PUBLISHED March 21st, 2013 01:27 am | UPDATED May 30th, 2016 03:25 pm
I do love me some Sicilian cuisine. Fresh herbs, fine seafood, handmade pastas and some ripe fruits. All superb ingredients to make some of the tastiest food in the world. Makes me think of a some small fishing village in the Mediterranean.
Back in Singapore, Gattopardo is one of the few Italian restaurants to successfully execute this fine cuisine. Helmed by Sicilian Chef Lino Sauro, Gattopardo dining offers a range of dishes far beyond your typical bolognese, arrabiatta or pesto. Through every dish on the menu, you can really tell the subtle differences that encompasses Italian cuisine.
A prime example of Chef Lino’s style can be seen in our first two courses; the Calamari alla brace ($28) – char grilled with lemon oregano vinaigrette, and the Insalata di arance e finocchi ($16) – blood orange with fennel salad.
The calamari itself was a magnificent portion of tender morsels, served in a sweet-sour sauce. Light fresh, and easy on the palate. Be sure to soak up the vinaigrette as it really makes the dish.
As for the blood orange salad, I can’t say I was too impressed with the dish. But I have to give it a mention for the ingredients. Fennel and blood orange are items you seldom come across these days are are highly underrated. The salad itself was pleasant if a little too plain.
Moving onto the pastas and mains, this is where Gattopardo really shines in my opinion.
The Bucatini con le sarde ($24) was excellent. Salted semolina holey spaghetti tossed with sardines, fennel, saffron and pine nuts. The entire dish make me feel like I was in someone’s home. No fancy presentation or cute garnishes – just a big bowl of yummy pasta with a sauce that was so good, we used the focaccio to lap up the remnants. Also, for $24, it was very reasonable.
Price-wise, I cannot say the same for the Capellini alla moresca, weighing in at $34 – the angel hair pasta with grey mullet roe and sea urchin was superb. This dish was made to be wrapped around a fork and demolished. Sadly, the portion is rather small for this dish so do take your time.
Next up was the Tagine di polllo con harissa e couscous ($26). If you’re looking at this and thinking to yourself; hang on, couscous, tagine… Isn’t that Moroccan? and definitely not Italian cuisine? Well you’d be absolutely right. However, as I found out, apparently Moroccan culture and cuisine has been somewhat a part of Sicilian island living and is now firmly integrated in the culture. And frankly, after eating this dish, I couldn’t care what the origins are. It’s stunning.
The chicken cooked in the Harissa sauce is mouthwateringly juicy and just perfectly seasoned, and sitting atop a bed of soft semolina couscous with vegetables – just magic. It may not be the first thing you’d think to order in an Italian restaurant, but I sure was glad I did. I highly recommend you give it a try as well.
Moving back to traditional Italian cuisine, we couldn’t leave without trying a pizza. Just seemed wrong. And along came the Vegetariana pizza ($24) – a vegetarian pizza topped with zucchini, eggplant and capsicum.
It was with great satisfaction that I started eating this, more amazed at myself for finding room in the bottomless pit that is my stomach. A very simple pizza, but really quite good. A soft but firm, thin base, and a great balance of mozzarella and tomato sauce. If you’ve got a hankering for a pizza, it’s a good option.
Sadly, there was no room in this Nomad’s stomach for dessert. That will have to wait unti next time.
One final point is that the service here is very worthy of mention. The words ‘tip top’ come to mind. All dishes arrived together with utensils for sharing. Constant clean plates and cutlery. Friendly and knowledgeable service. It’s up there with the best. Hats off to Gattopardo.
Written by The City Nomad