Candy gets hungry #1 - ANTE, 1Utama review

Candy gets hungry – This idea came up during one fine day when I was browsing through all the food photos I have taken and my belly started crying “I’m hungry T_T” Thought this would be a better way to categorize my life in a nicer more ‘me’ sort of way, so why not give it a go?

I’ve passed by Ante many times when it was still on renovation and I remember mami dearest once said that gourmet lovers should be interested in this place. Since the day it opened, we’ve passed by couple of times too then one very very very fine day, we walked in and took a seat. 

The ambiance of the place was pretty nice. 

 The word 'pumpkin soup' is always tempting to me and one of my life goals is to find the world's best pumpkin soup. So you've guessed it, this was the first thing we ordered.

♡ and here comes the food ♡

Out of everything we ordered, this dish was probably one of my most anticipated dish. Because, it's pumpkin soup ,duh. ( Roasted pumpkin with herbs - RM14 ). So far the worst pumpkin soup I've had was priced at RM12 and the best I had well, that was priceless because it was a home cooked one. Unless you want to include the cost of air tickets to Sydney la. 

For RM14, I'd say, go for it. The soup was creamy and nicely seasoned, I'd dare say that it was pretty yummy. In fact it was actually slightly better than the best pumpkin soup I've had in PJ. So for the extra RM4, I guess I'd go for this place if I have mid-range atas food craving and didn't mind burning a hole in the wallet because their mains were nicer than the restaurant that served the nice RM10 pumpkin soup. 

Big breakfast: Scrambled eggs, house smoked bacon, bratwurst sausage, sauteed mushrooms, salsa & slice of multigrain toast  - RM32

My sister went with this big breakfast from their brunch selections. The bratwurst sausage was really really good and was loved by all three of us but "I'm still hungry" was my sister's only comment for this plate. For a big breakfast, it did seem rather small after me and my mom tried a little bit of everything haha but taste factor wise, it was pretty good. Often times, nothing really goes wrong with big breakfasts, except when it comes to the sausage. ANTE totally nailed it perfectly tho.

 The Chargrilled Pork Steak: Signature steak, russet potatoes, truffle sauce, cherry tomatoes & honey glazed rockets - RM52

This was one of their signature dishes recommended by the waiter. The pork steak was juicy and tender, it also went well with the truffle sauce. I love tomatoes so naturally, the sweet taste of the cherry tomatoes was something I enjoyed. You know at first glance I thought the portion was small but I guess the only reason was because the plate it was served on was huge and I don't know why but the food was placed on one edge of the plate so like a quarter of the plate seemed bare. The portion was filling enough but I just expected something fancier?

Pork Diane: Seared pork loin, button mushrooms, russet potatoes, green pea mash and white wine cream sauce - RM42

This was another dish recommended by the waiter and I have to say he really did a good job in recommending. Both of the dishes he recommended suits my taste pretty well. I liked everything on the plate except for the green pea mash that I personally did not favor very well. When I reached towards the end of my dish, biting down to a whole chunk of fat really wasn't all that pleasing either. However, overall, this dish would be something I would re-order. It was pretty cute to see the green pea mash hidden beneath the pork loin though. 

Ratings upon 10 bacon strips

Taste: 9/10

Overall, everything tasted great. There wasn't anything served that wasn't tasty, the green pea was good but I just personally didn't favor green peas when mashed. A little more sauce for the Pork Diane would be great though.

Presentation: 5/10 

Everything was definitely not as beautifully arranged as I imagined. It was really only the taste that saved the whole experience. 

Price: 6/10 

I can't really dwell much on the price because I think what we got had justified what we paid for, except the big breakfast though. I still think the quantity was rather small for a big breakfast. Would I dine at Ante again? Perhaps, but definitely not so soon, you can't eat such pricey meals every week kan. Although I've said that the price had somewhat justified the food quality, it is still a costly meal. I definitely would like to try the branch at Solaris though, I've seen people blogged on the solaris branch and the same food definitely looked different from what I experienced. 

P.S I just find the beverage page of the menu is a little lacking in terms of legibility, so I suggest improvising that bit when it's time to change menus haha

ANTE, 1 Utama

Lot F346 @ New wing, first floor

FB page: ANTE