San Lou Pasta Bar in Kelana Jaya

How did I find out about San Lou Pasta bar? One day I was craving for some pasta and I was searching around on Google to look for a place I haven’t been to before. I was thinking about my last visit to Natalina’s kitchen and I was hoping that I might find something as good and also closer to home. After going through countless lists of best Italian and pasta places in Petaling Jaya, I came upon San Lou Pasta Bar.

Hidden amongst the hustle and bustle of the suburban neighbourhood of Kelana Jaya and directly next to peak traffic of the LDP, San Lou Pasta Bar is located in Menara Infiniti. The building looks extremely empty, and by empty, I mean there are no tenants. Getting up to where the shop is was a chore and the layout of the building is extremely complex with very weird exits and pathways.

Location of San Lou

The shop is at level 3 of Menara Infiniti. First you need to get to level 3. Then based on which elevator that you took to get up, you would need to find a way so that you find yourself outdoors. The entrance of the shop faces an outdoor terrace area. There are many empty lots but look out for the store front (see the image above).

Reservations only

Ok, I did manage to eat dinner without a reservation as I arrived early and the usual guests haven’t arrived yet. But basically, this place is so tiny that you would need to make reservations beforehand. When I say tiny, it fits only 4 tables and some of them only fit 2pax. Yes, it sounds like a pop-up store but they have been operating for a while now.

Starters

As a starter we ordered the Naughty Eggplant Parmigiana (RM20) which is eggplant roll with basil, grana padano and japanese panko. The whole ensemble was served in a marinara sauce and pecorino cheese. It was absolutely delicious, it felt like a meatball without the meat but had so much flavour all packed into it.

Pasta

We ordered 3 different pastas, one of each of us. I ordered the Carbonara Yolkers (cooked without cream, ala the traditional way), my wife ordered the linguine vongole and I got the tuscan pork jowl bucatini. Firstly, the linguine vongole (RM40) was huge and had a lot of clams. The aroma of the clams can be tasted with every bite as the whole dish was cooked perfectly.

The tuscan pork jowl (RM32) was hearty and felt like a perfect comfort food dish. With lots of pork jowl and the combination of cheese, the dish felt homely and delightful. The fresh herbs over it helps cut a little bit of the fattiness but after eating 3/4 of the way, you can definitely start to get overwhelmed by it.

Last but not least, the Yolkers Carbonara (RM36) which doesn’t use any cream and uses the pasta water and egg yolks to create that creamy sauce. Why do I call this traditional? Because the chef uses not just the pecorino romano cheese but he also uses pencetta (salt-cured pork belly meat). Of course I would have loved that the dish used Guanciale (cured pork jowl or cheeks) but that would probably make the cost a little too high.

Conclusion

I would definitely give them 5/5 stars and would return to try out their other pasta dishes. They look quite scrumptious but with a small menu also means that I might have tried all dishes and would be longing for more. I would love to continue to support them as they continue to make these great pasta dishes and I do hope that they would find a better location as well for their shop!