VILLA DANIELI: The Tuscan experience

5th Floor, Sheraton Imperial Hotel, Jalan Sultan Ismail, 50250, KL
Tel: 603-27179900
Email: villadanieli.imperial@sheraton.com
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Stepping into this Italian restaurant was quite a surreal experience. Though my mind was telling me that I was in the Sheraton Imperial Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, my eyes saw a restaurant tucked in a Tuscan village. All that was missing (in my mind) was a large, red-faced and bemustachioed Italian chef in a white apron to greet us and recite the day’s special in a loud, booming voice.
The restaurant’s exterior and interior is designed to look like it is set in Tuscany, Italy, all in the aim of providing the authentic Italian experience to the customers.
Inside, the dimly-lit interior and wooden furniture lend a cosy, relaxed atmosphere to the restaurant. The wood-burning pizza oven and an array of wine stored in a dark corner convey promises of an enjoyable wining and dining experience.
The menu is both in Italian and English. Since everything sounded so good, I had to ask the sous chef, Rajesh Kanna, for sugges- tions.
He cheerfully complied with a number of small portions of different dishes. Thank goodness for my companion’s presence!

Bite-sized they might have been, but by tast- ing plate number three, we were completely stuffed.
The meal started off with slices of thin- crust truffle and mascarpone pizza. The crispy pizza was so delicious, I literally had to stop myself from finishing the portions as I knew there were many more dishes to come.
This was followed by a portion of eggplant and mozzarella roll baked with parmesan cheese on stewed tomato (RM38). It was a tad too salty for me, but the stewed tomato countered the saltiness very well.

The chef had also prepared a surprising combination of smoked salmon with peanut butter dressing. The salty taste of the salmon went delightfully well with the nutty, slightly sweet and spicy dressing. This was followed by tuna roll Messina-style with pine nuts, raisin and tomato sauce
(RM42), which was again, a tad too salty but it made a great starter for a meal.
Next came the squid ink fettucine with aglio olio seafood (RM52). Though the blackish-greyish fet- tucine will never win a beauty contest, one taste of the spicy seafood pasta got me hooked. But the dish is probably not for the faint-hearted, and as I am a serious chilli fan, the dish met my heat requirement very well.
Rajesh said customers could request for the chilli to be taken out altogether. In fact, the kitchen will always try to comply with the customers’ wishes, so long as they are reasonable, of course.

My friend had a portion of gratinated lasagne and beef ragout with béchamel sauce (RM54), which she loved. The layers of cheese, pasta and beef just melted in the mouth, she said, and the white béchamel sauce enhanced the delicious dish.
The meal ended with portions of tiramisu al caffe ristretto e kahlua (RM28), which my friend adored even though she is not a coffee fan, and warm chocolate cake served with mint ice-cream, which I found to be absolutely delightful.

I wandered around the restaurant after that, and found myself totally charmed by the restaurant’s ambience. The colourful murals near the ceiling and the little Italian touches here and there made it an absolutely charm- ing restaurant.
All in all, Villa Danieli is definitely an Italian experience you wouldn’t want to miss, right here in KL.