Another night of Italian

So last night, I thought of having dinner with me dad and wife outside. Since my mum was out of town attending to a certain new addition to the family in London, I thought I do my part before me dad leaves for the U.K. and I go for my holiday. I actually wanted Japanese but unfortunately, my expatriate wife and local dad could not find the restaurant. I think I should have gotten the hint when I tried to call the restaurant and the phone company tells me that the service is no longer in use. I was going for quantity vs quality as my dad is big eater. But I digress.

We were walking through Marina Square and my wife turned to me and told me that she doesn't want to eat that much. So okay. My initial buffet idea has gone out of the window. So while we were walking to Suntec because I thought we might have Kushin-bo, or fishing bowl like my dad calls it, we took a turn into Pan Pacific instead and lo and behold, up one level was Zambuca. Its a bar and restaurant and its owned by the MichaelAngelo chain, so how bad can it be right?

We walked in and my wife immediately liked the place while my dad went, "Wah, you like this kind of place?" It sounds funny but for those that do not know, it was the first time I was going out with my dad and wife. So its an unusual chemistry. Usually, there would be mum with dad, and us. So it was kind of uncomfortable for awhile.

The deco of the place was nice. The whole restaurant was dimly lit and the roman blinds were at half mass. The servers were polite but the restaurant wasn't exactly packed. Prices are reasonable. For a plate of pasta, it was about $34 average, main course was about $45, and appetizer are about $25. It wasn't that bad. I ordered the soup of the day which was mushroom for me and dad, and we all split some bruschetta. I ordered the pasta fruta de mare, my dad ordered the pasta tandoor (if I remember correctly) and my wife ordered a penne with spicy Italian sausages, with kalmata olives and some assorted vegetable. The total cost was about $165. It wasn't that bad.

The food wasn't that bad at all. Service wasn't bad. Restaurant wasn't bad. But on the flip side, it wasn't very good as well. Its, how you say, ho hum? It wasn't terrible, and it wasn't great. It was mediocre. I didn't complain about anything, but there wasn't anything worth giving too much praise for. Its standard fare. None of the dishes stood out. Well, nothing really stood out. We had a pleasant time chatting and talking about things but the food never was one of the topics that were discussed, which is unusual for me actually.

I wouldn't recommend this place to most people but I have before because I haven't gone to Zambuca until last night. But what do I know?