Pizza @ Motorino Pizzeria, Genting Highlands, Pahang.

In a recent visit to the old casino resort, I was given the opportunity to visit the newly refurbished First World plaza. Now rechristened SkyAvenue, this place now boasts several high end retail shops and food selections galore. Although selections are a plenty now, alot of them consists of chain outlets like fast food chains and regular players in shopping malls. I mean, do you go all the way to Genting to eat Gindaco? I love takoyaki, but I can get it back at sea level. And its much more expensive here.

Time for some dinner!

Alas, all is not in vain as the only Motorino branch in the country is located here. Known for its fluffy but thin pizza crusts and their trademark stone ovens, looking at the menu will easily cause you to salivate. The price did restrain me from getting in though, as there are about the RM50 range a pizza. But then again, its RM23 for a bak kut teh at the food court, so the lesser of two evils will do.

Menu on full display.

The menu is basic, as it should. A pizzaria with too much fluff and fancy ingredients will ride on the gimmick that it has to musk its weakness in its crust and sauce. Also, having too much will lead to a clash of flavours. Abundance is fine, but there needs to be a balance. Luckily, there was balance here. As I went to dine with my family, we need more than one pizza. As such, we had the starter of fried calamari and ordered two types of pizza, or like how the New Yorkers call them, pies. One was the meatball and another is the Cherry Stone Clam, which is RM59 and RM52 respectively. The fried squid was for RM25.

Lots of crunch here

The squid was surprisingly fresh and crunchy. The texture of the batter was just right and you do not feel like you are taking in an oil spill. It has great colour and was seasoned with chili flakes, giving it a flavour profile similar to  Szechuan style salt and pepper squid. A great start to the meal.

Simple but effective

Then the heavy hitters came. The chicken meat ball was a no frills affair. Good tomato sauce with a liberal amount of chicken meatballs and complimented with cheese. It was such a simple morsel but it has a refined taste. I believe it has got to do alot with the stone oven and the flour they use for their dough. it was bouncy and slightly fluffy. However, it has great texture and you do not feel like you are eating fried bread. Yes, Pizza Hut, shots have been fired. 

Deviously delicious

The clam were a special treat. Instead of tomato sauce, it was smothered with oregano infused butter. And the clams tasted great and they were also smothered everywhere. Yet, it does not have the sea water taste you get when you have too much shell fish. Dabbing it with a little chili oil, and it was a divine treat. 

A sneak peak to the interior

It is one of the more expensive pizza experiences out there, but it left me thoroughly satisfied. Service is good and the food is great. If more outlets are out there, I would surely give Motorino another visit. For the time being, the only branch is in SkyAvenue. Obviously everybody know where Genting is. However, for the sake of completeness, here is the address to Motorino's: 

Level 1, SkyAvenue, Resorts World Genting, 69000 Genting Highlands Resort, Pahang

Hard at work. Note the stone oven at the back, being powered by wood.