink to be average. We could hardly taste the avocado, and both of us thought that it was a bit too diluted.


Our friends had a dessert which had pancake, a dollop of vanilla ice-cream on a cut orange all laced with orange syrup. The result? All very sweet but not too bad.


So, that's about it concerning the wonderful lunch at Fratini's. A place that I'd certainly go to again for the delectable food.

Glutton!