Ok, I made the mistake of snapping this pic with my phone instead of the camera.
Pic quality leaves much to be desired so I'll just add a small one here to give an idea how the portion look like.
Upon ordering this, I had envisioned fresh squid rings tossed in flour before being deep-fried. Turns out to be some ready-made ones instead.
I kinda like the coleslaw in the centre though. Finely minced cabbage & carrots there.
We were curious as to what this was. I was wondering why anyone would want to make a big deal out of toasts. So we asked and he explained enthusiastically in his heavily-accented English.
Truth to be told, I managed to catch only a handful of what was said but ordered one anyway. Chose the 'Shrimp Aioli' version. However, they later came back to say they ran out of it and offered the chicken version instead.
When it arrived, I find that it looked pretty familiar, somewhat akin to the thick toasts from Streats HK Cafe. A thick slice of bread that's toasted and topped with chicken-cream mix. Reminds me a bit of Delifrance, too.
But it's pleasant, nonetheless. Simple and nice.
Yes, yes.. The above pic was taken with the phone camera.
What's a meal at an Italian restaurant without trying the pasta, right? Especially when I saw this line:
"...To serve you the best, we use the Number One pasta in Italia: Barilla penne, spaghetti, and linguine..."
Whoa! I like.
My bro (the birthday boy), can never get enough of cream-based pastas. Even better if there's chicken in it.
Oh, see the specks of black pepper above? Well, we asked for black pepper and this is what they gave us...
Unless it's meant to make the dining experience more unique, I guess they should really start investing in pepper shakers.
Wow, this has got to be the first time that I had lasagna served to me in a little 'cocotte' (a claypot, actually) that's placed on a wooden board. Straight out of the oven, this is very, very hot (learnt it the hard way)!
Pardon me for displaying another shot of this but I was so impressed by the presentation that I just gotta post another pic of this.
Looks good, doesn't it?
Check out that layer of bubbling, melted cheese with the crispy parmesan crust on top. This is unlike any lasagna that I've had before. Basically lotsa' tomato sauce and cheese. Not much of the flat & broad pasta. Maybe that's why it's called 'Original' Lasagna. Back to basics, perhaps?
Well, I dunno for sure. But it sure is delish!
Now, on to the pizzas!
As extracted from their Facebook page:
"...Fresh and authentic Pizzas, cooked in our traditional oven directly imported from Italy.."
That pizza dough is the thin kind, also known as 'skinny'. Due to the flimsy nature of the dough, toppings are kept to a minimum. So don't expect the same sort of stuff that you can get from Pizza Hut, Canadian etc.
And they are served on wooden boards that's not unlike the chopping boards that your mum has in her kitchen.
I insist on ordering different pizzas with both cream and tomato base. If I'm not wrong, this might be the only one with cream base? For all I know, they may jolly well use the same sauce as the pasta.
Whatever it is, this taste oh-so-good! It is really crispy around the edges. I pick one up and fold them in slightly to keep the hot, goo-ey cheese in and take a bite. Fwah!
My mum's choice. She wanna see how a basic pizza taste like. Simply tomato base & cheese.
All I can say is.... Yum!
Actually, we only ordered 2 pizzas. But they made some blunder with the orders or something and they apologetically offered us a free pizza. How can we refuse?
When this was being made, we ask amongst ourselves, "Eh, so which pizza is he making for us??" So we sit and wait to be surprised.
When it arrived, we stared at it and looked at one another. No one had any idea, actually. So we called after the pizza guy and ask, "Sorry, but what pizza is this?"
He replied, "Oh, it's 'Peperonatta'!" Pepperoni pizza. Topped with, well maybe you can guess it right- tomato base, pepperoni & cheese.
Funnily enough, in Italian cuisine, 'peperonata' refers to a vegetable dish of stewed peppers, tomato & onion. Hmm...
They have over 12 different types of pizza if you wanna try, including one 'localised' version called, "Laksa Gila Gila." No points for guessing what flavour that is...
I had almost wanted to order a slice of cake or two from the display, to add to a more festive birthday celebration but after that last pizza, all of us surrendered. No more belly room for anything else.
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All in all, I can say that their food is pretty nice and almost authentic. Well, having 2 Italian guys there do help with the authenticity, too.
This place is very suitable for families (the playground can attest to that). Food portion ain't that big and price-wise, it hang around the 'quite affordable' range. Not that comparable to 'Badoque', which is a more chic, upscale and chillax with menu that's more refined.
I checked my receipt and saw that they charge only the 7% GST. No service charge. All in all it cost me almost $90.
PS: Have I mentioned that today is their Grand Opening? Head there to enjoy their opening promos!
Vivitalia
50 Tampines North Drive 2,
Inside Courts Megastore, Level 2,
4 comments:
ZERO Star restaurant
Went there with my family on a Sunday (31st July 2011). Waited for an hour for my ayam bakar to arrive! The lasagna that came was too dry. When I asked themt o check on my order several time, the owner's son (looked like it) said that it is not their fault and they cannot do anything as it is the kitchen's fault! What a lot of crap excuse.
They are unable to cope with the weekend crowd and the service is absurd and totally non-existence!
Hmm.. already Aug. Couldn't be that they're still having teething issues??
Those guys do seem to be quite the novice in F&B line. It's just too bad.
Guess if the standard still remain low during off-peak hours, then they surely have major issues to rectify.
the service was bad, i am a staff from courts, went there several times and the service was bad. I waited for 20 mins and i ask where is my order, the staff simply gave a rude reply. And they have a small kitchen which can cook at most 2 to 3 dishes....
Aww… things sure are spiralling downwards for them. Too bad, really. Maybe a better management can help.
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