Showing posts with label calamari. Show all posts
Showing posts with label calamari. Show all posts
UNA: Spanish fare under a fairy-lit canopy
Labels:
buona vista,
calamari,
cocktails,
hidden finds,
intimate,
large groups,
must go,
paella,
restaurants,
rochester park,
romantic,
spanish,
special occasion,
will return,
wines
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Like Botanico, UNA's kitchen brigade is run by Executive Chef Antonio Oveido who favours the authentic seafood themed gourmet finds from the South of Spain and tries to blend that with heartier cuisine from the North which avoids fussing and tweaking. The result - an innovative and contemporary menu that exudes the regular wholesome fervour of Spanish fare but founded by modern cooking techniques.
UNA is anything but low-key, it's dreamy landscape complete with shower curtains of fairy lights and banquet like soft cascades of fabric from wooden beams affecting a certain sort of formality. Step through a plush garden, as represented by most other establishments in the Rochester Park vicinity and be transported to a different dimension. Between it's white-washed patio area and grandeur of colonial bungalow, the whole experience of being seated can be a bit overwhelming.
The Quarters @ Icon Village: Mod-Sin cuisine done justice?
Don't get me wrong. I do love my fried chicken, and coffee, and having them together. The latter was excellent, my piccolo latte carrying a tinge of acidity with a good long finish (beans are sourced from Papa Palheta, hence a definite crowd pleaser there). The Har Cheong Gai ($8.50) though was a tad underwhelming, yes, no doubt they were fried till crispy golden brown, but it failed to deliver flavorwise, the prawn paste almost forgotten. What the Quarters succeeded in was that accompanying mini ramekin of power belachan (which can be purchased by the jar!), robust in flavors with a helluva spicy kick and a good touch of acidity. I was frantically using the chicken as a vessel to get it into my mouth!
Oops, pardon me, I've gotten ahead of myself here. Lunch was at The Quarters located at revamped extension of Icon Village. Choosing to dine on the weekend in an establishment that was cradled in the center of the CBD area meant a particularly roomy dining area dedicated to the gang. The concept is simple,.. local flavors with a modern perspective. Brilliant, and with that, there's room for error, a leeway for finding excuses to undershooting people's expectations. Read on...
Cicheti: and then there were Italian small plates
Labels:
arab street,
calamari,
italian,
kampong glam,
overrated,
pizza,
salad
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Before stepping through the rustic black wooden doors, a thought crossed my mind; I was sure the Italians would be equally bewildered and perhaps outraged by the notion of Italian cuisine served in small plates format. Slowly taking my time to adjust to the sheer darkness of the interiors, after just having wandered around the bright-light, touristy outskirts of Kampong Glam, I let the oddity of the situation slide. Ordering a glass of house white to soothe my nerves.
Cicheti is Kampong Glam's newest addition. A narrow shopfront reveals a massive monster of an oven right in the middle of the service floor; the pizza maker revelling (or not) in the rousing heat of its hell-like hearth, the balls of dough proofing ever so slightly from the heat of the atmosphere. Gleaming in through the glass doors meant to separate this inferno and the slightly cooler interiors, we watched as spectators, as the maestro does a pronounced counter spinning motion followed by a swift arrangement of assorted ingredients.
Our meal began with my mandatory order of Calamari Mollica Di Pane ($11). Crisp fried calamari in homemade breading served with garlic aioli dip. My feathers were left unruffled. The word 'homemade' making excuses for its crumbing which was under seasoned and slightly too stodgy. Aside from the fact that the calamari could have used a good 20 seconds out of the deep fryer; the self professed garlic aioli lacked any resounding trace of garlic (not that my companion was complaining since he's very much a hater.)
Next.
We were told the Duo Caprese was not available and pointed in the direction of a house special salad ($15) instead which turned out to be an exact replica of the former, sans the fried mozzarella and with a ton more rocket piled over the top. A decent medley of boccocini, cherry tomatoes, balsamic and rocket. There was just no 'umph' in there.
And as the oven-obsessed owner would trumpet, the heart and soul of Cicheti lies in its pizzas. I was eager to get that in my belly.
A couple more glasses of wine and a Peroni later, our beautiful bubble crusted pizza stood in full glory before us. The Bismark ($19), had ham, bacon, mushrooms lying on a bed of homemade tomato sauce, before being sprinkled with a liberal dosage of mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. To further feed the illusion, an egg is cracked right in the middle, tossed in the oven for a couple more seconds before being plated. The result, an imperfect, blistered edged pizza with delicious dark patches of burn marks and a delicate spot of sunshine in the middle. Chef Lim might have misjudged the cooking time of the dough while juggling the finesse of the perfect runny egg that led to a severely under-cooked bottom. Raw dough... outrageous. Nonetheless, we polished our plates in respect of alcohol laden stomachs.
Cicheti falls short of expectations on so many levels. Yet the tight spaces within the establishment allows for a lot of food ogling situations especially with thy neighbours. Perhaps I'll be back for the pastas.
Cicheti
52 Kandahar Street
Singapore 198901
Tel: 6292 5012
Website: http://www.cicheti.com/
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