Trattoria Il Porcellino at Menara Hap Seng: Restaurant Review

Too many porky temptations to wax lyrical about here, but rest assured that Trattoria il Porcellino’s fare remains supremely hearty and tasty.

Pastas

Try the house-made potato gnocchi, adorned with pork bacon and green peas in a creamy sauce.

Classic pork carbonara. Trattoria’s kindest trait: its willingness to offer pasta in both regular and small servings; this cost RM14 before taxes for a light-eater’s portion.

Ravioli stuffed with minced pork and spinach in tomato sauce.

Rigatoni in pork bolognese sauce.

Pappardelle with minced pork sausage and mushrooms in a cream sauce (RM15).

Spaghetti with prawns and spicy pork meatballs in tomato sauce.

Pork

A fine roast: Roasted pork ribs with roasted potatoes.

Sauteed pork tenderloin with capsicum, cherry tomatoes and mashed carrots. Comfort food.

This might not look alluring, but it’s amazing: pork belly, crispy-skinned and succulent-fleshed, with cheese-crusted scallop.

Costoletta alla Milanese (RM21), deep-fried breaded pork chop with French fries.

Trattoria’s Italian-style interpretation of a pork burger, with a house-made pork patty, mozzarella, onions and mushroom in ciabatta bread, served with chunky fries (RM27).

Less satisfying

A sandwich of baguette stuffed with Parma ham & buffalo mozzarella (RM31).

So not everything here’s a total hit: the spaghetti amatriciana, with bacon, tomato sauce and pecorino cheese, is OK but its rather wan flavors might pale against its peers.

Skip the knuckle, maybe; when we tried it, it bore an overly porky, off-putting stench.

Some nondescript salad to counter the sinfulness of this porky spread, though that veggie virtue itself is countered by the side serving of bread, cheese and chili, supplied for stomach-stuffing.