We’re back at Il Bacaro for lunch today - the first time since the COVID pandemic lockdowns began in Malaysia back in March 2020.
One of the changes made to the trattoria was that the floor-to-ceiling side-windows facing Cintra Street were all thrown open nowadays. Gone were the air-conditioned setting. I guess customers nowadays felt more comfortable dining al fresco or semi-al fresco, rather than cooped up in a completely enclosed environment.
Venetian blinds provide much-needed shade, though. Penang can be hot!
We opted for two of the well-conceptualized daily set lunches today, supplemented by an additional a la carte order of the 𝗖𝗶𝗰𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶 platter, consisting of baked eggplant, cous cous “Siciliano” salad, clams cooked with garlic & chilis, deep-fried mantis shrimps, and bruschetta topped with pate & green apples.
From our set lunch order, one of the starters was a delightful, and unexpected, purple sweet potato soup with warm, earthy flavors.
My starter was a scrumptious arancini with pomodoro sauce. I love arancinis, so my only complaint here was that the starter came with only one of the delicious golden orbs.
Mind you, the rendition here was pretty large, butt-ugly, and absolutely delish! Pry it asunder and strings of mozzarella stretched between the two halves.
Our two mains respectively were:
Fillet of barracuda with roasted potatoes & sautéed vegetables - the fish fillets were plump, sweet and very fresh. But it was the accompanying pan-roasted potatoes that stole the show: the flavors and textures were pitch-perfect. The accompanying lemon-scented aioli was a plus.
Spaghetti with clams and pesto - perfectly al dente, and positively bursts with flavors.
Dessert was an old favorite of mine: the Rum Baba - rum-soaked sponge with sugar-syrup, vanilla cream and pistachios. It was a tad on the sweet side, but the sponge was well-soaked through, and had that ultra-moist texture one expects in a good rum baba. The alcohol quotient was a bit lacking though.
So, overall, a pretty satisfactory lunch. In terms of cooking, I personally still think Jaloux sets the benchmark in Penang. But there’s no beating Il Bacaro in terms of service - attentive, and always with the right timing and level of response. Our efficient maître d, Chinese-speaking Jitse Ligthart, is of Dutch descent, but has lived in Penang since he was 9.
