Visited Bar Cicheti with relatives from overseas recently. And because I have always trusted Chef Jason’s judgement, it was a no-brainer to leave it to him to decide what to feed our group of eight.

The four pastas cooked by the team and him were excellent, each a star in the taste department. Two were from the existing menu: the chockfull-of-seafood “Tagliolini Nero” with its blow-your-socks-off “wok hei”, and the “Taglierini” in housemade tomato sauce pimped up with chilli padi and creamy stracciatella. The other two were brand new creations to be launched to the public in the coming weeks. One I’ve named the “Uni Pasta” because its sea urchin sauce commandeered attention from the first slurp. Upping the enjoyment factor were shallot crumbs and savoury bottarga. The fourth, a “Duck Ragout Garganelli” entranced us with very tender duck meat and a sauce bright with orange notes in which the tubular pasta was simmered.

Needless to add, our meal was bookended by various delicious appetisers and desserts. Making up the former were a ball of burratina cheese on onion marmalade, fabulous melt-in-the-mouth meatballs in a tangy tomato sauce, that day’s special of batter-and-fried zucchini flowers and Chef Jason’s version of foccacia (it’s paper-thin!) with cheese.

For dessert, not only did we plunge headlong into a decadent tiramisu but were also given a sneak preview of Chef Danny’s fig tart. Accompanied by vanilla gelato, it was a hit, lasting all of maybe five seconds after I took photos of it.