La Noce

La Noche is this homely unpretentious Italian restaurant located in a sleepy neighbourhood off Upper Bukit Timah Road. It reminds me of Valentinos (which I haven't been to for the longest time!) but a much cheaper version. The lunches here are pretty cheap, and a 3 course set lunch (appetiser, main, dessert, coffee/tea) costs $18++ per person. To start, we were given restaurant bread - and this bread is pretty good, considering that lunch is $18++. It was toasted to a crispy golden brown and had bits of black olive embedded inside. The chef also offered us more bread (I think we were given pita? not too sure and I forgot to take a picture) after we devoured our first basket:)There was a choice of 2 appetisers - Beef Lasagna or Tomato soup. The beef Lasagna can pass off for a main course by itself - it's an extremely generous portion for a starter - and it smells really good.

Tomato soup - my appetiser, since I don't take beef. I didn't quite like the tomato soup cos it was rather thin, and the tomato soup had a weird orange hue, which reminds me of Campbell's canned Tomato soup.

My mains was the Penne with Asparagus Cream. The penne was cooked perfectly, with just the right chewiness and the asparagus cream wasn't cloyingly rich - it was just right and just enouch to coat the penne. The asparagus taste also came through clearly. I'd definitely return to eat more of this when I'm free-er!

Salami Pizza - I think the pizza was about 8", but I'm not too sure. I would have liked to try the other main, which was seabass. Actually, I think that seabass would have been a much better choice. I found the pizza too salty - plus I was full from all the cream penne (and trying to save space for dessert) so we ended up taking-away a quarter of the pizza. Profiteroles - the chocolate sauce was divine - there's lots of chocolate sauce compared to profiteroles :) yum!
Panna Cotta - though it wasn't as wobbly and soft as the one from Cellar Door, it was passable. Creamy, sweet and cold desserts always taste good.

Coffee/Tea The restaurant's pretty quiet, probably cos it's in some ulu corner which is pretty inaccessible unless you drive or live really nearby. There's also a pretty al fresco seating area at the back. It's a perfect place for a lazy, slow paced lunch and somehow I feel like I'm in Malaysia when I was eating there. It probably has something to do with it being located along a row of shophouses... The service is quick and attentive, and the chef's very friendly. Plus points cos I really hate nazi chefs.

For the month of April, you'll get 4 lunch sets for the price of 3 from Tues to Fridays. Really worth it! Quick quick go down and eat :) I hope this place doesn't get flooded...

La Noce
3 Chu Lin Road Bamboo Grove Park

Tel: 6877 1986 / 9646 9980