Anyhow, I must write about this Ristorante. So we got Salvatore & Paolo with their outlets littered throughout our little island. Mr Valentino opened up this place a little more than a year ago in the quiet neighbourhood of Rifle Range Road. It's a small cozy place, sitting pretty on the first level of a 2 storey shophouse with a few tables set in the porch area for alfresco dining.
At least half the restaurant was patronized by European expatriates, some with their SPGs in tow. The walls were painted red which certainly added some warmth to the cosiness of the place.
We were greeted by a lady waitstaff and she promptly recited the specials available for that evening. The menu featured a range of staple italian antipasta like cold cuts, grilled veggies in olive oil, zuppa, calamari, pastas, pizzas and meat.
I didn't feel like thinking too much that evening because I had endured a long, long day at work!! You know how it is... So yeah, we got the attention of an Italian waiter, who I presume is related to Valentino (I read someone else's review that he brought his sister, momma and papa to help out), to help us out. I wanted to try the rabbit stew but unfortunately for me, that was sold out. I gave up and asked him to recommend something else.
You're probably thinking, what the heck!!! First time in a restaurant, don't know what to order and you're asking the waiter to rip them pockets off your pants. Mate I tell you this fella knew exactly what we needed.
He suggested 2 starters, a custom pasta combo and a meat for the main course. We had a cold cut combo weighing in at around $17something and a roasted vegetable combo also around the same price. The cold cuts were nice and fresh but a little too
skint for the money. The veggies were excellent! The red pepper was slithery n sweet, zucchinis n eggplants were also beautifully roasted. Oh I almost forgot, they serve some warm bread with a nice basil/coriander/garlic/olive oil dip!
Shortly after, the custom pasta combo arrived. We had Pumpkin Ravioli on one side of the plate and Fettucini ala god knows what the name... let's call it Fettucini ala Gobsmacked because it was that good!! The freshly handmade al dente cooked fettucini was tossed in a light cream sauce, shrimp and rucola leaves. The cream sauce was so light you could have hardly told that you ate a cream based sauce in your tummy. The Pumpkin Ravioli kinda looked like undersized Gyoza at first and that did set my expectation slightly lower *yeah I'm so superficial.. well good presentation does enhance the taste sometimes* but man was I ever so wrong to doubt Valentino!! As the warm, almond scented pumpkin filling oozed in my mouth, I thought I'd tasted nirvana/valhalla *that is so Christian-speak wrong*. It was piquantly pumpkin, sweet and salty, gorgeous combi with the ravioli skin.
The main course BLEW me away. We ordered an 800gm Bistecca alla Fiorentina, chargrilled to PERFECTION off the bone. It came on a round wooden platter, neatly sliced into a few pieces on a heap of fresh rucola leaves and 2 lemon wedges. The meat was very well seasoned and cooked just so the meat was pink on the inside and very very moist. I squeezed some lemon on the meat and skewed it on my fork with a couple of rucola leaves. So you think Morton's was good ? This will RIVAL Morton's anyday.
You've gotta try it to believe it folks! I was chewing the rare bits off the bone for goodness sakes!!
Dessert was wheeled to us on a nice glass trolley. They had a blueberry tart, lemon tart, panna cotta and something else which I can't seem to recall. Also available from the menu was a selection of sorbets and tiramisu. We ordered a blueberry tart, a slice of panna cotta and a tiramisu to round off our most excellent meal. The blueberry tart didn't go down too well with me because I didn't really like the smell of the semolina flour used to cook the base of the tart. Panna cotta is cooked
cream for the uninitiated and this one was DAMNED good. It was light, fresh and creamy. Most of all it wasn't overly sweet, just enough to enhance the natural sweetness of cream. Numero uno man. The tiramisu was excellent. To some traditionalists, the tiramisu is not recognized as a staple of Italian desserts but this one sure tasted like it had been done in the tradtition of mamma for a long time. Surrounded in thick luscious mascarpone cream and sponge cake soaking in coffee liquer, this was a long time coming. I haven't tasted tiramisu anywhere this good since the good old days in Australia.
It ain't cheap but it's worth the experience. Call in advance because these guys are packed!! Bon appetit.
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