Review: Paradiso, Taman Danau Desa

Restaurant: Paradiso
Address: 5-0-2, Jln 3/109F, Danau Business Centre, Taman Danau Desa, KL
Tel: 603 7981 9996
Cuisine: Italian
Other reviews: Fried chillies
Verdict: Home-cooked Italian cooking, dont expect anything fancy

This has been my local Italian joint for more than 10 years. Paradiso was one of the first few shops to open in Danau Business Centre. I remember this because the whole family was happy to have a greater variety of restaurants in our taman so of course we had to try it out.

What I like about the place is the ambience - it feels like you're in the home of an Italian, especially since the whole place is run by one! They've been here since Day 1 and I remember how young the daughters were when they'd first arrived. Now, they're all grown up (and so have I!).

Another big plus for me is of course the convenience since it's just a stone's throw from my home.

Food-wise, my siblings, Rommel and I all like the mushroom risotto which is sinfully rich (think cream and butter). At one point, they used oyster mushrooms (which are one of the cheapest options around) but during dinner last Monday, they've improved the risotto by using button and portobello mushrooms.

Rommel and I also had a pizza (I can't remember for the life of me now what the name of the pizza was but it had beef pepperoni and turkey ham on it). Not a very big portion so it was just nice for the 2 of us. I won't say it's the best pizza I've had (I prefer the ones in Shook!, Starhill and in Telawi Street Bistro, Bangsar). But you can just feel the "love" that was put into making it.

We both had Iced Lemon Tea for drinks which wasn't very nice, to be frank. But the drinks are decently priced and if in doubt, you can't really go wrong with canned drinks.

The thing is, this place has survived all these years, has never been super packed but consistently had at least 2-3 tables each time we go there. I think its customers are mostly the local Taman Desa crowd (have bumped into neighbours and church members there).

Similar restaurants are the Pizza Uno chain perhaps, although I have only tried that once and didn't think it was that good, rather disappointing considering all the hype about it. I even got my dad to try the Pizza Uno in Puchong during one of his lunches and never heard the end of it from him about how he didn't like it.

So, I'm not sure if I would recommend this to someone living far away. But, I'll definitely go back there, especially on weekday nights when I feel like eating out instead of getting Evelyn to cook. If you want typical, home-cooked Italian food, this is where I go to for mine.

Ta..

P/S: Shen, it's Ascension Thursday tmrw so remember to go for Mass. Day of obligation!
It's also Labour Day in Malaysia tmrw. Yippee... I need to catch up on sleep!