Pizza da Donato

C says:

Deceived. Deceived!!! We went to Pizza da Donato’s main restaurant along Bukit Timah Road on Sunday night, hoping to try their gourmet pizzas after we had a promising preview at their Al Taglio branch on Saturday afternoon.

Alas, ever since they opened the Al Taglio branch, they’ve stopped serving pizzas at the main restaurant. When we saw that there were no pizzas on the menu, we thought that there was a separate pizza menu, but the waiter explained that this place is now primarily a more fine-dining place with an emphasis on good wines and proper pairing of food and wine. So take note, even though the place is still called ‘Pizza… da Donato’ on the signboard, if you want Donato’s pizzas, the only place to get them now is at Al Taglio. In addition to the per slice pizzas we had the other day, Al Taglio also serves a selection of the pizzas that Donato used to serve.

A and I shared a good eggplant parmigiana starter. It was pretty traditional: the eggplant was nice and soft and the tomato and cheese sauce was well balanced and not too sour. A had the pappardelle with pork rib ragu, and I had the roast suckling pig, which was a special of the day. We ended up switching because we preferred each other’s. I thought the pappardelle was quite well done – the pork ribs came on the bone but were so tender that they fell off the bone with minimum effort. The ragu sauce was rich and meaty, and yet didn’t overpower the pappardelle. The suckling pig wasn’t what I expected; I thought it would be a couple of slices of roast pork with crispy skin. Instead, what arrived seemed more like a stew, with two unidentifiable pieces of pork on the bone. The pork was pretty tender and very sweet, but I felt that it was too heavily seasoned with rosemary, such that it overpowered pretty much any other flavour.

We were too full, probably from the pasta, to have dessert. A had a latte which was pretty good, though. While the food here isn’t bad, I probably won’t come back. If I wanted good Italian food and pasta, I’ll just go to Valentinos. Next on our list – to go back to Al Taglio to try the elusive ‘gourmet’ pizzas.

A says:

How can it be called Pizza da Donato if they don’t have bloody pizza!

Food was okay but nothing fantastic. To be fair, the waiter did say that they are more of a wine bar now. Probably caters more to the ang mohs who like to sit, eat and drink in the faux garden outside. It may have been smarter to sit outside because it was bloody hot inside.

The place has more minuses (impossible parking & uncomfortable room temperature) than pluses (good service), so if you want to have good Italian and are willing to make an effort, go to Valentino’s instead.