Amici Italian Restaurant

Amici is set in a shophouse in Craig Road that also has a charming little front courtyard.

On sight, it looks inviting and relaxing.

In the restaurant

We had sunday brunch there at about noon.

Egg Omelette and toast

My friend had this for brunch. I didn't have a bite but it looked pretty ordinary. My friend said it was ok but she could make it at home which says a lot about the dish.

Salami and eggplant on toast

This was fine but was actually very boring and unspectacular. Again, it is something that can be recreated at home without too much fuss.

Big Breakfast

My husband had this and the coffee. The coffee was really quite badly done. Big breakfast- ham, eggs, toast, bacon. I think that when big breakfast is served in restaurants it needs to be done with a twist or with very fresh ingredients. 

Mixed cured meats $24

I felt a bit cheated by this. $24 for a couple of slices laid out. It would have been ok if the quality was great but it wasn't. 

I'm not a fan of the white stuff called lardo which is cured strips of fat. However, what I have heard is that the lardo in Italy is really very good so don't be completely put off by it. 

Mortadella which is the cured meat that looks like ham. It is pork sausage which in this case has pieces of green olives in it. This tastes like it comes from cold storage.

The parma ham is the real disappointment cos I have tasted better parma ham from cold storage. Good parma ham is rich in taste and has a sweetness to it underneath the saltiness. In this case, the parma ham was almost bland. I have never tasted a bland parma ham.

The Salami was slightly spicy and this was the same stuff I think that they put on my toast. The Salami flavor wasn't bad. I quite liked it. 

Overall, this first experience isn't beckoning me to return. The Plain and a new cafe Selfish Gene are only a few doors down and both serve good coffee and breakfast. I think this place will have to lift their game on both food and coffee to compete at a brunch level. 

Location: 11 Craig Road

Latteria Mozzarella bar

This place used to be the Jackson Plan but has been changed to an casual Italian restaurant. Beppe de Vito who runs the place. He also runs Forlino and ll Lido.

I think this is what they should have done in the first place instead of "fluffing" around for 6 months with the average food in  Jackson Plan! 

The main theme of the place is around mozzarella which is served in about 15 different forms as an entree. This mozzarella bar concept seems to have taken a leaf off Mario Batali's Restaurant. 

I love mozzarella and only had enough stomach space to share 2 entrees. Mozzarella after all is pretty filling given it is cheese.

Bufala with cherry tomatoes

This is a pretty common dish that can be seen in most italian restaurants. Like all Italian food, the success of a simple dish is dependent on the quality of the produce. The produce here was fresh and the dish very tasty. 

According to the wait staff, the tomatoes are from Italy. What I like about it more than the fact that the tomatoes are from italy is that they have flavor. Too many tomatoes grown in the region are mistreated when grown, they have too much water and not enough flavor.  The restaurant seems to suggest from their menu that their Bufala comes from Puglia in Campania. Some of you would know that Champagne can be only called champagne if it comes from the Champagne region. In a similar way, Mozzarella di Bufala Campana has protected status and comes only from Campania.  This is done to ensure a certain standard and quality of the Bufala. Bufala comes from Buffalo milk.

Fried Bocconcini balls in arrabiata Sauce

Little Bocconcini balls were covered with a crumb mix and fried. This is so delicious as it plays on textures. You cut through the crispy fried layer and the cheese oozes out. But it would all be too dry without the arrabiata sauce- tomato and chilli. 

 Vongole in a tomato base sauce

My husband ordered this. I only had one vongole because I'm currently having post pregnancy rashes and have to avoid seafood. It was rich packed with flavor. I think the same tomato base used for the arrabiata sauce for the bocconcini was used for this. 

We asked for bread so that my husband could wipe the sauce up. 

Risotto with truffle and smoked mozzarella

This had the wonderful aroma of truffles when it came to the table. The truffle paste was used for the dish. Smoked mozzarella in the risotto helped to create a even creamer risotto. It was a good dish but the portion was far too large for such a rich dish In fact, I think the dish may go better as a small entree with some mushrooms. I'm not quite sure if the rocket adds much to the dish.

Tiramisu

This was huge. I mean huge. It was a portion for 2 or 3 rather than one. It was tasty enough but nothing special. It was just a typical tiramisu done well with good cream and good coffee cake pieces. The Etna pistachio tiramisu was definitely much better.

I have rarely been blown away by Italian desserts other than the gelatos anyway. 

This is one good Italian joint and I'm glad they decided to bring this concept in.

Location: 40 Duxton Hill

Contact Number: 68661988

Prices: About 80 per pax for 3 course meal excluding wine.

Speciality: Mozzarella Entrees

Cafe L' Operetta

Cafe L'Operetta sits below Berjaya hotel in Duxton Road.

It is part of the L'Opera group chain that includes Enoteca L'Operetta sitting at the end of Boat Quay. 

Cafe L' Operetta is a more toned down than Enoteca L' Operetta. Being on maternity leave pre baby, I dropped in for the set lunch.

The set lunches include a pre main buffet spread, a cold drink, a main course and a coffee/tea.

Pre main buffet spread

Salad and soup from buffet

The buffet spread is nicely laid out in style. Items include salads, cold ham, antipasti of semi sundried tomato and mushrooms, pumpkin soup etc. Spread was reasonable but not fantastic. Still, it is nice to have a selection to choose before the main course.

Squid Ink Pasta

I selected Squid Ink Pasta as the main. This was quite nice and came with pieces of squid. I think it had a sort of tomato base as it was slightly tangy and the sauce showed signs of being a bit reddish. Though, the squid ink hides almost everything. The pasta was cooked quite nicely al dente. This was good but it was not the best squid ink pasta I had eaten. 

Desserts- not part of buffet

After tea, they asked me if I wanted dessert. I was too full having gorged on the buffet. The wait staff suggested that I still take a look as real visuals were more powerful than the menu. Even though I was too full, I was glad they suggested it. The available desserts look wonderful as you can see. There is a specialized pastry chef who does this.

Cafe L'Operetta is open for high tea and I will be going back to try their desserts.

Website: http://www.operetta.sg/?page_id=74
Location: 83 Duxton Road, Hotel Berjaya Lobby
Contact Number: 62244298

Opening Hours:

Breakfast: Tue-Sun 7:00am-11:00am, Lunch: Tue-Sun 12:00pm-3:00pm , High Tea: Fri- Sun 3:00pm- 5:00pm, Dinner: Tue-Sun 6:00pm-10:30pm
Prices: Set Lunch is about $30- $40 

Pasta Inc.

Pasta Inc is situated along Keong Saik Street.

I have passed the place a few times but have never tried it in my 2 years living in Tanjong Pagar. The sign Pasta Inc in black and white seems to always beckon me in.

So I decided to walk through its doors to see what was really on the other side and if it proved its allure. 

Glass room where we dined

On first sight, the decor seems inviting. We were led into a glass room. Having a dining place in glass room within a room seems a bit strange. I'm not sure what is the reason behind this design but it has a fish bowl feel.

However, I'm only a tad bit concerned about the ambience of any place. For me, its the food that really brings me back.

Since this place is called Pasta Inc., I expect pasta to be the speciality. So, I asked the waiter if the pastas were freshly made. The waiter told us that only 2 sorts of pastas were handmade- Ravioli and angel hair. Fresh pasta isn't always the best. Dry pasta can be as good if not better than fresh pasta but only if done by a expert producer. However, it is strange that a place named Pasta Inc. will only have limited fresh pasta and say very little about their dried pasta.

Bread basket

The bread came to the table. It wasn't bad but it was pretty unimpressive. With Taratata Bistrot just next door, I was starting to salivate at the thought of Taratata's warm crusty bread and wondered if I had made the right choice by stepping into Pasta Inc. 

Mushroom ravioli with tomato sauce

The above was the main course I ordered. Our eyes tell us a lot about food served before we even taste it. Although it may not be apparent from my sub standard photo above, the color of the tomato sauce told me that too much tomato paste was probably added to the sauce. Upon tasting it, the sauce was too tomatoey. The flavors were not clean and certainly did not feel fresh. There was no depth in the sauce.     The mushroom ravioli wasn't bad but the ravioli did not feel full with mushroom. The texture of the ravioli felt a bit too chewy. It was clearly freshly made but felt like it was made by a home cook rather than an expert. 

Angel hair pasta with crayfish

The angel hair was chosen by my friend. The angel hair came en papillote style. I think this was be a very difficult way of cooking pasta as it must be hard to cook it perfectly. The pasta was overcooked and as a result too soft. The crayfish had no flavor. Like my pasta, my friend said that her pasta had too many garlic slices. 

Gorgonzola ravioli with cream sauce

The cream sauce for the pasta above was the best among the three. This should have gone with the mushroom ravioli. The gorgonzola ravioli was too salty for my liking.

After the pasta, I had some room for dessert. But the 3 dishes were disappointing and we decided that we were better off going to Taratata next door for dessert. Which we did.

My personal opinion is that for the same sort of value in the area, Etna is a better deal.

Website : http://www.pastainc.sg/
Location: 35 Keong Saik Road
Opening Hours: noon - 2pm, 6pm - 10pm
Contact Number: 62977515/ 62241501
Prices: About $20-$35 for mains

Etna

Etna is part of the Sicilia Mia Group of Italian Restaurants in Singapore. The group seems to specialise in Sicilian Cuisine.

Food there is generous, decent and relatively reasonable.

A lot of the pastas are handmade an about $20- $25 per dish. This is reasonable for the price of hand made pasta in Singapore. 

Some dishes that I have had there:

Bresaola Alla Contadina

Marinated raw beef with rocket salad, cherry tomatoes and parmesan cheese

I am not a fan of this and like beef carpaccio better. The difference between this and the beef carpaccio is that the bresaola is marinated and the carpaccio is not. 

Soft cheese from Puglia with parma ham and a rocket cherry tomato  salad

The cheese is creamy and soft. This cheese classically paired with good parma ham is a selection that is hard to go wrong. 

Pizza with parma ham, cheese, mushrooms and pistachios

The mix of parma ham and cheese is a bit too salty for my liking. I'm not sure if the pistachios add much to the taste.

Tiramisu

You can see pistachios are used quite a lot in Etna. The staff proudly tells me that the pistachios come straight from Bronte in Sicily and are some of the best in the world. This product is apparently more superior and expensive than the pistachios in Turkey and other regions. 

The tiramisu is their top dessert recommendation. 3 of us shared one to try. None of us were tiramisu fans but we all agreed that it was very good. I think that most tiramisus are far too sweet but this one has a good balance of coffee, liquor and cream. What makes it stand out is the pistachios. The pistachios enhance the tiramisu and is the star of this dish. It's quite interesting that there isn't that much pistachio but it still manages to stand out. 

Pistachio Mousse

I love pistachios but this mousse is pistachio overdose. Apparently they also call this the pistachio bomb. They use pistachios, pistachio cream, pistachio powder and something else pistachio. The texture is too thick and heavy to be called a mousse. It was closer to a paste. 

Website: http://www.sicilia-mia.com/etna_res.html

Location: 49/50 Duxton Road

Prices: About $15 for entrees, $25 for mains, $12 for dessert.

Speciality: Pistachio Tiramisu