Restaurant Review: A Taste of Primavera at Pasta Bar on Keong Saik Road, Singapore
PUBLISHED May 15th, 2021 05:00 am | UPDATED May 21st, 2021 01:11 pm
Spring brings to the table fresh flavours, and rustic Italian cuisine incorporates many of these seasonal ingredients. Pasta Bar has refreshed its Spring Menu to reflect this change in season, and for a pasta appassionato like me, it’ll take a lot to impress. But impressing is what Head Chef Vikk Chua did, with a culinary arsenal of handmade pastas and extensive list of French and Italian wines.
An appetizer’s sole purpose is to, well, appetize, but boy does Pasta Bar’s Hamachi Tartare (S$24) whet up an appetite. Think zesty, herbaceous dill playing with briney nuances from the tobikko and ikura, all in a dance of balanced textures. A dash of sugar and basil elevates this dish, which sublimely encapsulates spring. We are off to an impressive start.
The second antipasto of Grilled Leek (S$26) was another well-executed concoction of flavours. The grill put a nice char on the corn and crunchy leek chunks, while robust miso aioli and grated parmigiano was cleverly balanced out by a garnish of tangy Kaffir lime. Hazelnut bits added a dimension of nuttiness that made this dish a constant reach, paired with light, fruity 2018 Villa Matilde Greco di Tufo (S$105).
Bearing an uncanny resemblance to snail shells, Lumache (S$26) literally translates to “snails” in Italian. This artisanal pasta originates from Piedmont, bordering France, and its shape allows it to hold cheesy morsels of this pasta’s sauce, made from chicken stock, pecorino, and butter. While the asparagus and parmigiano created a well-balanced dish, the Parma ham was a tad bit too salty and overpowering. When paired with the 2018 Kris Pinot Noir (S$98), the creamy berry notes gave a nice balance to the saltiness.
As much as this dish looks like an omelette, it isn’t. Rich, fluffy saffron cream sits atop a base of pappardelle (S$36), with a garnish of chives to uplift the full-bodied flavours of crab and saffron. The pappardelle was a thinner cut than what I am used to, but it complements the saffron cream well, while maintaining that all-important al dente bite.
Reginette (S$34), or “little queens” in English, was named after Princess Mafalda of Savoy. Quite the regal pasta originating from Naples, it’s normally enjoyed with lighter sauces, as Head Chef Vikk Chua has cleverly done. Swapping out the typical tomato-based ragù, Chef has gone for a lighter ragù bianco, made out of white peppercorns and white wine, with fall-apart lamb chunks. The ruffled edges on the pasta add a beautiful texture, enriched by buttery mascarpone and garlicky pangrattato.
And we come to the star of the night: the gorgeous Charcoal Grilled Short Rib (S$42), served with traditional polenta, baby carrots, and doused in beef jus. Nutty beef in flavourful jus, and a delightful pairing of polenta — a staple in Northern Italy — and a dark, velvety 2017 Villalta Amarone della Valpolicella (S$175). Polenta is normally served with meats in Italian cuisine, and I was impressed to see it here, though I would’ve preferred a coarser texture to complement the tenderness of the meat.
This Zabaglione Freddo (S$16) sitting in a champagne coupe is Pasta Bar’s take on the traditional zabaglione custard. Made with limoncello and frozen into an ice cream-looking ball, it sits atop macerated berries, with a dash of aged balsamic and shredded basil garnish. This will be a real irresistible temptation for those with a sweet tooth!
Pasta Bar is located at 55 Keong Saik Road, #01-05, Singapore 089158. Open Thu-Sun for lunch from 12pm-3pm, and daily for dinner from 6pm-10.30pm. Pasta Bar is available for islandwide delivery on Oddle Eats.
Top image: Pasta Bar’s Reginette pasta
