Galbiati - Part II - The Takeaway

This is part II from the Dinner, cos we were too stuffed to eat anymore, and takeaway prices are cheaper than dine in (and there's no service charge too!).This is Galbiati's 'Baked Salmon' which is also known as salmon en croute (as I found on the internet). It's salmon and spinached wrapped in a pastry, and it's really tasty. The salmon is really solid and thick. It's a huge piece - I suppose it justifies it's $13.90 price tag (it's sold per 100g, i think it's around $8 for every 100g).


The spinach is soft and moist, and has the most flavour (compared to the salmon and the pastry).

The pastry is the buttery thick kind (which I like), not the flaky kind. It's brushed with lots of egg white and has a flaky golden brown top layer.Though my takeaway presentation looks less than spectacular, I assure you that it's absolutely delicious - I decided to eat 1/3rd, and later ate another 1/3rd, and after seeing such a sorry small piece left in the huge takeaway container, I decided to eat up the last 1/3rd.

Galbiati

400 Upper Bukit Timah Rd,

The Rail Mall

Tel: 6462 0926

Galbiati - Part I - The Dinner

Pardon me for the lack of updates - I just realized that 1 week has flown past without me realizing it :/After sampling Galbiati's Tea, I was quite enthusiastic about coming back for dinner. For a small restaurant located in a fairly ulu place, its food is of a really high standard, and much better in terms of taste as well as value for money than some other more popular Italian restaurants I've tried. I would rate it on par Valentino's, which is my all time favourite Italian restaurant, and even better in terms of value for money. I've finally found a cheaper substitute for Valentino's :DSince we were feeling rather decadant, we decided to sample a whole assortment of what Galbiati had to offer. Starting off with the Lobster Bisque ($8++) which is a robust tasting soup - there's also alcohol inside and thus there's a slight bitter taste characteristic of lobster bisque. We also had a Mushroom Pizza to start, since the Smoked Salmon Pizza which I like was out. The pizza costs about $6++ (it's cheaper if you take away) and it's full of mushrooms embedded in semi-melted cheese. The crust is thin and crispy, and the tomato base isn't too salty that it overpowers the mushroom taste. My favourite dish of the night was the Goat's Cheese Salad ($15++). I thought at first that $15 was pretty steep especially for a salad, but then it did not dissapoint. You get 3 fair sized pieces of thick goats cheese baked and melted to perfection over crusty bread. The salad itself is full of fresh greens, peacans and laced with a generous portion of sun-dried tomatoes (which are pretty expensive in the supermarkets here). The semi-sweet meaty texture of the sun-dried tomatoes give the salad body and character, and are completely unlike the tart fresh tomatoes. To top it off, the salad is drizzled with honey, making it a delectable balance between the salty cheese and sun-dried tomatoes.

I thought that it was well worth every cent of the $15 plusplusplus. If you're having goat's cheese for the first time, do note that it has a characteristic smell that may not agree with everyone.
This is the Vongole Pasta ($18++) with White Wine sauce. Actually, this wasn't on the menu but it's the only pasta that my mum likes cos it isn't tomato or cream based. Galbiati has a daily special dish, which happened to be NZ Mussels ($21++) the day I visited. The mussels were succulent, juicy and tender and simmered in a thick slightly salty tomato based sauce. The mussels were so tender that they slipped easily out of the shell - no struggling to get bits of mussel out of the shells at all. This was my main course - Salmon Ravioli with Dill Cream Sauce ($18++) which was also the daily special. I was agonizing over either Black Squid Ink Pasta ($18++) but then decided that since the Squid Ink Pasta was on their regular menu, the salmon ravioli might not be available the next time. I was pleasantly suprised to find that there was also salmon pieces on top of the salmon ravioli. The dill sauce was clean tasting and went well with the salmon.

Galbiati is indeed a hidden gem - I suppose that the prices are kept lower than the average Italian restaurant because of the location, and the chef is as good if not better than other restaurants in town.

Best of all, they do serve water (maybe they didn't cos it was tea time? I'm not too sure...)

Galbiati
400 Upper Bukit Timah Rd, The Rail Mall
Tel: 6462 0926

As you can see, there's lots of cold appetisers (parma ham, instanlata caprese, marinated artichokes, sundried tomatoes, salads and even lamb shank for takeaway)

Takeaway prices are significantly cheaper than dine in :)

Galbiati - Rail Mall

Rail mall has quite a few new good restaurants - and Galbiati is one of them. Actually, I visited Galbiati before I went to Sweet Salty Sour Restaurant (it was closed cos it was 4pm on a weekday). The pizzas are located at the counter facing the door, and they looked so delicious - and reminded me exactly of Da Palo Gastronomia (but with seating and dine-in).

The pizzas are the thin crusted kind, and I tried the Smoked Salmon and zucchini pizza. The pizza had a tangy and not too salty tomato base, and the salty smoked salmon tasted great. The zucchini slices offset the salty flavour of the salmon and the melted cheese was super duper yummy. Best of all, it's pretty affordable at about $6 per slice (If I remember correctly that is...). You can take it away too - which will be even better since you won't have to pay service charge.


A piece will be enough for a small eater I suppose, but for the general public, the portion is enough so that you'll have space to spend on dessert. Which is a good thing since the desserts here are quite interesting.

Galbiati has so many desserts that I spent a fair amount of time agonizing over which one to eat.

Of course, when I try a new italian restaurant, I will definitely try the tiramisu. The tiramisu is quite a small portion (but i really can't remeber how much it costs) but the marscapone cheese taste is distinct and there is a splash of alcohol - though it's not as generous as Fren(s)h's one.

I liked the Lavander Cheesecake (I love all thes herby-aromatheraphy tasting stuff). It's the heavy kind and the lavander taste (and smell) is distinct. Furthermore, paired with the decadant vanilla cream sauce, the cake was heavenly. I was quite stuffed by the time I finished my heavy cheesecake and my pizza.

They don't serve water - which is quite sad for a dessert place. HOWEVER, they made an exception and gave us a glass of warm water when we requested for it since the desserts were very sweet. If they serve water, I would really recommend going to this restaurnat - the service is above average, and the staff are knowledgable.



Galbiati Gourmet Deli

Rail Mall

400 Upper Bukit Timah Road

Tel: 6462-0926