Etna Italian Restaurant & Pizzeria (East Coast)

Etna (East Coast) is the 3rd restaurant from this Italian chain. It opened just down the road from the busier section of Siglap just weeks ago. Fresh from my great experience at de Parma, I was game to try another Italian place so rallied people for a Sunday Lunch.

Stepping into the place, I found it dim but still comfortable. There was enough lighting for us to take photos. The seats were comfortable and the tables were comfortably spaced for people to move about.

The staff were friendly and warm. But it was a tad difficult to get their attention at times. Not to mention, our food arrived before our drinks. There was also one part which I felt really strange. We were asking for recommendations. The response we got was... "We are relatively new so there aren't any real chef recommendations. But if you really really want, then I think this one. " and the assistant manager proceeds to point to the most expensive pasta on the menu. I thought that was a really odd thing to say.

The complimentary bread served was a little too dry and hard.

Food Ordered: Bruschetta Etna Toasted Bread with 4 different toppings I was a little surprised when the dish came but I guess I should have expected it from the description. I thought that it would be a mixture of the 4 toppings on each and not 4 different toasts. The toppings on one or two of them didn't look too fresh. I picked one, the one with mushy green/orange vege and ate it. Well the toppings were ok. The bread was a little too hard and chewy though. Much like the complimentary bread.

Insalata di Gamberi Rocket salad with prawns, dressed with extra virgin olive oil This was really nice. I like Rocket and this came in a tasty dressing and the prawns were really fresh.

Quattro Stagioni Tomato, mozzarella cheese, mushrooms, artichokes, cooked ham, olives No complaints about this pizza. The size was ok, the toppings were sufficient. But the base was thicker than the usual thin ones Italian places served but I'm alright with that.

Bistecca al Gorgonzola Grilled rib-eye steak with gorgonzola cheese in a light cream sauce I downright disliked this dish. The sauce had a very weird milky taste to it. I hate milk and this one really reeked. I only took one small bite and refused to try any more. Moreover it was very rare, the inside was really really red. The portion was very small too. Well maybe that part's a blessing in disguise.

Taglierini al Pesto di Bronte Homemade pasta in a Sicilian pesto sauce (with pistachio from Bronte in Sicily) Plain pasta in cream with nothing else. I'd expected the pasta to be superb to make up for the fact that it didn't have additional ingredients, but it wasn't, which kinda upsetted me. But this was average I guess, until you see its price tag.

Torta al Cioccolato Chocolate cake I love chocolate cakes and I guess because of that, this one really disappointed. It wasn't rich and moist like a chocolate cake should be. It was really dry and crumbly for the wrong reasons.

Tiramisu al Pistacchio Tiramisu with pistachio flavour (from Bronte in Sicily) This one does taste a little like Tiramisu, but where's the pistacchio? The colour looked the part but the taste wasn't there.

Panna Cotta Etna I think.... the red stuff on top was raspberry. The texture was a little weird but this was alright I guess.

The bill came up to about $160 for the 5 of us, including 3 drinks. Not all minuses... but I think it'll be a long time before I'm back. (Perhaps never.)