L'Angolo Ristorante Italiano

I went to lunch with my brother to L'Angolo. This place has been opened for a couple of months replacing the Osvaldo. I had no expectation of it and that can be a good thing.

I had my baby in a pram and there were a couple of steps to the restaurant. As my brother had no arrived yet, this made things a bit harder. Fortunately, the wait staff was observant and came to help me to carry the pram up the steps.  Thumbs up for good service.

When we were given the menus, the waiter advised us that because of Chinese New Year, some dishes were not available as the suppliers were on holidays. This is a good sign as it probably means that food freshness means something to this restaurant.

Taleggio Cheese spread

We were served bread with a taleggio cheese spread. This was quite unique compared to the normal accompaniment of olive oil. I think the spread had anchovies in it and added another salty dimension to the cheese. Tasty.

Beef Carpaccio with truffles and celeriac salad

The salad had celeriac, rocket and walnuts. The walnuts went well with the earthy flavor of the truffles. I think that the ingredients complemented each other well. The beef could have done with a bit more salt and olive oil.

Homemade ink spaghetti with black cod, green asparagus and lemon flavor

This was my brother's dish. The dish taste like a spring/ summer dish with the green asparagus and lemon flavor. Cod fish is quite a robust fish and is a tougher texture fish like a piece of meat. There is a lovely freshness to this dish. My brother wanted more garlic in the dish. I was alright with it though.

Homemade Spaghetti with crystal bay prawns and fresh tomato

I love the homemade spaghetti. The pasta is freshly "homemade" by the chefs here but it is nothing like amateur stuff. The pasta is springy in texture and picks up the sauce well. The olive oil has a rich orange tone to it, picking up the tomato taste and maybe prawn shells fried in the oil then drained? The cooking technique is just my guess. The olive oil feels thicker and more viscous than normal almost like a reduction. I could lick the plate. Prawns were sweet and flavorful.
Crystal Bay prawns are from Australia (see http://www.crystalbayprawns.com.au/). I have eaten them a few times and always enjoy their sweet flavor. Australia prawns in my opnion are some of the best in the world. When I was in Sydney, even the supermarket cooked prawns would be full of flavor of the sea, both sweet and salty. The prawns here somehow lack the burst of flavor. I think the clean waters in Australia play a difference to the taste. It's like clean air make healthy people.

Cherry Gelati

I was the only one who had dessert. Italian desserts don't really wow me. I was craving for something to end the good meal so decided on gelati. I liked the flavor being cherry but not tasting artificial like cherry can be. It wasn't too sweet or sour and was well balanced. However, the gelati was a bit icy. This dish has a texture problem rather than a flavor one.

I really liked this place. Italian food is done as it should be. Simple flavors with good quality produce that shines. The produce helps the food speak for itself. When produce is good, you need less to prop your dish up.

Plus the service is quite good with the staff noticing when glasses need to be filled and help with the pram. The atmosphere relaxed as its not too fancy.

This place will give the other Italian places in the area a run for their money.

I'm salivating just thinking of eating here again, getting hungry.

Website: http://www.langolo.com.sg/
Location: 32 Maxwell Road #01-03 Maxwell Chambers
Opening Hours: Mon- Sat 1130am-230pm; 630pm- 9pm
Contact Number: 62240978

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