Italian dining need not be fussy, stuffy affairs - and Bianco is just one place that proves Italian casual dining is a warm, simple and delicious affair.

Ah, readers. Hello.

First of all, let me declare that I do like Italian food. It is all at once rich and simple, gourmet and down-to-earth, healthy and unhealthy. But I, like so many Malaysians, are faced with certain problems.

First, it is very difficult to find an authentic Italian restaurant in KL. I am talking food that you will find in Italy, transferred onto your plate in Malaysia. Second, when you find one, it will cost you the down payment of a car: You're a student. You don't have much money on you. Certainly don't want to blow it all on some fancy plate of pasta.

So what are we left with, you ask? Italian casual dining, that's what.

And when it comes to Italian casual dining here, nothing is actually casual about it. They are usually overpriced and taste like they were made in a factory - good, but clinical. Like it was mass-produced by a team of cooks inside a fancy kitchen.

Sometimes, just sometimes, you want food to be more than that. You want it to be handmade, you want it to taste like someone put effort into it, and you want it to be tasty enough to make you want more, but not heavy with MSG and all that.

So, what you want is Bianco, a chic little eatery located in the somewhat deserted Tropics Shopping Centre, Damansara Perdana.

I hardly need to repeat that yes, Bianco (which means White) serves up the same kind of warm, hand-made and tasty Italian casual dining that I waxed lyrical about.

And so, armed with notebooks and eager stomachs, a colleague and I headed over to the restaurant to tuck in a good meal.

First up was the Bianco Fritto Mistro (RM 12), which is a platterful of lightly battered and fried seafood. Delicious and crispy, it was a perfect starter to what was going to be a very good meal indeed.

For mains, we tried the Bianco Special (RM 18) which combines ricotta cheese, spinach and a fried egg; and the Marinara (RM20): A wonderful three-way delight of seafood, capers and olives. Best eaten piping hot, the pizzas are light-on-the-stomach treats with little to no added MSG. Ingredients used are ingredients you do not sneakily suspect was deep frozen and processed. We are talking fresh basil, fresh eggs, and none of that atrocious frozen vegetable stuff.

The pastas, too, were light, basic affairs - we tried the Bianco Special (RM 18) which is a fantastically strange but wonderful combination of breadcrumbs, chili padi (for that heat) and coriander.

 We also sampled the Fettucine Carbonara (RM17), which is a rich, creamy affair of beef bacon and cheese.

But the one treat we were both bowled over by was the Elvis Presley Pizza (RM 10), which is a tribute to the late great King of Rock and Roll and his favourite snack of peanut butter and banana, fried in butter. Bianco takes it to the next level, combining warm, soft pizza bread with icy-cold, sweet Haagen Daaz chocolate ice-cream, topped with crunchy bits of peanuts and resulting in an absolute cacophony of textures, tastes and sensations. This, I personally feel, is the absolute best thing on the menu (though the other sensible, main, hearty and delicious items are good too, uh huh, but more Elvis please!) and should not be missed by anyone.

Added to that, the price tag of RM 10 is not a phenomenally high price to pay for a 'perfect for two' dessert. Nor, in fact, are the other items on the menu - with barely anything over RM20, the menu not cheap, but it is not astronomically expensive either.

On top of that, Bianco offer various lunch sets which are tagged at below RM 20 per pax and also other promotions to make their food accessible to you - after all, what is the point of over-charging customers and risk them never coming back? (Check out their website for more up-to-date promotions, website at the end of the article.)

In conclusion, Bianco is a fine place to eat when you've got that little extra in your pocket and a craving for good, wholesome, friendly food that will have you coming back for more.

P/S: Check out their website at www.bianco.com.my!