Concetto by Savuer

By the same folks who brought you Saveur, this time we have Concetto by Savuer, a place that serves Italian dishes. The idea behind is this place is to use cooking techniques usually found in higher end restaurants at affordable prices.

I always liked the idea of an open kitchen concept, as long as it doesn't make me smell like I walked through oily fumes. 

I ordered a Crab Risotto ($13.90). Those who ordered the same dish before me cautioned that the portion would be rather small. But when mine came, they said the portion actually looked larger than theirs. Not sure if it's an issue of consistency or an issue of their hallucination.

Tastefully plated, the colours of the ingredients make the otherwise plain looking risotto look appetising. The crispy rice crackers added another dimension to the otherwise mushy dish. Considering the price, the crab was also adequate. The cream of the risotto can get a little overwhelming after a while though.

Yet another example of exquisite plating- the beautiful Tiramisu ($10.90) was really a deconstruction of the good ol' tiramisu. It's almost like dissecting something during biology class and then leaving it in full sight for all. Nice to look at, but not my favourite. I prefer eating the Tiramisu with all the layers together, as opposed of eating a deconstructed version where you can't really enjoy the taste of everything coming together.

Service was polite, prices reasonable. Common complaint at our table was that portions were a little small.

Concetto by Savuer
The Cathay
2 Handy Road
#01-11/12 

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Yomenya Goemon

I couldn't quite decide whether to label this as Japanese or Italian. Because it's essentially pasta but served and eaten Japanese style. While the focus of the menu seems to be on Italian food, they have some pasta comprising Japanese ingredients.

Yomenya Goemon has been serving Japanese pasta for the last 36 years. I know there are restaurants that have been surviving since 100 years ago, or since dinosaurs roamed the earth (i'm kidding), but 36 years is seriously quite a feat.

Anyway, we ordered Lunch Set A ($14.80++). It comes with salad, miso soup and spaghetti. I asked the waitress for recommendation and she recommended a few items. I decided to get the Mediterranean Tomato Cream Soup, Spaghetti with Fresh Seafood.

Here's the salad bar where you can get one serving of salad. They give you a bowl, and you take whatever you want (as long as it's one serving). It makes sense because then, you don't need to waste food which you don't like. I liked that there was a range of ingredients and also the fact that they were all very appetising- sweet, sour and healthy! As you can see, there was lettuce, orange, eggplant, tomatoes, lychee, alfalfa sprouts etc, along with your favourite dressing!

The tomato cream soup was rich but not too thick. There were a lot of noodles and they were cooked al dente. The seafood is fresh. The only gripe I have is that the amount of seafood is quite little.

The set lunch is ordinarily priced, but the food and service is good. Thumbs up for salad bar, piping hot food, fast serving of food and delicious pasta!


Yomenya Goemon 
112 Katong
 #02-12
Singapore
Tel: 6636 3692

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Trattoria Lafiandra

Well, the Restaurant Week in Singapore was a bit of a letdown overall. There's always a basis for comparison. And here, I'm comparing it to the Restaurant Week in Boston, where I chomped away at a few places, including Atlantic Fish Company, probably one of the best food I've eaten, that doesn't cost an arm and a leg.

If the standard of the food today I had at Trattoria Lafiandra today was anything to go by, it's still a long way to go for a Restaurant Week of world class standards. In the first place, it's so difficult to get a reservation and card holders have special priority, while the rest of us are left trying to take the leftovers of other's- eating's supposed to be an inclusive affair, no? In any case, the menu has very limited options as well- things that normally don't appear on the menu- an attempt at saving costs?

Pumpkin soup was not overly creamy and sweet.

This was the linguine with fish. I suspect the fish must have been swimming somewhere else in the Atlantic ocean, because I only ate two minute pieces of fish, and spent the rest of the time hoping that some fish would miraculously swim to me. The sauces and linguine were cooked well, but this feels like a slipshod attempt in cooking something with fish as its focal concern. In any case, the fish was soft and very ordinary.

Panna cotta was the only dessert option available. And I don't eat panna cotta because of its overwhelming sugar and milk. But that's my personal bias, so don't take my word for it.

Overall, this place has a nice atmosphere. The service wasn't as bad as what other reviewers had described, perhaps because we had different servers. But the selection and quality of the food was a letdown- better luck next time!

Trattoria Lafiandra

71 Bras Basah Road

#01-02

Singapore Art Museum

Tel: +65 6884 4035

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