Saturday, September 21, 2019

The Last of Pasta J At Upper Thomson Road

The man went out with the dog and his mates to Pasta J at Upper Thomson Road, and enjoyed it so much that he took us there again the next evening, and a few nights more after that. Touting his food as Asian-fusion, Chef-owner John Chan's pastas and meats were on point. They implement minimum spending on weekends and public holidays at S$35 per person, which might not sit well with some. There's something about corkage too, and how they waive the S$50 it if there's a minimum spend of S$125 per table (up to four).

Pasta J has completely flown under our radar. It has been open for six years and we only just visited. It's closing. Its last day of operations at Upper Thomson Road is tomorrow. Its food is GOOD. It's a bonus that it welcomes small and well-behaved dogs indoors. It isn't a 'dog cafe' that serves shitty food. It's a proper restaurant that welcomes dogs. I was thankful that the other diners weren't weird and inconsiderate humans who don't control their canines and permit these naughty things to pee and poop all over, including your shoes.


We were glad to have tried a number of items on Pasta J's menu before it closed. Chef-owner John's use of spices and mesh of fusion flavors totally complemented our tastebuds. To a T. The burratina came highly recommended. It was served with honeycomb, cured vine tomatoes and crispy focaccia, and the best- buttery salted fish. It was delicious!

Pastas were great. I was never going to abandon carbs in favor of other dishes. Hahaha. Tried the pasta of 'Clammy Addiction'. Palmed off the clams, bacon and prawns to the man. It was the nicely cooked spaghetti that I wanted. The risotto of prawns and scallops in lobster broth was so good. Added a grilled lobster tail to it too. I was so tickled that it came with a sprinkling of chilli padi at the side. Perfect! The pork collar chops were brined and tender. I wasn't sure about the beef, because there seemed to be a lot of wagyu on the menu. But okay, let's try. Had the giant bone-in grass-fed Australian wagyu porterhouse. It was finished at the table to a beautiful medium-rare. Mmmmm.

The dog? She didn't want no steak, and she didn't care for too many treats. She wasn't interested to sit on the couch with us. She went back to the floor and chilled out. Hurhurhur. We didn't think of visiting Pasta J without a dog. Pasta J will be closed, but it will open again in October at Novena Gardens (opposite Novena Church) as O'maJ (a play on 'homage'). We'll stalk their facebook page for updates. May this new restaurant secure the license to have dogs indoors too. I secretly hope that it'll be smoothly up and running by mid October.

No comments: