Another Suburban Gem: Ristorante Da Valentino
Ristorante Da Valentino
11 Jalan Bingka
Singapore 588908
Tel: 64620555
Having left Cantina, Valtulina Valentino, has set up his own suburban Italian dining joint. It is a lot smaller compared to Cantina, bringing a very cozy and homely ambience. The restaurant is seemingly family-run and where everyone pitches in – Valtulina (the executive chef) is frequently weaving in and out of the kitchen with the piping hot dishes himself.
We are greeted with crusty warm bread with a pesto that punches you in the face with fresh coriander, basil and garlic, and slightly mellowed with a nutty olive oil. A perfect start, now I’m ready to order.
Linguine all’Aragosta
Nosh: We start off with a zuppa di mare (seafood soup), which fumes are enough to whet your appetite. The broth is incredibly sweet from the clams, mussels, scallops, fish and squid that swim around in the bright red broth. It leaves a rich but a clean taste in my mouth and I am amazed at how tender the squid is. Cooked to perfection, it is not the least bit rubbery, probably one of the best tasting squid I have ever had.
Next comes the pizza papa’ di valentino (artichokes, prawns and garlic). The prawns are crunchy and the artichokes are nutty and the crust with nearly thin and crisp. It was good pizza, but the pastas to come were better.
From the pasta selection, we had the Linguine all’Aragosta (Lobster Pasta in Pink Sauce), Aglio Olio ai Frutti di Mare (Seafood in Olive Oil Sauce) and Tornarelli all Granchio (Squid Ink Spaghetti tossed with Crabmeat Sauce). The portions were generous and filling. The Italians here really love their garlic, all the sauces had a garlic tone and you could see all the garlic bits in the sauce. The Linguine all’Aragosta and Tornarelli all Granchio were both creamy and luxurious but not overwhelming, with the sweet lobster meat/crabmeat, needless to say, there was silence at the table while we focused on eating and conversation took the backseat.
For dessert, they wheeled the dessert trolley over and introduced the variety of desserts that they had – citron tart, crème caramel and profiteroles. We ordered the tiramisu from the menu and the citron tart. The citron tart was terribly disappointing, the pastry tasted like lard (and I’m afraid to imagine what it was made off) but the tiramisu was divine. I’ll just stick to tiramisu the next time.
It was a fantastic lunch, the service was prompt and helpful and I liked the homely feeling of this place. The ambience is warm, and the constant Italian conversation between the wait staff makes me feel like I’m in an Italian home and I’m a guest of this Italian mama.
Price: S$30-S$40 a person for 3 courses.
Service: Warm Italian homestyle.
11 Jalan Bingka
Singapore 588908
Tel: 64620555
Having left Cantina, Valtulina Valentino, has set up his own suburban Italian dining joint. It is a lot smaller compared to Cantina, bringing a very cozy and homely ambience. The restaurant is seemingly family-run and where everyone pitches in – Valtulina (the executive chef) is frequently weaving in and out of the kitchen with the piping hot dishes himself.
We are greeted with crusty warm bread with a pesto that punches you in the face with fresh coriander, basil and garlic, and slightly mellowed with a nutty olive oil. A perfect start, now I’m ready to order.
Linguine all’Aragosta
Nosh: We start off with a zuppa di mare (seafood soup), which fumes are enough to whet your appetite. The broth is incredibly sweet from the clams, mussels, scallops, fish and squid that swim around in the bright red broth. It leaves a rich but a clean taste in my mouth and I am amazed at how tender the squid is. Cooked to perfection, it is not the least bit rubbery, probably one of the best tasting squid I have ever had.
Next comes the pizza papa’ di valentino (artichokes, prawns and garlic). The prawns are crunchy and the artichokes are nutty and the crust with nearly thin and crisp. It was good pizza, but the pastas to come were better.
From the pasta selection, we had the Linguine all’Aragosta (Lobster Pasta in Pink Sauce), Aglio Olio ai Frutti di Mare (Seafood in Olive Oil Sauce) and Tornarelli all Granchio (Squid Ink Spaghetti tossed with Crabmeat Sauce). The portions were generous and filling. The Italians here really love their garlic, all the sauces had a garlic tone and you could see all the garlic bits in the sauce. The Linguine all’Aragosta and Tornarelli all Granchio were both creamy and luxurious but not overwhelming, with the sweet lobster meat/crabmeat, needless to say, there was silence at the table while we focused on eating and conversation took the backseat.
For dessert, they wheeled the dessert trolley over and introduced the variety of desserts that they had – citron tart, crème caramel and profiteroles. We ordered the tiramisu from the menu and the citron tart. The citron tart was terribly disappointing, the pastry tasted like lard (and I’m afraid to imagine what it was made off) but the tiramisu was divine. I’ll just stick to tiramisu the next time.
It was a fantastic lunch, the service was prompt and helpful and I liked the homely feeling of this place. The ambience is warm, and the constant Italian conversation between the wait staff makes me feel like I’m in an Italian home and I’m a guest of this Italian mama.
Price: S$30-S$40 a person for 3 courses.
Service: Warm Italian homestyle.
posted by joone! at
4:34 PM
4 Comments:
Ah!! I was hoping nobody would blog about Valentino's new hideout! =P
I went about a month back and also had the seafood soup - delicious and generous with plenty of seafood! The pizza was as we remembered from Cantina - a fail-safe option! Cantina's tiramisu was good so we decided to venture from another fail-safe option and tried the apple pie instead. This was not the traditional Americanised type but one which was rather unique because it also had plenty of almonds and dried fruits. It was not bad, served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. But parking is such a *****! LOL
ooohhh, the lobster pasta looks luscious! I will be in Singapore in a month's time so will defintiely have to add this to my list of must-eats!
galinusa: oops! I let the cat out of the bag.
vivilicious: Go! The food and the ambience is great.
Food is great, but the wines are over the top. Far too expensive!!!
Friends of wine followed the wine recommendation of the House and later they saw that the price was over 180 SGD per bottle!!!
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home