35 Keong Saik Road
+65 6224 1501
[Along the stretch of old shop houses along Jalan Besar, hides a little Italian Restaurant named Pasta Inc. Taking over the compound previously spaced by Stiff Chilli, I chanced upon this little jewel on my lunch break with a fellow foodie colleague.] They have since moved to a new location, thankfully found out because of a good friend's Birthday Dinner. Review remains the same for now. Standby for pictures.
The ambience
Since the space for lunch time was limited to a cosy 6 table setting, the ambience was that of a boutique hotel. Small, uncluttered, classy.
The service
Keith, one of the co-owners of the joint, was attentive and pleasantly friendly. With a background in service from his service days, Keith gave a detailed and frank introduction to the food he is so very proud of. Iced water replenished constantly without as much as a wave of my hand was a warm welcome change to places which still have the audacity to charge three to five times the supermarket prices of bottled water.
The food
My colleague and I shared three appetizers.
Prawns in butter, garlic and herbs – This little delightful dish gave the expected luxurious taste of butter, paired perfectly with the mix of garlic and herbs. The nicely peeled prawns, fresh, bouncy with bite, soaked in the rich mixture started our meal on a bright promising note.
Prosciutto ham and mozzarella cheese with rocket drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar – The five ingredients, when eaten together, produced a most interesting sensation of salty, tart, sweet and bitter, all mixed together, each taste given its own time to express itself. The balsamic vinegar was especially good, much better than what we can expect from our supermarket variety.
Portobello mushroom with herb and olive oil – What appeared to be a simple dish of Portobello mushroom lightly cooked with olive oil and herbs gave my colleague and me goose bumps. The soft, creamy texture of the Portobello, with a deep, dark flavour, gently coaxed out by the herb and excellent olive oil was the perfect end to our appetizer course.
As recommended by Keith as the best seller, I had the squid ink sauce whilst my colleague had the saffron cream linguine.
Squid Ink sauce spaghetti with seafood – I had squid ink pasta and squid ink bread before, but nothing prepared me for what was to come. The dish arrived in the most unusual fashion. The squid ink sauce came, covering everything on the plate. From the well cooked spaghetti, to the similarly fresh seafood, everything was coloured in a dark shade of purple by the sauce. What this sauce conveyed, was a strong, deep dark flavour of the sea. The sensation of the flavours enveloped me, casting a warm comforting sensation with a hint of unfamiliarity from the squid ink. It was so good that I knew I would be back again for another experience.
Saffron cream sauce linguine with seafood – The thick linguine came, covered with a light coat of cream. The cream was lightly cooked with saffron, giving it a slightly pungent but very pleasant taste. The seafood, as with the rest of the meal, was fresh and sweet.
It certainly was a surprise to find such fine quality Italian at this price. I would definitely revisit this quaint little joint, if not for anything else, the Portobello and the Squid Ink Sauce.
Ambience – 9/15
Service – 12/15
Food – 11/15
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Lunch 12pm till 2.30pm
Dinner 6pm till 10.30pm
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