Italian

Hostaria Alla Tavernetta

Timo NyyssönenLeave a comment

Udine, Italy

http://www.allatavernetta.com/

First of all, bad idea not making reservations for Friday evening in Udine. After some extensive googling, asking for recommendations, phone calls and visits to various places, I was able to book a table from Tavernetta at 7.30pm.

When arriving, not too many customers in yet, but soon the place was packed. Restaurant was really cozy and staff welcoming and friendly. Mâitre d’ (who we assumed to be son of this family run restaurant), spoke perfect english and gave us quick intro to Friulian cuisine and the special dishes varying according to what is in season.

For starter, I chose burrata with vegetables. The dish was laid out beautifully and tasty. The truffle pasta I had next, was the highlight of the whole meal. Pasta was swimming in butter (in a good way!) and the amount of freshly grated truffle was unseen for me. Well, you could see it from the price tag of this dish: 20 euros, which was more than price of my main. Which was Friulian style prepared rabbit. Good and nothing wrong with it, but not extraordinary. Also I was quite full already after the starter and pasta.

As the place got busier, they forgot to ask for more drinks, so some minus points there. For dessert I got only espresso and glass of really good grappa.

All in all, I would definitely go again and would recommend this place for anybody wanting to have a nice meal in Udine. Just book in advance, you might not be as lucky as we were.

 

 

 

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Wine & Chef

Timo NyyssönenLeave a comment

Singapore

http://sgwinecellar.com/

We were on a need of some dinner without having a reservation and decided to stroll on Keong Saik Road until finding something we like. Kok Sen was packed (https://guide.michelin.com/sg/kok-sen/restaurant) so we walked on until Wine & Chef.

They advertise themselves as “Hokkien-inspired (a Chinese dialect tradition) dishes that contain essence of Italian style” and thinking of Italian restaurant with some Asian twist gives you pretty good idea of their menu,

The place was full, but extremely polite and friendly waiter told that we could dine at outside table and move in as soon as something is available. Being evening, it was not too hot anymore, so we chose this option.

Started off with some decent prosecco (9 SGD, not bad) while browsing through the menus. After still being quite full after late lunch, decided to go only with a main. I chose soy and coriander cured salmon “risotto” (20 SGD) So it is not actually with rice but barley with mascarpone. The salmon was topped with some roe and the portion looked really nice, I was almost tempted to take a photo of it. Salmon was top-notch and barley really good, although it was as hot as I would have wished. As only minority of the table were having wine, went with very reasonable priced house white (7 SGD).

Tasted a bite of beef cheek pasta and slow roast duck leg and they seemed to be very good choices as well. Actually we liked it so much that made a reservation for day after tomorrow again.