Ah… always satisfying. Since A is off to reservist (for a long period of 4 days, haha) next week, we decided that that was as good a reason as any to have dinner at Valentino. It was quite a feat for me to resist ordering the lobster pasta again, but I managed, just barely.
We had a couple of the specialty starters: a Caprese salad with fresh buffalo mozzarella and Italian cherry tomatoes flown in from Sicily, and scamorza cheese with tomatoes and anchovies. The Caprese salad was a classic example of good produce, simply executed. The tomatoes, vine-ripened, were so sweet they were almost like grapes, and the mozzarella was soft and creamy. This was a fresh, clean starter compared to the scamorza that was mild yet smoky, and paired with the savouriness of the anchovies and good capers and olives.
After hearing Cousin C’s recommendations of the Fiorentine cote de boeuf, they happened to have a small portion today just nice for 2 to share. As far as steaks go, this was very good – perfectly cooked, tender, wonderfully charred on the outside and sweet inside, and drizzled with lemon juice to keep it from being too cloyingly beefy and heavy. But while it was a really enjoyable steak, I think I’d still rather have the lobster pasta.
Because we didn’t have any pasta or carbs today, we weren’t absolutely stuffed so I was able to order a slightly heavier dessert (compared to the light as air Chantilly cake). The pear and chocolate tart was still one of the lightest I’ve ever had – the chocolate filling was lightly whipped, the pears sliced really thin, and the crust was light, buttery and perfect.
We really should come here more often – it’s getting increasingly more difficult to get a reservation though, so it’s not a place that we can go to immediately satisfy a craving, but if we call two weeks’ ahead we can expect an incredible meal in two weeks’ time. The challenge is waiting that long.
A says:
This is definitely my favourite restaurant now. There’s no course that I’d want to skip. Tiramisu can’t be beat!
Ristorante da Valentino
11 Jalan Bingka (off Rifle Range Road)
Tel: 6462-0555
Tuesday to Sunday: 12 pm to 2.30 pm, 6 pm to 10.30 pm
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