La Strada

C says:

A’s a mai tai again, and I’m on leave for a couple of days so we’re taking the rare opportunity to go for weekday lunch sets at restaurants that are otherwise a tad too posh for us to patronise.

Since we were in the vicinity, we decided to try the set lunch at La Strada today. Situated next to Les Amis in Shaw Centre, La Strada is a Les Amis Italian eatery that’s slightly more high-end than Casa Verde. The set lunch is $38 for 3 courses, and you get about 3 choices for each course.



I had the mushroom custard with truffle oil to start, and A had the cold fusilli. The fusilli was a bit plain, with just zucchini, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes and red peppers; the mushroom custard was much better. The aroma of the truffle oil really added a good kick to the dish.


A’s main course was a baked seabass served with artichokes and olives in a light broth. This was very delicate and almost Asian-tasting; like Teochew steamed fish… (must be A’s Teochew roots) The meat option was actually a braised beef shin with carrots and potatoes, but I’d just had an oxtail stew for dinner the night before, and it sounded too similar so I changed it to a chargrilled sirloin with rocket salad. Note: the reason they changed it is because they only had one portion of the beef shin left. I don’t think they make it a habit to offer multiple other options.


I admit the sirloin looks boring and, being so thin, I was afraid it would be overcooked. Surprisingly they still managed to attain a fairly good medium rare, and was pretty well seasoned. Nothing tremendously interesting though.



For dessert, A had the tiramisu and I had the lemon tart. We were both very happy with our very different choices, which goes to show what disparate tastes we have in desserts.

I must say that while I have nothing negative to say about the food, it was just quite ordinary. Actually, the pastas here aren’t that expensive, averaging about $30+ for a pasta. It’s not too formal either, so maybe one day we can come back to try some of the interesting-sounding pastas on the a la carte menu.

A says:

Amazingly, the tiramisu here is probably as good as Perla’s (Valentino’s sister). Highly recommended.

The service is excellent and not overly poncy. And the set itself is a pretty good deal. The a la carte itself may be expensive for me but it probably still falls in the affordable range (for an occasional treat).

Overall, I’d definitely be willing to go back, but I’m not in any particular hurry.

La Strada
1 Scotts Road
#02-10 Shaw Centre
Tel: 6737-2622
Open daily
Lunch: 12 noon to 2.30 pm
Dinner: 6.30 pm to 9.30 pm