reminder to self: sinful lunches might make you happy, but it also burns a huge hole in the wallet.
reminder to self v2: if it makes you happy, then the hole is worth burning.
Friday the 29th of May, last working day of the month. Frustrated as always, and having brought my swim gear home, I decided to walk out for lunch. I remembered this place, a short walking distance from my office, that I've been wanting to try for awhile but always changed my mind at the last minute. Budget lah. On this day, I decided, fuck it, I'm going in.
So I did. I was greeted by the manager Keith, and ushered inside without much fuss. Inside, there wasn't much fuss either: Nice crystal lightings, red on white curtains / table cloths, very cosy looking dining area. First impression: Hmm. Nice, but could do wiht a little renovation.
Service was really prompt and friendly. Ordered 3 course set lunch after looking through the menu (pastas on their own are between 13 - 19, + 3 dollars for soup and tiramisu... sounded too good to be true. there're also pizzas and baked rice on the menu).
Soup was served first, with a basket of sliced bread. Bread was ok; the soup was something else altogether. I've almost never had such rich tasting mushroom soup *zuchinni something, can't remember the actual name* with real, chewy mushroom bits. Flavourful. Great start to the meal.
Pasta was up next. Based on info from various foodblogs and sites, I found out that this place is reknowned for its squid ink pasta (nero di seppia), so I decided to try that. Black mess it looked like *first time trying, lah... always thought that the black stuff was a bit of a turn off*: spaghetti topped off with a couple of plump looking prawns, 1 mussel and several clams. Well, still didn't look particularly appetising.
But once you start eating, you realise something: This isn't just any black mess of spaghetti. It.was.awesome. *shall I try to say it like barney? nah....* Pasta was springy, chewy, full of zing. I think the correct term is
al dente? Ah well, who cares. It was awesome. The seafood was fresh too; something we should expect, but still a nice touch. Sometimes, you feel the urge to just gobble everything down: not because the food is good, but because its just too yucky. None of that here, took quite a while to savour every last strand of spaghetti, in fact.
I nearly burped out loud, and there's still the tiramisu to come! And this, is one of the better tiramisu I've had. *ok, i've not had a lot of it, but you get my point.* Melt-in-your-mouth, rum-infused cake layer, coming together in a little plate of sinful gastronomic sin. Wow. It was good.
Good stress relief. Good food makes a happy man out of this grouchy pot bellied weirdo. I'll be back here soon enough, me thinks. And next time, I shall remember to take some peektures.
Pasta Inc. A little bit of pasta heaven. Do a search for it on hungrygowhere if you're interested =)
