Ristorante Da Valentino

Ristorante Da Valentino - a small Italian restaurant famed for its excellent homely Italian food and stellar service to boot. Dining at this reclusive semi fine dining restaurant presents quite a challenge as reservations are hard to come by (minimum 2 weeks in advance) and made even harder with the restrictions placed. Reservations of more than 8 pax are usually not entertained and Valentino also enforces a two seating policy, with the first running from 6pm - 830pm and the second from 830pm till closing. This effectively means that a leisurely dinner is probably out of the question, especially in large groups.

Located at the end of a short row of shophouses at Jalan Bingka, just off Rifle Range Road, Valentino can be rather inaccessible if you don't know your way around the area (shortcuts) or have your own means of transport. The interior struck me as very cosy and homely with its low ceilings, smallish dining area, decorative memorabila on the shelves and red walls decked with photo frames.

Complimentary Bread & Minestrone Soup - The complimentary bread was simple and nice. Warm and a tad chewy without all the frills. I won't be shy to admit that I requested for another serving of the bread. At $5.90 a plate, I was rather doubtful about the quality of the minestrone but it was surprisingly good. With just about the right viscosity and flavour, it came across as light on the palate and was a hit amongst my dining companions.

Salmon Salad & Tomino Wrapped in Bacon - I didn't think too much of the salmon salad, in which the salmon slices were smoked and served atop fresh greens simply because the smoked taste was conspicuously faint. Honestly, if I wanted to eat non smoked semi raw salmon, I would have gone to a Japanese restaurant instead. The Tomino, which is a typical Italian cheese that comes from Piemonte and made with cow's or goat's milk (in this case it was definitely goat), created a little stir with its nice smooth texture which was complemented by the crisp bacon. Only gripe I had was that the whole dish was extremely salty. And if you can't take the rather pungent taste of goat's milk, please refrain from ordering this dish.

Fettucine Al Granchio - The dish which I was eagerly anticipating, the squid ink fettucine with crab meat. The home made pasta was al dente and featured a rich cream based sauce with a touch of tomato that was most excellent, a fact that was accentuated further by the decent clumps of crab meat. Personally I like this better than that of Da Paolo's.

Porcini, Rucola and Prosciutto De Parma - The pizza spotted a thin crust that heaved downwards under the weight of its ingredients. Please do not be mistaken that the ingredients were plentiful. On the contrary, it was adequate at best. Personally I thought the pizza was good but not exactly the type that would wow me. I mean, how bad can mushrooms, parma ham and rocket leaves taste when eaten together?

Risotto Ai Frutti Di Mare - The risotto deserved the worst dish of the evening award with its sourish overtone that reminded me of food gone stale aka chao sng. I wasn't the only one who thought so apparently. Neither the fresh seafood nor the texture of the risotto could save this dish.

Chantilly - I had requested for four of Valentino's best desserts and left it up to our waitress to decide which desserts would fit the bill. The chantilly started us off on the right note, coming across as light on the palate without the cream being overbearingly sweet.

Panna Cotta - The panna cotta's texture was reminiscent more of tofu than pudding - quivery yet firm, which isn't so bad really until you get to the taste part, which was bland and uninspiring in my humble opinion. Would have liked it much stronger.

Tiramisu - Served up in a ***** shaped plastic container, the tiramisu disappointed right from the start. Even though the presence of liquer was evident, the mascarpone cheese was a tad too thick and coagulated while the sponge was dry. I had expected better.

Valentino Cake - This was one decadent cake with dark chocolate making up most part of it. There were bits of raisins and traces of rum as well, making it a sweet but dry (the sponge was dry) ending to our dinner. Could it be that the cake was left in the open for a period of time such that the sponge dried up?

On my part I paid about $56 for a share of all the dishes I reviewed above, which really isn't too expensive for the variety of food I got to sample. Food quality was a case of hits and misses and I reckon only the mains are worth the trouble. Prices for the appetisers do seem a tad over the roof while the mains are priced a notch higher than other similar restaurants. Service was great and I must say I enjoyed some aspects of the dinner.

See all my pictures here.