Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Valentinos


Valentinos is my favourite Italian restaurant. I think they have the best burrata in Singapore, and I really like their salad, tonato and lobster pasta with pink sauce. It's a family tradition to go to Valentinos for a meal for my mum's birthday in August, cos they're closed for the whole of June. 
I think some of the things we ordered are off the menu, so check with your server for the availability.

 Their delicious salad with shredded apple, pine nuts, creamy cheese, pickled onions and olives, with a vinaigrette dressing. The creaminess of the cheese offsets a bit of the acidity from the dressing, and the crunchy apples and pine nuts make the texture interesting.
I think this might be off the menu, but it's really nice and you can always check with your server.
Tonnato
Tonato is a dish made  of sliced veal or pork, covered in a tuna mayo sauce. It goes really well with their bread, and there's thinly sliced pork under the layer of sauce.
I was so crazy over this dish at one point that I even made my own (requires capers, anchovies, tuna, mayonnaise, garlic and blender), but I couldn't get the texture to be as smooth as Valentinos.
Burrata
Burrata with Italian tomatoes which are so sweet that they taste vaguely of grapes. Burrata means 'buttered' in Italian, and it's a creamy mix of mozzarella and fresh cream. The outer shell of mozzarella is money bag shaped and when cut, the innards of cream cheese mixed with mozzarella will oooze out. The texture of the innards is very interesting - very creamy with wisps of mozzarella.
 Sadly, there was NO lobster on the day we went, so this was king prawn pasta with pink sauce. I might be biased but I think that the lobster pasta is still the best. I usually like to keep a bit of bread to mop up the delicious sauce. Usually I'd call before going to reserve a lobster but I forgot this time >.<
 One of their specials for the day - squid ink pasta with seafood in butter sauce. This dish exceeded my expectations - the fresh seafood, super sweet cherry tomatoes and butter sauce was divine.
Lamb Ragut with Penne
 Another special for the day - lamb ragu was a bit gamey (though I like gamey lamb) with very soft and chewy penne (doesn't taste like the store bought ones)
Beef Short Ribs
Everyone liked this but of course I didn't try it.
 I'm not a big fan of the Valentinos desserts - perhaps I always eat till I'm so freaking stuffed that there's diminishing returns by the time I reach desserts.
But even in my extremely satiated state, I still think the tiramisu is really nice (though it's quite a big portion for one full person, I recommend that you split it). The cheese cake was also pretty good, and so is the panna cotta (very wobbly and creamy). Though my favourite dishes are still the savories.

Valentinos
#01-19 The Grandstand, 200 Turf Club Road
Tel 64205555
Strongly suggest that you make a booking - it's packed even on weekdays

No comments: