C says:
Raeburn Park, located
in the old Gan Eng Seng School premises, houses a whole gamut of establishments
including ad agencies, learning institutions and restaurants/cafes. It reminds
me of Phoenix Park in Tanglin, and indeed, Parco Caffe is owned by the same
group that runs Spruce.
Parco Caffe itself was
quite a surprise. It was much bigger than expected, and frequented mostly by
large multi-generational families. It’s big enough that I can’t imagine you
would have any trouble snagging a table for 2 as a walk-in, as we did, though
you may still want to play it safe.
Service is attentive
and polite, but there were some issues that, to be fair, were more to do with
the restaurant management. At the start, A and I were given different menus,
and we spent a good 5 minutes being thoroughly confused as we were referring to
completely different dishes. “Lobster? What are you talking about, it’s crab!”
“Mine says Aragosta.” “Mine says Granchio!” We finally established that one of
us had been given the old menu.
Also, quite a number
of the items on the menu weren’t available. I’m not sure if they’d simply run
out after the weekend (we were there on a Sunday night), or they weren’t
available indefinitely. As a result of both snags, we took a much longer time
than usual to finally decide on our order.
We decided to share
one “Degustation Menu” – 6 small courses for $55 (the menu indicates $65 but
the bill said $55…), and an a la carte pasta – the crabmeat tagliolini with a
tomato and ginger sauce. The pasta was good, if a little on the Asian,
chilli-crab side. I approve of the fact that the pasta wasn’t swimming in a
thin soupy sauce; there was just enough thick sauce to coat each noodle
properly.
First course was an
egg noodle in superior broth with a chicken roulade. All we could think of was
– wanton mee.
Next was a cold angel
hair pasta with tobiko, bottargo and truffle oil. There was a slight acidic
tang to this from the balsamic vinegar. It was quite nice and refreshing, but
certainly not the best version of this dish that I’ve had (that honour goes to
Ember).
The seabass with capsicums
and zucchini and the wok-fried prawns with pumpkin sauce were ok, though I’m
not sure that I see the point of the black nest-like ring on the prawn plate.
It wasn’t edible, nor was it a receptacle to hold the prawns, and I’m not a fan
of redundant things on plates.
The beef with foie
gras and a mushroom sauce was very tasty. The meat was well-cooked and the foie,
what little of it anyway, was crisp outside and creamy inside. I don't think it
need the perfunctory black truffle shavings though.
Dessert was a
chocolate and raspberry parfait. This was a bit of a throwaway and entirely
forgettable dessert.
The pasta arrived
pretty quickly; unfortunately in comparison the degustation menu took ages.
There didn't seem to be any communication between the waiters and the kitchen,
because my first course arrived twice, and the waiters kept getting confused
about which course I was at. As a result, what was meant to be a fairly simple
dinner stretched way longer than anticipated.
I think this place has
potential, and prices are definitely very reasonable. I wouldn't exactly
recommend it for romantic nights out, but assuming the a la carte dishes arrive
as quickly as the crab pasta did, it’s a decent option for a simple no-frills
dinner.
A says:
Service is very
friendly, but the degustation dishes really took forever to arrive. The food
certainly won’t blow your mind, so I’d recommend this for basic,
reasonably-priced Italian.
Parco Caffe
10 Raeburn Park, #01-28
Tel: 6223-6338
Mon to Fri: 11.30 am – 2.30 pm; 6 pm – 11 pm
Sat & Sun: 9 am – 11 pm
1 comment:
I ate there twice and one thing that bugged me was the water they served had a strong chlorine smell. Granted it is just chilled tap water, adding a couple of slices of lemon to the jug would make a real difference.
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