Basilico

Thanks to the kind people at Regent, I had the opportunity to try their buffet lunch on a weekday afternoon with a friend of mine.

On a normal Tuesday afternoon 12pm, I arrived to see 2 big groups waiting outside the restaurant as the staff was doing their last checks. I silently hoped that was a sign that the food was good. More trickled in thereafter and I was very surprised that the place has such a crowd on a nonchalant weekday.

Private rooms are available while the general area were all big tables and comfy chairs, some of which had natural sunlight in air-conditioned comfort thanks to the glass panels separating the dining area and the adjourning poolside.

Food wise, I was honestly not expecting such an extensive spread. The buffet was very well spread out which didn’t feel like a squeeze even with the crowd.

Bread – the grissini was very good and the rest of bread looked good but I didn’t try as I wanted to save the stomach space for other stuff.

Cheese – A good variety of cheese which will probably attract genuine cheese lovers. The few that I tried were good, and also plenty of honeys to pair them with.

Appetizers – a comprehensive selection although the ones I tried have more misses than hits. The mushroom salad was too bland for me and the smoked salmon and seared tuna only average.

Pastas / meat – the 2 pastas I tried were very good! – a broad flat green pasta in tomato sauce with wild pork and penne in tomato. I didn’t try any meat but I saw whole roasted chicken and tenderloin, which comes complete side sauces. I thought the grilled vegetables were very nicely done, with asparagus and zucchini retaining their crunch and had that smoked flavor at the same time. But the cream of mushroom was disappointingly bland though.

Chinese – the chinese section was surprisingly good. They had a pumpkin crabmeat soup which tasted like sharks fin soup without the sharks fin; it was excellent. The seafood in the sambal seafood was very fresh; the sambal nicely spicy and fragrant which I imagine will go very well with plain rice. The sweet and sour pork was terribly addictive. They also had an interesting deep-fried scallop with banana (yes I know it sounds strange) which was quite a tasty combination to my surprise: the scallop was big and very fresh; the banana not overly mushy, and the batter crunchy although abit oily. The prata was too oily for my liking, but the accompany curry chicken was good.

Desserts – honestly, nothing from the dessert section made a deep impression; although they were not bad. Selection ranges from mousse, cakes, choux puffs, tiramisu, gelato (pistachio, vanilla, chocolate, cookies and cream) with toppings etc.

I like them having some of the chefs at the stations, and the shaving of the parma ham on the spot was pretty neat. There isn’t so many places I see with their variety of olive oil / vinaigrette and honeys for the cheese as well.

Service was pretty good, with staff quite efficient with refilling of water and clearing of plates. No big issue here.

At the total bill of $91 for 2pax which I saw, the quality and quantity of the food makes the buffet quite value for money in my opinion, although there were some misses as well.

This is a good business lunch venue, and also evident by the many business groups during my lunch. I would imagine that dinners here will have a rather different ambience. Would not mind recommending this for sure.

Basilico at The Regent Singapore is named after basil, a humble perennial herb that is featured prominently in Italian cuisine. This two month old Italian restaurant, which took over the now defunct Capers, is helmed by 3 Italians - Executive Chef Claudio Rossi, Restaurant Chef Angelo Ciccone and Pizza Chef Carmine Esposito, who hail from northern and southern Italy.

Located on the second level of this prestigious Four Seasons hotel, Basilico's interior is designed by renowned Japanese architect Yasuhiro Koichi and dazzles with its centrepiece crystal chandelier and circular open space dining concept which houses three open kitchens - antipasto, the hot kitchen and pasticceria (desserts). For those who wish to dine al fresco, there is the option of dining by the pool.

Complimentary Bread - I thought that the focaccia was quite decent, just a tad cold when served, which made it a little dry and hard on the outside. But I did like the slightly chewy texture it carried and of course the interesting repertoire of dips that came alongside, with the most notable one being mascarpone cheese, which can usually be found in tiramisu. The sheets of cheese crackers came across as rather average though.

Cacciucco di Pesce (Fresh Seafood in Lobster and Tomato Stew) - The lobster and tomato stew was rich in flavours yet did not overwhelm, making for a nice savoury soup with a tinge of spice. The servings of scallops, prawns and squid cubes were relatively generous as a whole, which was definitely a step in the right direction.

Focaccia Pita - I couldn't quite catch the name of this dish but it is, beyond a doubt, the shining star of the evening. Made with focaccia and stuffed with black truffle and mascarpone cheese, it looked anything but asthetically pleasing. However, the charmer came in the form of its considerably thin crust that had a nice chewy texture to it. Throw in a nice and light creamily cheesy undertone sans the nausea and you get an excellent pita dish.

Pizza Prosciutto - To be very honest, I thought the pizza was quite good but certainly not to the extent of outstanding. Granted, the crust was thin and baked to a crisp golden brown with the parma ham lightly smokey. But the pizza did seem a little bland overall. There was a harmonious cohesion amongst the ingredients but that failed to ignite any sparks (aka boring).

Risotto alla Pugliese - The risotto didn't quite do it for me as the arborio rice came across as a tad too hard for my liking. If its any consolation, the servings of diced lobster, prawn, scallop and asparagus were generous to say the least. I do wonder about the green foam atop though.

Wagyu Beef - Grilled to medium rare as per my request, the wagyu failed to impress. That's not to say it wasn't any good, just that I'm rather picky when it comes to steak. The beef carried an oily aftertaste that was quite prominent and invoked nausea. The steak sauce that came alongside wasn't really effective in masking the oily taste even though it carried a noticable amount of alcohol. On the upside, this was a quality piece of meat, which was naturally sweet and succulent with a proportionate amount of fats.

Semifreddo al Torroncino - I thought that the almond parfait was quite good with a consistently smooth and creamy texture which had bits of almond in it. The stewed sour cherries below provided a much needed jolt to tingle my jaded senses.

Apple Tart with Marsala Cream - Personally I felt that the apple tart was rather normal as the crust was a bit too dry but lightly buttery. The apple slices were bland and the marsala cream provided the alcoholic content.

Fig Tart - I dislike figs but surprisingly the crust was different from that of the apple tart, coming across as moist and leaning a little towards crumble. Personally I prefered this crust over that of the apple tart.

Raspberry Panna Cotta - One of the more unusual panna cottas I've come across so far, Basilico's rendition tasted more like mousse with an almond jelly aftertaste. Certainly not what I would expect from a good panna cotta.

The meal ended with a glass of groppino, which is essentially a lemon sorbet, champagne, mint and vodka concoction that is supposed to help you digest. I'm not sure it did the trick for me though.

All in all the meal was rather satisfying except for the desserts, which fell rather flat in my humble opinion. I'm not exactly sure how prices are like because the meal was complimentary, courtesy of ***. I'm sure that in time, with some tweaks here and there, Basilico will be able to hold its own against the likes of other well know Italian restaurants like Senso, Garibaldi, Il Lido etc.

See all my pictures here.