Senso

Senso is located in one of those places that I find it painfully hard to access - because there's tonns of ERP gantries, lots of splits in the road and it's all one way streets (and I'm unfamiliar with the area) I get super stressed when I'm driving around Tanjong Pagar/Keppel Area :S And after all that navigation, there is a lack of carpark space - or if there is a space, its a parallel lot next to a big drain on a hill.

Senso offers valet parking - at a small sum (compared to your dinner) of $8 .

The dining area is divided into al fresco dining (in the court yard, which has lots of vegetation, fountains and looks real windy and nice) and a larger airconed dining area further inside. Bread Basket

Complimentary starter - smoked salmon and crisped onions, with black pepper.
Asparagi e scampi ($26) - Steamed white asparagus and baked langoustines (fancy name for Norway Lobster) served with morel mushrooms and butter emulsion. I thought that the scampi was too soggy and aneroxic.
Minestrone Soup ($16) was a hearty soup full of chopped vegetables, not too salty but very flavourful. It's a huge bowl for $16 so I think it's pretty worth the price (unlike the tiny lobster thing above).

Senso Mozzarella ($24) - wrapped in parma ham and fried. I had very high hopes for this dish because all the reviews I read recommended this - but the higher you expect, the harder you fall. The smokey salty parma ham went well with the mozzarella, but I had expected it to taste more exciting - like oozing when I cut it (it didn't ooze at all or form those gooey cheesey strands).
This is the best dish of the night - the Sea Urchin and Caviar Angel Hair Pasta with Saffron Cream Sauce($28). If I had just this dish for dinner, I'd have given the restaurant 4.5/5 stars. The angel hair was cooked al dente, infused in the saffron cream sauce, with uni (my favourite food ever!) and with little black beads of caviar. I want to eat this again:)
Sardinian Mussels Spaghetti ($28) - was dissappointing. Apart from the tender mussels, the spaghetti was overcooked, and the noodles were very bland - There was none of the sweetness I expected from the shellfish in the noodles. Perhaps it's meant to be this way? But I definitely will not order this again. Rigatoni with Rabbit meat sauce ($32). It had a very strong 'stew smell' and slightly starchy sauce. (The kind where after you cook your meat sauce you put it into the fridge uncovered and smell it the next day - but its not like this isn't fresh... it's just that the smell reminds me of this)
Cioccolata ($16) - Chocolate cake with molten centre and Pistachio ice cream. The chocolate thing was crispy on the outside, with a liquid chocolate centre - way better than Menotti's or any other chocolate larva cake I've tasted. Senso has a nicely decorated court yard where you can dine al fresco - its pretty windy too, but we sat indoors. The staff are attentive (they top up your water once you've drank an inch), knowledgable and helpful.

Overall, the dining experience came with equal hits and misses. Perhaps I will try the restaurant again in the future?

21 Club Street

Tel 62243534