Mad For Garlic @ Suntec City

Mad For Garlic is a classic Italian restaurant with a Korean twist. Yes, a Korean twist! I was surprised when I heard about this place originated from Korea, and also voted as the best Italian restaurant concept, due to its garlic-themed dishes. With such kind of fusion, we couldn't stop ourselves from getting into this restaurant. As the name probably suggests, every dish has garlic. Well, would that be good or bad you ask? Well, it's an acquired taste. Every dish has its own garlic-y twos, which makes this restaurant stand out from the rest. Mad for Garlic has two outlets: one here in Suntec City, and one in the picturesque area of Clarke Quay.

Yuzu-Ade and Wine-Ade

The Yuzu-Ade and Wine-Ade were the two drinks we had ordered on that night. Yuzu is a citrus fruit found mainly in East Asia, and is becoming more popular among Western cultures, with this fruit even being used in some beers. The drink itself was wonderful, bringing out the citrus-y kick from the yuzu, complemented by the fizz in the drink. The Yuzu itself has a subdued sweetness compared to a lemon or an orange, and the natural sweetness of it elevated this drink beautifully. The Wine-Ade was no different. The bitter-sweet wine combined nicely with the sweetness of the drink, and probably made it more child-friendly, and more likeable. Don't worry, I had no more than a sip!

Rating- 4/5

Dracula Killer

The Dracula Killer ($15.80) is basically soft bread served with roasted garlic and anchovies in olive oil. As strange as it may sound, the whole combination was fabulous! The bread was soft therefore allowing the olive oil to be easily absorbed. The olive oil imbedded fruity flavours in the bread. People may think eating garlic solely is strange, but once you taste the roasted garlic in this dish, it is sure to change your mind. It gave out smoky flavours that contrasted well with the chewy, salty nature of the anchovies. However, I feel this dish is slightly overpriced. Overall, let me just say the Dracula killed me with its flavours!

Rating- 4.2/5 

Garlicholic Rice

   

The Garlicholic Rice ($17.90) is another dish in which garlic is incorporated (clearly made out by the name). This dish included pickled garlic, shrimps and anchovies alongside some chillies for the heat. The whole combination was decent, the pickled garlic and the chillies providing heat and spice, and on the contrary the shrimp and anchovies giving a salty flavour. However, I found the vegetables rather bland, and the rice slightly over-seasoned. This dish in my opinion, could be worked upon, making a boring, plain fried rice into something delicious and vibrant.

Rating- 3.8/5

Cheese-Baked Bolognese Pasta

  

The Cheese-Baked Bolognese Pasta ($23.50) is probably a dish everybody has heard of, and probably eaten it at least once. When I go to a restaurant, the main criteria I look for in this dish is whether the balance between the cheese and the tomato sauce is spot on. In Mad for Garlic, this balance was perfect. The salty, heavy and creamy baked cheese was balanced perfectly with the traditional tomato sauce that was sweet, vibrant and fresh. Another feature I observed is that there were no tomato bits in the tomato suace, which in my opinion, is wonderful, as I like my tomato sauce to be smooth and silky. On the negative side, the pasta (spaghetti) was overcooked, making them mush causing them to stick to each other. Overall, a good dish.

Rating- 4/5

Garlic Steak

  

The Garlic Steak ($37.80) was that one dish that Mad for Garlic had specialized on, and of course, like the rest of the night, few more cloves of garlic were to be digested down. However, I was quite disappointed with this dish. The picture says it all; there is so mnuch garlic that the steak is barely visible! The garlic in this dish was made into some sort of paste, that did not work well in delivering quality flavours with the meat. This paste was unbelievably overpowering, the meat itself, and was a pity as the meat was perfectly cooked medium-rare. This dish greatly needs to be redone and executed a whole lot better if they want to call this dish their signature dish. I wouldn't mind trying this dish again, hopefully to find an improvement.

Rating- 2.8/5

The service at Mad For Garlic was good, with servers giving us frequent recommendations and also with food coming out in good time. Apart from the minor mis-communications, service at Mad For Garlic was worthy enough of a fine dining restaurant.

Service- 4/5

Overall Rating- 7.8/10

Mad For Garlic

3 Temasek Boulevard, #02-300/301, Suntec City

Singapore- 038983

Opening Hours
Sun-Thu: 11:30 am- 10 pm
Fri-Sat: 11:30 am- 11 pm

Tel: +65 6238 1930
Web: www.madforgarlic.com.sg  

Nearest MRT- Promenade (CC4, DT15) 

Otto Locanda @ Maxwell Chambers

Otto Locanda is an Italian restaurant located in the prime area of Shenton Way in the CBD, near the Red Dot. Due to its location, this restaurant attracts a lot of office crowd on weekdays and Friday nights, and regular customers on weekends. The restaurant opens up into a beautiful bar, with the tables and kitchen surrounding the bar.

The restaurant is managed by the Head Chef Marco Violano, who goes to each table, asking for your preferences in taste, texture etc. and will prepare a four course meal accordingly. Chef Marco was very welcoming, and even asked me to give him a call to work in his kitchen!

In a traditional Italian restaurant, there are generally four courses: First, the Antipasti, which are the appetizers, then the Pasta e Risotti, which includes pasta and risotto, as appetizers as well. Then the Secondi, which are the entrées, and finally Dolci, the desserts.

Burrata Cheese topped with Parma Ham and Italian Bread

Our first appetizers or Antipasti was the Burrata Cheese topped with Parma Ham and Italian Bread. The dish was beautifully presented on a rustic wooden chopping board, and screamed 'Italian!' This burrata cheese was creamy and extremely refreshing, and also giving a slight hint of sweetness, and in contrast the parma ham, gave a dash of saltiness to the dish. This sweet-salty combination balanced out the dish beautifully. The home-made bread was incredibly soft on the inside, and crusty on the outside, and the cherry tomatoes elevated the dish by giving a tangy kick to it. Overall, this is a five-star dish for me.

Rating- 5/5 

Proshuitto wrapped Scarmoza Cheese with Fritters

Firstly, apologies for the picture, as we already started eating it before the picture was taken, so don't judge a book by its cover! This dish was almost similar to the previous dish as it consisted of a combination of ham and cheese, and this dish didn't fail to impress me as well. The Scarmoza cheese has a firmer texture compared to the Burrata cheese, giving the dish more of a structure. A simple combination, however giving complex flavours, tingling every taste bud with the sweet-salty combination. However, I wasn't quite impressed with the fritters as they were quite soggy, and the filling was pretty much bland, for my taste and I feel it could have been replaced by another side dish such as a salad. Nevertheless, the tomato sauce served alongside the dish was absolutely delightful. Overall, a decent dish.

Rating- 3.5/5

Mushroom Risotto and Lamb Ravioli

This was another dish customized by Chef Marco, combining two of his dishes, which was the creamy mushroom risotto and the lamb ravioli, which he had recommended to us. This dish was the beginning of the next stage of our four course meal, which was the Pasta e Risotti. As evident in the photo, the dish was beautifully presented on a long plate. The mushroom risotto was cooked perfectly and the creaminess was just right, and therefore the dish was light and not too overwhelming. Another good feature about this dish is that the natural flavours of the mushroom were brought out, which for me, is the most important aspect of the dish. The lamb ravioli was also presented beautifully and a nice meaty texture was nicely contrasted against a smooth pasta texture. The ravioli was soft and tender, which made it extremely easy on the mouth, and is always delightful. However, I felt that the ravioli could be seasoned more to elevate the flavours of it. I generally enjoyed this simple dish.

Rating- 4.5/5

Roasted Octopus with French Beans Marinated Cherry Tomatoes

I apologize once again for the picture, as we were so excited to eat it and so I forgot to take a photo when it first arrived, as it was our first Secondi, or entrée, and we were extremely hungry at that point! Trust me, the dish tastes much better than it looks in the photo! This was probably one of the few times I've had octopus, as I don't usually like it due to its fishy taste. However, the roasted octopus tasted immaculate as I tried my first bite of it. It was flavourful, and as it was roasted, a slight charred flavour was hinted in the octopus, which I absolutely enjoy, in general (others may not though). I felt that stronger flavours could be incorporated in the octopus to improve this dish, but a pretty well-rounded dish nevertheless. The vegetables were deliciously marinated with the cherry tomatoes, and they tasted wonderful, but I felt that the French beans were too soggy for my taste, as I expected it to be crunchy in texture. Overall, this dish was delightful.

Rating- 4/5

Meat Trio with Potato Cakes

This dish, is another one customized by the chef, consisted of a trio of meat served with potato cakes. On the left was the Pork Cheek, and Rack of Lamb, stacked on top of each other, over the potato cakes, and on the far right of the photo, is the tender Beef Sirloin beautifully sliced up. The sirloin and lamb was cooked absolutely beautifully to a nice medium-rare temperature, which made it tender and moist, but however I couldn't say the same for the pork as it was unfortunately dry and chewy, as it was slightly overcooked. Overall, I felt that the meat could have been given more of a flavour, as I didn't find any particular stand-out flavour in the trio; and it was a pity as it was cooked and seasoned to perfection (except the pork cheek). The pork cheek, in my opinion needed major improvements, as I didn't enjoy it as I thought I would, as I generally savour meat, and especially red meat in particular. The potato salad was unfortunately dry, and tasteless, and needed a lot more seasoning in my opinion. Overall, I expected more than I tasted in this dish. 

How it looks on a plate: (Clockwise order from top left: Pork Cheek,

Potato Cake, Beef Sirloin and the Rack of Lamb) 

Rating- 3/5

Tiramisu

We finally arrived at the sweet, sweet desserts, or Dolci, in fancier terms! A simple tiramisu is always the perfect way to end a dining session. The tiramisu was extremely chocolatey which was a wonderful element of this dessert, as it added the slight bitterness and alcoholic element to the dish; therefore elevating the flavours of it. However, I felt that the tiramisu was too creamy, and it would have been better if there was a bit more substance to the dish, as it felt like eating whipped cream. It's a pity as the tiramisu tasted fabulous in my opinion. It's just these little things that can make to huge difference in this dessert. 

Rating- 4/5

Raspberry Sorbet

As you can see, we weren't done with the tiramisu mainly because I heard they had sorbets, and especially a raspberry sorbet! I can't explain to you my love of berries; name it, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries (especially), I'll eat it! As you can see in the photo, the colour of the sorbet in a mouthwatering hot pink. You will surely know when a raspberry sorbet is good when it is in that colour! They had other choices of sorbets which were lime and mandarin; which I can only imagine how picturesque it would look as a neon yellow/green and a neon orange. I absolutely loved the sourness of the raspberry which was beautifully balanced with the sweet raspberry syrup drizzled over it, and the minced almonds. Writing to you about this makes me wanting to eat more of this excellent sorbet. In general, I enjoy sorbets way more than ice-creams, because I find sorbets lighter on the stomach, simple, and vibrantly flavourful in taste. This, for me is definitely a five-star dessert.

Rating- 5/5

The service at Otto Locanda was delightful, the servers were professional in their attitude and conversations with their customers, and therefore making the dinner wonderful to enjoy. The servers, answered all our 101 questions (they must have been annoyed inside), in an orderly, polite fashion, and therefore I would easily give the service a five star.

Service- 5/5

The overall experience for me at Otto Locanda was absolutely delightful. I thoroughly enjoyed the food, although some dishes can be improved on, and most of all the homely feeling you get in the restaurant itself. Chef Marco Violano, was very welcoming and made our dinner extremely pleasurable. Otto Locanda is one restaurant I'd come back to, if I get the chance. 

Overall Rating- 8.5/10

Pricing varies according to customization (optional). Prices of individual dishes can be found at Otto Locanda's website (www.ottolocanda.com.sg)



Otto Locanda
32 Maxwell Road #01-03
Singapore- 069115

Nearest MRT- Tanjong Pagar (EW15) (210m)

Reservations at 6224 0978

Opening Hours-
Lunch
Monday- Friday
11:30 am- 2 pm

Dinner
Monday- Saturday
6- 10 pm

Closed on Sundays