Yes, birthday celebrations go on for the whole month. There's no way I have sufficient stomach space to squeeze in all these meals with friends within a week, and our schedules are now crazier. The friends asked me what I wanted to eat. I said Italian cuisine, casual, emphasis on casual. Ristorante Da Valentino only had a 6.30pm seating, to which all of us couldn't make it to that night; also the Grandstand is a tad out of the way in that sense — it's an extra 15-minute drive for everyone. Popped in to a packed out Da Luca for a table at 8.30pm. I'm happy to see that the restaurant is doing well.
Ahhh... I still like the old school vibes and flavors of Da Luca. The restaurant hasn't updated its fb page for over a decade, didn't bother with any form of social media. Reservations are by phone only. LOL The restaurant took away their entire pizza menu in 2015 because they removed the pizza oven. The other items on the menu remain; limited, but it works for the kitchen. Chef Luca Pucciani and his wife Hui ensure that the food comes out at a good pace even on a crowded night.
I didn't want any of the fancy stuff. Definitely no to uni or Hokkaido scallops with truffle capellini items. Didn't bother with zinged-up bruschetta either. No to shaved truffles and such. There was brown sauce in the pasta with truffles, I don't like brown sauce much. Naaah. We had to order the classic old favorites.
Shared appetizers of burrata with tomatoes and wilted spinach, grilled Spanish octopus, and loads of toasted bread with trippa alla fiorentina (veal tripe stew in tomato and parmesan). We had our own, respective mains of pasta — seafood squid ink linguine, a standard bolognese with tagliatelle. There was no way we could have secondi in terms of fish or a steak. Wine was really lovely; we went easy on alcohol since all of us had a 5am wake-up call the next day.
These people wanted TWO portions of tiramisu for dessert. I started laughing. No way they could do that. They were so stuffed by the time our pastas arrived. In the end, only one portion of tiramisu was ordered, and that one portion, became my birthday plate. Hahahaha. Aiyoh. They even blasted the birthday song in Italian over the speakers! Gosh. 🧡
1 Goldhill Plaza Novena #01-19/21 Singapore 308899
T: +65 6258 4846
Hours: Closed on Mondays
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