Luca’s Panzerotti New Opening

At Luca's Panzerotti. The Italian panzerotti originates from Puglia, in southern Italy. Golden, deep-fried little pockets of deliciousness, with various types of filling, the panzerotti somewhat resembles a giant Mexican empanada or Malaysian curry puff.

Previously, it’s impossible to find panzerotti in Malaysia, as Italian cuisine is very regional, and Malaysians usually identify Italian cuisine with only pizza and pasta.

But thanks to Penang’s rich, cosmopolitan make-up, we now have Gianluca De Biasi, a native son of Puglia, who now makes genuine, 100% authentic panzerotti right here in the heart of George Town.

De Biasi’s one-month-old shop (opened in Nov 2024), Luca's Panzerotti, is located at 1F, Carnarvon Street – a few steps away from the crazy-busy Teksen restaurant.

I was there for lunch yesterday, together with a couple of friends visiting from Singapore. We tried three types of panzerotti.

𝙇𝙪𝙘𝙖 - 𝘴𝘮𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘥𝘰𝘳𝘰, 𝘮𝘰𝘻𝘻𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢, 𝘦𝘨𝘨-𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘨𝘨𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘵, 𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘭, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘈𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘧 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪-𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴.

𝘾𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙘𝙤 - 𝘗𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘥𝘰𝘳𝘰, 𝘮𝘰𝘻𝘻𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢, 𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘌𝘝𝘖𝘖.

𝙏𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙤 - 𝘻𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘪, 𝘴𝘶𝘯-𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘰, 𝘔𝘰𝘻𝘻𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢, 𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘢, 𝘨𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘤 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘪 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘸𝘯𝘴.

We also had a couple of desserts:
𝙎𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙘𝙖𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙨 ('𝘋𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘺 𝘔𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩') - 𝘱𝘶𝘧𝘧 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘕𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨.

𝘽𝙞𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙤 𝙈𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙞𝙖𝙧𝙚 ('𝘎𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘮𝘢'𝘴 𝘑𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘛𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵') - 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘬 𝘱𝘶𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘶𝘤𝘦.

Luca's Panzerotti is a small mom-and-pop outfit, like those we always see in Italy. Here, Gianluca is assisted by his very friendly Penang-born wife, Phoebe. We really enjoyed our meal here.