Pasta- Pizza!

An Italian night at Amari Orchid Tropical Gardens

A culinary expedition with Ambrosia

The charming aspect of the weekly Friday night Pasta/Pizza dinner at the Amari Orchid is not only its very reasonable price, but also its beautiful tropical garden setting. Special lighting gives it the flair of little Italy and the Filipino band Bert & Belle, which is usually playing in the lobby, underlines the whole atmosphere with soft oldie’s.
Bread-sticks, pizza bread and sesame-rolls are served before the meal, to enjoy together with a glass of Italian wine while taking in the scenery.
What ever you desire at a Pizza Pasta Party, you’ll find it. The buffet, decorated with the Italian colors green, white, & red, is filled with different kinds of spaghetti, cannelloni, lasagna, ravioli and colored noodles of all kind, as well as two different types of pizza. One can also find entrees like capriccio, coppa, parma ham, cheese & tomato salad, pastrami, stuffed tomatoes and salami, along with minestrone, vegetables and many different salads, served with lots of garlic bread. Pork-medallions, deep fried seafood, fish meuniere and pork piccata were the main dishes on the buffet. Mixed fruits and beautiful decorated sweets are awaiting you at the end of your meal.

My friend and I choose minestrone, mixed, and cheese & tomato salad, a stuffed tomato, vegetables, salami, capriccio, parma ham and a big slice of pizza as starters. The minestrone was a real minestrone and not only a plain vegetable soup. Very tasty and well-seasoned. The pizza was baked as it should be, crispy yet still soft and juicy.
On our second visit to the buffet, we chose spaghetti with a cream sauce, green noodles and ravioli mixed with ham, broccoli and tomatoes, and lasagna. Again, all was seasoned to a correct, original Italian taste. My friend, who is a real noodle freak, couldn’t get enough - as usual. Therefore, after this rather opulent noodle-orgy, she only managed to try some fish meuniere, immediately complaining what a shame it was that she was full already, for it tasted ‘awfully’ good. I helped myself to pork piccata (mouth-watering), tried some deep fried seafood and pork medallions.
To our shame I have to admit there was nothing left on our plates when we finished our meal.
We had to wait quite a while, listening to the music and enjoying the warm summer night under the stars, before we were able to attempt dessert. My friend chose fruit with a tiny bit of pudding and chocolate mousse. I chose chocolate wafers in the form of little boats filled with fruits, pudding and a vanilla-mousse cake. My little boats looked so cute, I almost regretted destroying them, but my sweet tooth grew longer and longer and I couldn’t resist, still knowing I would have to starve for the next three days to lose what I just gained.
To enjoy a typical Italian outing, the Pasta Pizza Party at the Amari Orchid is highly recommended. Look for yourself!

Recipe: “Dendeng Bumbu” or “Neue Heng.”

This is a spiced dried beef, venison or pork made all over Southeast Asia with slight variations.
Take about half a kilo to 800 grams of beef with some gristle and cut it with a sharp knife along the grain in small cutlets.
Pound the following spices:
Five cloves of garlic;
a tablespoon of coriander seeds;
two teaspoons of cumin seeds;
four small chilies or half a tablespoon of black pepper corns;
four thin slices of Galangar (Kah);
a tablespoon of palm sugar, or if failing this, a tablespoon of cane sugar;
half a tablespoon of coarse sea salt and when this is reasonably fine add a tablespoon of tamarind juice.
In Thailand Nam Plah or fish sauce is used instead of salt.
Rub the meat with this mixture, taste and add whatever you think is necessary. Pound cutlets gently until even thinner and dry in the sun on a “Kradong” (flat matted bamboo trays) for several days. Be careful of the neighbour’s cats and take the meat inside as soon as the sun goes down or when it is going to rain. To keep the flies away you may cover it with a piece of mosquito wire or screen. This meat can be kept for several weeks if it stays dry. To eat it, toast it over a fire or fry it in deep fat. Very good to take on long hikes, eaten with sticky rice (Kao Neeau). Sticky rice does not spoil as fast as other cooked rice (Kao Suway).