La Strada

#02-10 Shaw Centre
1 Scotts Road



Les Amis. I’ve faithfully avoided the infamously pricey group of restaurants, largely due to the rumoured wallet busting prices. So it was comforting to learn La Strada wasn't very much pricier than the Italian joints I've hit in the past.

Service

The first question posted by the waiter was, “Sparkling, still or iced water?” It was a good start as I had a special regard for Singapore’s tap water. The waiters were attentive and swift. I was also suitably impressed that they did not have to check with us whose order was up.

The Ambience

The décor was pleasantly unintimidating. The space felt uncluttered, with understated dark wood floors, quiet quality furniture.

The bread basket came with a surprise. Pizza styled tomato sauce laden bread! Followed by the real thing.

Prosciutto cotto e funghi

Mushrooms were full bodied, lightly sautéed with the right amount of bite. The ingredients were deceptively simple; Italian gammon ham, mozzarella and tomato sauce. The quartet of quality ingredients embraced one another to produce a down to earth taste of a freshly made pizza.

My appetizer soon arrived.

Carpaccio Di Manzon

The menu describe this dish as “thinly sliced wagyu beef, drizzled with truffle mayonnaise, extra virgin olive oil, shaved parmesan and rucola” Sounds good? Tasted good. I know many have dismissed truffles as being overpriced mushrooms, but anyone who has tasted the truffle mayonnaise would agree how much so little can do so much to dress up a common Italian dish.  

Pollo

I merely got two bites of Pollo, a char-grilled baby French chicken but throughly enjoyed the herb dried grilled, tender, juicy, smooth piece of baby chicken.

Finally, my main arrived, I’ve opted for something that always sounded good but ends in bitter disappointment. Of course, I’m talking about ravioli. I mean, pasta wrapped with something special. How can it be bad? It was, many times over my years of enjoying Italian. Still, one more bad order couldn’t hurt. Could it?

Ravioli

The filling this time is braised quail with root vegetables in a raisin sauce. Not looking good. I went for the unusual raisin sauce with the pointed tips of my fork. It was a expectedly sweet, with a taste I just couldn’t quite understand. What I understood, was that it tasted fabulously decadant. Delighted, I spooned my first piece of ravioli. As I slipped the velvety piece of meticulously made piece of pasta in, my heart was pumping in estatic anticipation of what the fillings would be like. It. Was. Sublime. The quail with root vegetables were moist and rich. Complicated together yet displaying simplistic individual flair.

What this dainty piece of pasta did, was to restore my confidence in ravioli. They do make it this good, you’ll just have to look a little harder. Although my seach has not ended, it's nice to know I can always come back for more Ravioli here.


Ambience 12/15
Service 12/15
Food 13/15


Will I come again?


Yes, if not for anything else, the Ravioli that made my day.

Pasta Inc. - Jalan Besar

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