Pasta Zanmai @ 1Utama

Pasta Zanmai
G210B Ground Floor Promenade
1 Utama Shopping Mall
Bandar Utama
Petaling Jaya


Much has been said about this sister outlet of Sushi Zanmai. While it serves Japanese-style pasta and pizza, it still retains some its other Japanese dishes on the menu, eg grilled seafood, tofu, edamame and some rice sets.

We started off with some Miso Soup - some of us had the Miso Soup Yasai (RM6) - with mixed vegetables and mushrooms...

... while I had the Miso Soup Asari (RM6) - with clams ... (only 4 clams in my bowl!). The portions of soup were more than sufficient and best of all, the soup was piping hot! Good!

Their Kani (crabstick) Avocado Salad (RM18) was served with our choice of Sesame Dressing. I would say for the price paid, the portion could have been more generous. The vegetables were fresh, crispy and the sesame dressing was excellent.

The thick sesame dressing was very fragrant and went very well with the salad...
Next came the Teriyaki Chicken Pizza (RM20). The thin biscuit-like pizza was very different from your regular-kinda western pizza. There's no yeast in the dough and its texture was almost like the cream crackers kinda biscuit - firm and crispy. It was served with a half-cooked egg in the centre and the idea is to break it up while the pizza's hot... so we had this runny-egg (like soft boiled egg) smothering the pizza. Topped with shredded spring onions, seaweed and tender chunks of teriyaki chicken, this was one delicious unique pizza!

The Creamy Chicken Spaghetti (RM18) had crispy fried chicken pieces and mushroom served in a thick rich creamy sauce. Thank goodness we were sharing all the dishes among ourselves. If you are to eat this entire pasta dish by yourself, you would end up feeling very "jelak", I'm sure!

The Unagi Wafu spaghetti (RM22) fared better with our tastebuds. Again, a half-boiled egg was part of the topping and once mixed with the pasta, it rendered a smooth delicious consistency to the dish.
The Smoked Salmon Pizza (RM25) is one really healthy dish - it's like a salad served on a biscuit! A whole bunch of crispy lettuce leaves and onions sat on top of the biscuit-like pizza and slices of smoked salmon decorated the salad, with a sprinkling of savoury pepper powder.
See how healthy it is??!

Shells from the clams in my Miso Soup... they looked so pretty and cleanly-scrubbed!
For an interesting Japanese-Italian fusion experience, this place should be visited at least once. It is quite packed during mealtimes but the service crew were pretty efficient and alert.

My rating: 7/10