Basil Pasta House at Kuchai Lama: Restaurant Review

East-meets-West Pasta

Three brothers, one restaurant: The gastronomically gifted Tan siblings – Alven, Seven and Louis – opened their own outlet in Kuchai Lama this week, offering a wide range of East-meets-West pasta recipes at some of the Klang Valley’s best prices.

Basil Pasta House has a homey, welcoming feel; its creators have made lovely use of the space here, with soothing colours, floral flourishes and other thoughtful touches. A Godfather movie poster underscores how the restaurant is making customers a culinary offer they can’t refuse, spanning everything from pork bacon gnocchi to Japanese lamb curry fettuccine.

Seafood Pasta

We focused on seafood for this visit: Love the crab farfalle, comprising bow-tie pasta with crab meat, curried butternut squash sauce, walnut cream and parmesan. The food here is hearty, rich and savoury. Prices won’t pinch the wallet; this one clocks in at RM14.90, probably half of what it would cost in a KL mall cafe.

Cappellini ‘wafu’-style, with angel hair pasta topped with baby octopus, plus yuzu shoyu dressing, truffle paste and mushrooms (RM14.90). Rest assured, patrons are in experienced hands here; head chef Alven has honed his craft over the past four years at establishments like il Primo, Pantizi and Renoma Cafe Gallery.

Brother Seven specialises in Oriental cooking, so his influence might be clearest in this Chinese take on mac-and-cheese, featuring macaroni with a golden egg yolk sauce, curry leaves, cili padi and deep-fried baby squid (RM14.90). All the pasta dishes are very capably prepared, resulting in satisfying textures.

Desserts

Louis is the pastry chef here, so he tackles desserts such as the sabayon, a delicious custard with berries and grapes (RM8.90). With tasty food, fair prices and friendly people, Basil Pasta House seems worth the trek to Kuchai Lama (note that parking on this restaurant’s street is easier in the evening); it deserves to draw pasta fansfrom near and far.