Mad for Garlic

First established in Korea, Mad for Garlic is a garlic-specialized Italian restaurant, aimed at infusing garlic into everyday Italian cuisine!

Tutto Mushroom Salad

Tutto Mushroom Salad ($14.90) – Garlic and rosemary marinated mushroom salad served in Teriyaki sauced with grilled red pepper, asparagus and arugula. We adore the mushroom salad – savoury earthy fresh tender mushrooms with sweet caramelized onions soaked in a subtly savoury Teriyaki sauce.

Gorgonzola Pizza

Gorgonzola Pizza ($21.40) – Unique and popular pizza with Italian gorgonzola cheese served with honey dipping sauce. This is a very unique, hit-or-miss kind of pizza. The gorgonzola chunks, with the signature blue veins, exuded the salty cheesy characteristics of blue cheese. On its own, the thin crust pizza was packed with strong savoury flavours. The addition of the sweet and viscous honey dip cut through the pungent flavours of the blue cheese. This pizza could go 2 ways, as while there are those who enjoy this unique combination of a sweet salty pizza, there are also definitely those who find it rather queer. But do give it a go, with an open heart, and you might find this combination rather surprising.

Gorgonzola Cream Pasta

Gorgonzola Cream Pasta ($24.60) – Creamy potato gorgonzola cheese pasta served with scallop and grilled king oyster mushroom. We kind of felt that a more appropriate pasta for this gorgonzola cream could be something along the lines of gnocchi, penne or farfelle – a smaller, bite-sized pasta which could better absorbed the white sauce. The sauce wasn’t all that cheesy, more of a creamy and salty sauce, thickened with potatoes. The addition of fish roe provided that extra salty burst. Both scallops and oyster mushrooms were fresh, with a chewy bite.

Garlic Sizzling Rice

Garlic Sizzling Rice ($21.40) – Garlic fried rice with garlic pickles, bacon and fish roe. The fish roe has shone in the garlic rice as well! The fish roe acted as miniature pockets of flavour and texture, bring a surprise kick to every mouthful of rice. The fried rice wasn’t overwhelming with garlic taste, though minced garlic can be easily spotted in every spoonful. It was slightly spicy and very fragrant. The bottom charred portions of the rice added that slight crunch.

Mad for Garlic
Block 3B, River Valley Road
#01-16, The Foundry
Clarke Quay

Trattoria SolePomodoro

A trip to Quayside Isle saw us trying out Trattoria SolePomodoro’s traditional wood-fired pizza.

SPECIALE

SPECIALE ($25.50) – Tomato sauce, mozzarella, prawns, ham, gorgonzola cheese. The 12-inch pizza arrived at our table, looking pretty appetizing with its charred edges and plentiful chunks of gorgonzola cheese. Unfortunately, the taste wasn’t comparable to the looks. The pizza was generally quite bland and tasteless. The tangy tomato taste was barely evident and the gorgonzola cheese was a tasteless chewy chunk. The small cubes of prawns were miserably scattered across the pizza. Though the crust was very thin, the lackluster toppings and the lack of strong flavours was a major turn-off.

SolePomodoro
#01-14 Quayside Isle
Sentosa Cove

Al Borgo

Al Borgo is a quaint Italian restaurant situated along the lower end of Bukit Timah Road. We have always been impressed with Al Borgo’s unique cakes, but sadly their cake offerings this time round were unimpressive and we had to settle for a no desserts meal instead.

Melanzane alla Parmigiana

Though there wasn’t any desserts attracting us, Al Borgo does serve decent renditions of classic Italian dishes. The Melanzane alla Parmigiana ($16.50) had a sufficiently thick and rich tomato sauce. There wasn’t a whole lot of cheese, but thankfully Al Borgo provided us with additional freshly shaved cheese. The eggplants had also adequately soaked up the tomato sauces and on the whole, this was a flavourful dish.

Orecchiette con Formaggi e Salsiccia

The Orecchiette con Formaggi e Salsiccia was recommended by the staff to be the most cheesy dish in Al Borgo. The mix cheese sauce was creamy and flavourful, not too overwhelmingly salty and rich such that it made us sick. The orecchiette was cooked al dente, retaining a bit of bite. The homemade sausage was quite fresh, didn’t taste like processed meat. On the whole, this was a simple yet comforting dish.

Al Borgo
#01-02, Alocassia Service Apartments
383 Bukit Timah Road

Dolcetto by Basilico

Dolcetto – the revamped now-defunct SomethingToGo at The Regent Hotel. Every single time we walk into Dolcetto, the huge variety of pastries, cakes and chocolates would blow us away.

Dark Chocolate Amedei

The Dark Chocolate Amedei was a combination of dense rich chocolate sponge and chocolate fudge covered in ganache. Not only was the cake topped with chocolate flakes, a second surprise laid at the bottom where the base of the cake was studded with chocolate nibs. Between the sponge and fudge was a crunchy layer which somehow lacked the freshness and crispiness we were expecting. That was the only downfall of the cake. Other than that, the cake was rich and chocolately, a well-balanced bitter-sweetness, exuding premium quality expected of Amedei chocolate.

Amedei Chocolate Caramel Pine Nuts

The 2nd Amedei Chocolate cake was more colourful in terms of flavour – with the introduction of caramel. But this was also the main reason why we did not like this cake as much as the first. The caramel layer was blended with cream into a custard-like form which did not complement the dark chocolate amedei well, leading to a slightly queer sweetness in the cake. We did however like the pine nuts; they were fresh and crunchy. On the whole, this cake wasn’t as chocolately rich as the 1st one.

Dolcetto by Basilico
Lobby Level, The Regent
1 Cuscaden Road

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Zafferano

At $38 per person, Zafferano’s semi-buffet lunch has been a popular destination for the Shenton Way lunch crowd.

The lunch kicked off with a selection of starters from the buffet table.

Antipasti

Cheese Board

The selection of starters wasn’t as extensive as Basilico’s. But generally, the offerings  were pretty unique, of a decent standard and using fresh ingredients. We particularly enjoyed the salmon terrine and prawn salad. We were also attracted to the cheese board. There were 3 different cheeses that day – Taleggio, Gorgonzola and Parmesan. 3 different cheeses of different tastes and textures. The Gorgonzola was soft and creamy, with chunks of blue veins. The Taleggio was slightly harder than the Gorgonzola, and with a milder taste. Finally, the Parmesan was the hardest and firmest, but also the mildest in taste.

Carnaroli Risotto with Taleggio cheese & asparagus

The cheeses from the buffet spread proved to be very important and useful in our main course – Carnaroli Risotto with Taleggio cheese & asparagus. The Risotto was very bland and under seasoned. It was lacking in cheese and the asparagus seemed to play no part at all. We had to resort to adding the cheeses from the buffet spread into our risotto, to increase the flavour as well as incorporate the cheesy and sticky texture into the risotto. A disappointing main course from Zafferano.

Roasted Iberico pork belly, balsamic vinegar sauce & mashed potatoes

The other main course, Roasted Iberico pork belly, balsamic vinegar sauce & mashed potatoes, was much stronger in flavour compared to the risotto. However, in our standards, it still fell short as the pork belly could have been more marinated and flavourful. The texture of the pork was also on the tougher and chewier side, lacking the “melts in the mouth” texture.

Desserts

The desserts were pretty disappointing too. General comments of the desserts – bland, forgetful, mediocre. The mango pudding looked stale and oxidized. Both the chocolate mousse and brownie were tasteless and not chocolate-rich. Not the best finish to the meal.

The view at Zafferano was great, a 270 degrees panoramic view! However, the meal was severely let down by the under seasoned main courses and unexciting desserts.

Zafferano
Level 43, Ocean Financial Centre
10 Collyer Quay

Spizza

Known for its affordable yet authentic Italian fare, Spizza has been around for more than decade at its pioneer outlet at Club Street.

Parmigiana

Parmigiana ($13) – Oven-baked eggplant and mozzarella with tomato sauce. Layers of thinly sliced eggplants sitting in a sea of tangy tomato sauce. We enjoyed the acidic and tangy notes of the tomato sauce. The sauce was rich and flavourful and the eggplants had thoroughly absorbed the essence of the sauce. The eggplants weren’t all too mushy and retained its structural integrity. A pretty decent rendition of the Italian classic parmigiana.

Gnocchi

Gnocchi ($17) – Gratinated homemade Gnocchi with gorgonzola, cream and cooked ham. Spizza’s version has got to be one of the more appealing gnocchi we have tried. The gnocchi was served in a piping hot rectangular deep dish, carrying with it the aroma of cheese and cream. The dumplings weren’t too starchy and sticky, and had just the right balance of chewiness and softness. The sauce was slightly too water, akin to a soup, not exactly the thick consistency that we were hoping for. Taste wise, it was generally creamy, exhibiting slight notes of blue cheese. We added more Parmesan cheese to the gnocchi, increasing the cheesiness of the dish while at the same time, thickening the watery sauce. On the whole, despite some misses, the Gnocchi is one of the dishes that we will recommend at Spizza.

Spizza
29 Club Street

Brunetti

Off to Brunetti we went, as we heard that Brunetti offers one of the best hot chocolates around.

Italian Hot Chocolate with Florentine

The Italian Hot Chocolate was indeed thick and rich. However, we felt that Max Brenner’s version was of more premium quality, with a smoother and richer dark chocolate taste. The taste of Max Brenner’s Italian Hot Chocolate was, in our opinion, a notch better than Brunetti’s.

Tuna Bagel

The Tuna Bagel was slightly toasted before served, hence resulting in a warm crusty bagel while retaining the cold and moist tuna. The interesting thing about the Tuna Bagel was the dollop of blue cheese stuffed within the bagel hole, adding a sharp characteristic pungent taste. We liked the sour and crunchy pickles as well, which provided that extra crunch and refreshing sourness.

Cheese Macaroni

Brunetti’s Cheese Macaroni was a simple rendition of the classic American dish. We could tell that the cheese used in the Cheese Macaroni wasn’t of top notch premium quality, but the creaminess and saltiness made up for it. There were bits of ham inside as well. Nothing too fanciful, but still good comfort food.

Brunetti
#01-35, Tanglin Mall
163 Tanglin Road

Oso Ristorante

This was our maiden visit to one of Singapore’s most popular Italian restaurant – Oso Ristorante. To our dismay, our reservation only secured us a 2nd level balcony seat. Not the best environment to have a fine dining meal, but the service and food proved to make up for it.

Bread

As per most fine dining restaurants, bread was served at the start of the meal. Oso’s bread was pretty cold, much to our disappointment. Nothing great and we only enjoyed the crunchy bread biscuits.

Gratinated eggplant tartar with mozzarella served with arrabbiata sauce

Gratinated eggplant tartar with mozzarella served with arrabbiata sauce ($22) – The eggplant tartar was very soft and mushy, akin to baby food. The eggplant was topped with mozzarella, which somehow still tasted rather bland. We requested for parmesan and the server came with a slab of fresh parmesan and grated it on the spot, onto the eggplant tartar – a pretty cool table service. The additional of the fresh parmesan elevated the flavours and richness of the dish with the arrabbiata sauce adding a tinge of spiciness aftertaste.

Oven baked whole sea bream in a crust of rock salt “al sale” with poached broccolis

Oven baked whole sea bream in a crust of rock salt “al sale” with poached broccolis

Main course of our meal was the Oven baked whole sea bream in a crust of rock salt “al sale” with poached broccolis ($35). The server first brought the crusted whole sea bream to our table and explained to us that they will debone it and serve us separately. The salt crusted sea bream looked like a loaf of bread and emitted a savoury fishy fragrance.

After deboning and splitting the whole fish into 2 portions, each individual serving didn’t appear that big. The fish was tender, very fresh and not fishy at all. There were parts of the fish which were rather salty, but overall we enjoyed the fish very much. It was healthy and full of flavours, not overly oily. The butter sauce did not overshadow the taste of the fish, allowing the freshness of the fish to shine. On a side note, we did find the broccoli to be a tad too soft, lacking the characteristic crunchiness.

70% hot dark chocolate tart “crostata” with milk ice cream

Dinner ended off with the 70% hot dark chocolate tart “crostata” with milk ice cream ($14). This dessert could also be known as a molten chocolate cake in a tart. The tart fillings were like the crust of a molten chocolate cake – warm and soft. The cold ice cream started to melt upon contact with the hot fillings and caused the fillings to be more gooey and moist. It was a nice collision of hot and cold and made the entire dessert sticky and rich. Taste wise, the chocolate was rather sweet, which was unlike the previous tarts we tried which tended to be on the bitter side. Overall, a commendable dessert worth trying.

Service at Oso Ristorante was commendable, though we did feel a little left out as we were seated at the balcony. The ambience was more chic and cosy in the inner dining room. For the balcony seats, the doors, walls and flooring were rather old and shabby. But the food definitely made up for the not-so-appealing environment.

Oso Ristorante
46 Bukit Pasoh Road

La Pizzaiola

Situated beside Wimbly Lu along Jalan Riang is La Pizzaiola.

Sfoglia Di Melanzane Alla Parmigiana

Sfoglia Di Melanzane Alla Parmigiana ($9.90) – Baked layered eggplant, tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese and parmesan. The parmigiana was pretty mediocre, it was severely lacking in cheese, and was quite a disappointment.

Pizzoccheri Della Valtellina

Pizzoccheri Della Valtellina ($13.90) – Home-made whole grain pasta with butter, sage, potato, cheese. We ordered the Pizzoccheri Della Valtellina, considering that it was the chef specialty, and it looked pretty unique. However, we were once again disappointed by our choice. When we broke apart the pizza crust, what welcomed us was a mess of vegetables. In fact, it looked like a vegetable soup. The filling was a haphazard combination of vegetables, potato cubes, brown whole grain pasta and cheese. The potato cubes were quite hard and crunchy. The brown grain pasta was pretty tasteless and we could not tell any uniqueness in taste. The sauce was very diluted and watery, just like a soup. It would definitely be more appropriate to have a thicker and richer sauce. The pizza crust covering the pasta exuded a charred fragrance, but resembled more like Indian naans.

Torta Pistocchi

The Torta Pistocchi ($8.90) was pretty petite, and reminded us of Torte. Indeed, it was rich, smooth and dense – a mouthful of chocolate fudge. But for that price, we didn’t feel that it was worth it.

La Pizzaiola
15-3 Jalan Riang

Ricciotti Pizza Pasta Deli

Hot Chocolate

Nothing better to kick start our meal at Ricciotti than a cup of Hot Chocolate ($5). We were given a choice of Italian or Asian flavour. The Italian version of the Hot Chocolate was dense and very thick. There was a top layer of foamy froth, which was very rich and viscous. The flavours were strong and evident of premium chocolate quality. At the end of a day’s work, it was simply comforting to sip down this warm cup of pure delight.

Rigatoni Al Telefono

Rigatoni Al Telefono ($19.50) – Rigatoni with eggplant mozzarella in tomato basil sauce. The biggest flaw of the Rigatoni Al Telefono was its lack of sauce. There wasn’t enough tomato sauce to thoroughly encompass the rigatoni, hence certain portions tended to be a little drier and not as flavourful. The eggplant came in chunks, contrary to what we had expected. In fact, we had hoped for something like a parmigiana, where the eggplants came in slices, and were covered with cheese. For the Rigatoni Al Telefono, we could see mashes of mozzarella cheese, but we still found there to be inadequate. On the whole, the Rigatoni Al Telefono had strong flavours, but was let down by the insufficient amount of sauce and cheese.

Nutella

Dessert for the night was the Nutella pizza ($11.90)! Replacing the typical tomato based and cheese toppings was a layer of Nutella spread sprinkled with chopped hazelnuts. The pizza crust was a bit tough to slice through. Obviously, the nutella was chocolately and rich, but we found that once again, the spread was a tad too thin and not mind blowing enough. Somehow, the Nutella pizza appeared to be something that could be easily whipped up at home.

Ricciotti Pizza Pasta Deli
B1-49/50 The Riverwalk
20 Upper Circular Road

Otto Locanda

Otto Locanda

An Italian wave has swept the shores of Singapore as one after another of these Italian restaurants start popping out. Being the offspring of the famous Otto Ristorante located at The Red Dot Traffic Building, Otto Locanda enters the Italian cuisine scene with high expectations.

Bread

Warm bread with a crunchy outer crust and an inner fluffy centre kicked start our dinner at Otto Locanda.

Baked layers of Melanzane alla Parmigiana tomato, parmesan cheese and mozzarella

Baked layers of Melanzane alla Parmigiana tomato, parmesan cheese and mozzarella ($20) –  The parmigiana wasn’t all too impressive. There wasn’t sufficient melted cheese to bind the entire dish together. It seemed like we were eating sliced eggplants with tomato sauce. It wasn’t cheesy enough, nor bursting with flavours.

Potato Gnocchi al Gorgonzola with Baby Spinach Leaves

Potato Gnocchi al Gorgonzola with Baby Spinach Leaves ($24) – The gnocchi was too soft for our liking; it wasn’t cooked al dente, and was simply just mushy and lacked the chewiness we were hoping for. The accompanying sauce was toward the bland side and wasn’t rich and flavourful enough. But surprisingly, hidden amongst the gnocchi were small cubes of Gorgonzola, which were bursting with the characteristic strong flavours of blue cheese. The baby spinach leaves, having been deep fried, were more fragrant and crispy. On the whole, the gnocchi lacked taste and didn’t have the right texture.

The servings at Otto Locanda are pretty small, so do be prepared to order more if you are a big eater. Our dining experience at Otto Locanda was far from good, with disappointing dishes. There wasn’t much depth in terms of flavour and texture in the dishes and for the prices we paid, we would be better off dining elsewhere.

Otto Locanda
#01-03, Maxwell Chambers
32 Maxwell Road

Modesto’s

Back to Modesto’s for round 2, for more pastas, pizzas and desserts!

Quattro Formaggi

Funghi

Quattro Formaggi (Regular – $23.50) – Tomato, scamorza, mozzarella, gorgonzola and parmesan cheese. The aroma of freshly baked pizza, accompanied by a salty cheesy fragrance, was enough to whet our appetites. The pizza had a thin crust that spelled a good balance of dough and crispiness. At the same time, the base wasn’t too tough, allowing the pizza to be sliced relatively easily. The Quattro Formaggi was expectedly rich but there was no sharp overwhelming pungency. The pizza wasn’t overly dry and every mouth contained melted cheese with a crunchy pizza crust.

Funghi (Regular – $20.50) – Tomato, cheese, sauteed shiitake and button mushrooms. The Funghi pizza was not as rich as the Quattro Formaggi but no less appetizing. The addition of mushrooms saw an added juicy and chewy texture, and the injection of the wild fungi taste broke the monotony of an all-cheese pizza.

Linguine Alla Modesto

Linguine Alla Modesto (Single – $28) – Flat spaghetti with fresh prawns, squid, clams, mussels, whole crab, anchovies, capers, black kalamata olives, dried chili, garlic, white wine and fresh tomato sauce cooked in traditional Italian Cartoccio style. To our disappointment, we realized that only the double portion was served in the aluminum pouch. The pull factor of the Italian Cartoccio method was the unveiling of the aluminum pouch in front of the guests prior to serving. However, what arrived before us was the pasta already dished out on the plate, which lacked the ‘wow’ factor we were expecting. Putting the disappointment aside, we particularly liked the sauce of the spaghetti. The tomato puree base created an overall appetizing and mouth watering sourness. But it was the overall combination of seafood and anchovies which made the sauce rich and the sweetness neutralized part of the acidity of the tomatoes. There was a generous serving of clams and squids. However, the crab was rather scrawny and did not have much flesh. But the best thing of this dish remained to be the sauce, which was packed with the essence of all the seasoning and accompaniments.

Gnocchi Alla Boscaiola

Gnocchi Alla Boscaiola ( $24) – Traditional Italian potato dumplings with cooked pork ham, mushrooms, diced tomatoes and basil in cream sauce. The gnocchi wasn’t springy and chewy enough. Rather, it turned out to be a little on the soft and mushy side. We liked the creaminess and richness of the cream sauce base. However, perhaps instead of using pork ham, the use of bacon might accentuate the fragrance and taste of this dish.

Tiramisu Modesto's

Tiramisu Modesto’s ($12) – The original version of mascarpone cheese, espresso, savoiardi fingers and coffee liqueur. The most popular Italian dessert – Tiramisu! We have tried Tiramisu at many Italian restaurants before and there were a selected few which impressed us. Unfortunately, Modesto’s was not one of them. There wasn’t any taste of coffee liqueur. The mascarpone cheese wasn’t smooth enough as well. This was a very mediocre Tiramisu.

Cassata Di Ciliege Con Salsa Cioccolato

Cassata Di Ciliege Con Salsa Cioccolato ($11) – Home-made Italian cherry cassata served with chocolate sauce. It was essentially a slab of ice cream with small pieces of cherries and pistachio embedded within. There was nothing too impressive; in fact, disappointing. The ice cream did not taste too premium. The additional ingredients seemed to be a separate entity from the ice cream, doing little to complement the ice cream. It was nowhere near the standards of even Walls or Nestle ice cream. We couldn’t quite appreciate this dessert in general.

Modesto’s
#01-166/167, VivoCity
1 Harbourfront Walk

PS. Cafe

Green Garden Lasagne

Green Garden Lasagne – Garden vegetables tossed with mozzarella cheese, bechamel and portobello mushroom duxelle, layered with herb ricotta and spinach pasta, baked till bubbling and served with shaved fennel and almond salad. A vegetable based lasagne is hard to come by, let alone a good one. We were glad to spot it here at PS. Cafe. The baked lasagne was served on a plate instead of the typical clay porcelain ware. The green spinach pasta was light on the palate and was soft and tender when piping hot. The delectable flavours came mainly from the vegetables fillings, which included long beans, peas and brocolli, well spread within a generous sea of creamy and rich ricotta cheese. While the ricotta cheese within the pasta sheets were soft and creamy, we particularly enjoyed the slightly charred and crisp  ricotta cheese on the top of the lasagne which had come under the direct exposure of the baking process. Sitting atop the lasagne was the garden salad, which burst of more flavours. Vinaigrette added over the salad gave off an aromatic bitter sourness. At the same time, we thought we tasted a fair bit of Italian dressing. There a was burst of saltiness which came from the sea salt randomly scattered over the garden salad. The shaved parmasen cheese and fresh crispy sliced almonds provided a nice finish to the salad. The Green Garden Lasagne at PS. Cafe is another ideal savory dish, other than the Triple Cheese Penne, which can whet your appetite for the desserts to come.

PS. Cafe
#03-41/44, The Paragon
290 Orchard Road

Modesto’s

Modesto’s is famous for its wood-fired pizza and home made pasta. One thing unique about Modesto’s was its pre-meal bread. The bread wasn’t the typical baguette; it didn’t have a hard, crispy exterior. Rather, both the interior and crust were soft and carried a very strong taste and aroma of herbs.

Bread

Spaghetti Alla Carbonara

Spaghetti Alla Carbonara  ($20) – Spaghetti with pork bacon, egg yolk and parmesan cheese in cream sauce. We were hoping to see an undercooked egg on the centre of the carbonara, but we were unfortunately disappointed. The carbonara was very creamy, not as cheesy as we would have preferred. In fact, the strong creamy milky taste overpowered any saltiness of the pork bacon, rendering the dish a little less salty than expected.

Cannelloni Agli Spinaci

Cannelloni Agli Spinaci ($21) – Fresh home-made pasta filled with spinach and cheese, oven baked with a tomato and cream sauce. The first sight of the Cannelloni Agli Spinaci made us very excited as the beige sauce gave the impression of one packed with an intense flavour of cheese. Unfortunately, it was once again more creamy and milky. This dish was slightly more savoury compared to the carbonara. We felt that it would have been better if the outer layer of the cannelloni was more burnt and fragrant. One aspect which didn’t strike a chord with us was the spinach filling. The spinach used seemed to be Chinese spinach instead of the Western kind which one would have expected from an Italian restaurant Modesto’s.

Modesto’s
#01-166/167, VivoCity
1 Harbourfront Walk