Uno Pizza

We were itching for some pizzas one weekend evening. Pizza Hut and Domino were too mundane. So we drove to Centre Point in Bandar Utama and revisited a place that we had not been for quite a long time.

Uno Pizza is Malaysian "chain" of restaurants offering Italian meals. I inverted comma "chain" because they only have 3 restaurants - all in the Klang Valley. We have visited 2 of them - the one at Centre point and another in USJ Taipan, Subang Jaya. Their 3rd outlet is in Bandar Puteri Puchong. Our last experience was probably about 5 years ago. I remembered Uno as a simple and relatively inexpensive place that offered good pizza, nice fried chicken and a fabulous tiramisu. But I think things have changed. Well, at least the prices did.

The Uno outlet in Centre Point is on the ground floor, facing the main entrance. It is quaint small place, with tables spilling to the corridor walkway. The decor was red and rather drab. But it was comfortable although a bit squeezed for room.

It was the fasting month. When we arrived, the place was almost packed. Some already had food on their tables waiting for Maghrib. The service was friendly and efficient. A number of their staff were obviously Muslim, but they continued to actively serve the customers even after the fasting hours, apparently making sure that the customers had their food first before they eat.

The menu was typically Italian. They had antipasti (appetizers), salads, soups, lasagnas, pastas, meat dishes, seafoods and of course pizzas. Interestingly, they also had some Spanish tapas and paella. 

We started our meal sharing a Caesar salad. It was embellished with some beef bacon, eggs and croutons. I didn't know beef bacon can be so crispy and nice. But the serving was not that big. They were a bit stingy on the greens. For 16 bucks, surely they could add in a few more leaves.

These were the golden cheese balls with a  napolitana sauce. They had some chicken ham inside. They were not bad but I wasn't crazy about them. Too dry for my liking.

These garlic bread was very nice. Superbly toasted with some fresh rosemary. 

Our first entree was the Boscaiola. It was spaghetti in a cream sauce with mushrooms. The pasta was very well done and the sauce was great. Simple yet so very nice. 

I remembered the very nice deep fried chicken we used to enjoy in Uno. So we ordered it again. Our chicken was a thigh with some french fries, salad, in a garlic sauce. It was pretty good. The chicken was very nicely fried. The skin was a crisp. But somehow it did not taste the same. Something was different. I cannot say what it was. Perhaps my expectations were too high.

And finally the pizza. We had the Uno Special. It had chicken ham, mushrooms, olives, pineapple and roasted cherry tomatoes. The pizza was delicious. The cheese was generous. This place lived up to its pizza name.

Dessert was their hallmark tiramisu and a nice cup of coffee. The tiramisu remained fabulously unchanged. It was cup shaped and deliciously soft and creamy with a generous sprinkling of chocolate and a tinge of rum. 

My wife took this picture. It was the iced lemon tea. She put her i-phone beside it for comparison. It was so miserly small. And no, it wasn't bottomless. And not even full. Like the salad, they were so stingy over small things.  

All in all, we enjoyed our meal at Uno. In spite of a few peculiarities, I found the place revisitable. The food was good and the service friendly. The next time we have a hunger for Italian, Uno would probably be it.