PASTALICIOUS

The Truffle Carbonara ($19) is a cream-base linguine dish that incorporates mushrooms, bacon and shaved parmesan, topped with poached egg and truffle paste.

Tossing the dish altogether, the truffle taste did not manage to pick up except where bits of the paste might have landed; could be my poor mixing skills or my unrealistic expectations for pungent truffle flavours but otherwise that element was lost in translation in this dish. Overall, this plate of carbonara felt like a reminder to me that I need to stop eating cream-based carbonaras because it got rather overwhelming to stomach towards the end, although I did finish it. Nothing too 'wow' to shout about other than a nice, flowy yolk, but if you fancy cream-based carbonara dishes, then who knows - you just might like this one. 😏

The Asian Style "Orh Lu Lu" Pasta ($14) is my personal standout dish, incorporating jjajangmyeon flavours into the linguine, which explains the brown colouring and slight saltiness of the noodles, while using a Japanese-inspired breaded pork cutlet that is topped with mayonnaise, along with a soft boiled egg and chopped vegetables. The cutlet is deep fried to a gorgeous golden brown; the meat is succulent and juicy, just the way I love my pork! 😋 It pairs really nicely with the pasta which has just the right amount of saltiness to me, while the egg - when mixed into the pasta - adds a layer of silkiness to the noodles.

The Golden Egg ($12++) incorporates salted egg sauce tossed in spaghetti and served with tender strips of fried chicken nibbles and chicken skin.

The sauce is a little light, leaning towards the savoury side. I would assume some might prefer it with a stronger salted egg kick, but I would advice that thorough mixing is done as I managed to procure more of that golden liquid on my pasta as I started to feel as though the dish was simply lacking in taste - thank goodness! The chicken strips have a really crisp skin but could perhaps be elevated to have more flavour, but it othewise pairs nicely with the salted egg pasta. Then there's the crispy chicken skin; my goodness these are so good! Thin and full of crunch, each piece has a rather salty yet addictive flavour, and I can foresee this as a snack on its own for some reason? 😂

Overall, I felt that the dish grew on me the more I ate it, and I eventually wiped the plate clean, scooping remains of salted egg sauce around the circumference of the plate. All in all, I was satisfied with my meal here, and I would surely foresee myself returning again; would love to give their classics a try! 😋

The Chicken Sausage Pasta ($23) might sound way too pricey for what it is called, but it is a reasonably portioned plate of freshly handmade tagliatelle with in-house sausages, basil, tomato passata, topped with lemon zest and parmesan cheese. Not gonna lie, I thought there was going to be a mindblowing factor because of how uncomplicated it sounds, but the dish ultimately was relatively safe, simple and homely, but that did not stop the humble pasta dish from growing on me the more I ate it. I love the tang of the passata and how it complements the flavour of the sausage, while the tagliatelle is evidence that the chef(s) at this very restaurant know how to make quality pastas.

Overall I would admit that this did not win me over immediately like their butternut agnolotti which was simply stunning and soooo delicious, but it still does prove that the folks here know how to make a pretty good classic pasta dish as well. 👍🏻

Was facing a dilemma when as I ate this Pink Sauce Pasta ($5.90); don't look down on this simple dish - believe me I was underwhelmed at first impression - because it is really quite a delicious plate of pasta, but it is SO SPICY! 🔥

Using tomato puree, fresh cream, chopped onions, garlic herbs, cheese and parsley, there is a sort of mildly sweet yet savoury mix of flavours, but the chili got really strong for me that I needed to share! A pink plate of pasta this is not, but it sure has a lot of personality. 😂

Found out about Cafe4You at NTU SPMS building, level 2, and decided to give the cafe a go. Noticed that prices, while obviously pricier than canteen food, are pretty wallet-friendly for cafe food, with nothing going beyond single-digit value; they even have bingsu (I saw Yakult flavour?!) for, what, $6? Man, I already know I'll be back for that. 😂

Ordered the Creamy Chicken Mushroom Pasta ($7), which is one if the steeper priced items on the menu. Dish looks sinplistic enough and portion size is not too huge but hearty enough for a meal. The first scoop of penne into that generous and luscious cream sauce got me hooked on the dish; it's pretty rich but doesn't make me feel sick to the stomach, with mushrooms and chicken chunks providing some added texture and taste, though I feel I could've done with just a little more of those. Regardless, thoroughly enjoyed this dish, and I look forward to trying more food from here next time! 🤤

Back here again for the dish that has won my heart time and again, the Chicken Meatball Pasta never fails to impress...and also prevents me from trying other things because it is just so hard to resist ordering this over and over!

This time with curry leaves, chili flakes and diced tomatoes on top of the standard ingredients of cheese, garlic and chopped herbs, the cream sauce is lighter than before; I was initially quite worried when I thought it was not going to contribute much taste to the pasta, but once I tossed and mixed everything thoroughly together, the flavour of the sauce came through really well with the noodles. Chicken meatballs are as awesome as I'd remember - generously portioned with a whopping six pieces, each packed with a burst of juiciness with every bite. So hearty, and so full of heart, need I say more? 😋❤️

If you're eyeing for a non-veggie dish at Fifty50, the Linguine Chili Crab ($14) is a potential crowd pleaser for the (meat eating) masses. The chili crab pasta sauce has a slight kick of spiciness with cherry tomatoes, onions and chunks of crab meat. I have to say, even though I avoid eating seafood to avoid potentially embarassing gagging episodes, I did not get any of that 'taste of the sea'! Rather than being a local fusion gimmick, this dish actually gels pretty well together as a whole. For one, to say that I am totally cool with sharing this says a lot about this, as a seafood dish. 😏

This is part of a hosted meal by @fifty50sg. Thanks again @msjaniceeats for the invite!

For someone like me who loves his meat, it's always a concern eating at a vegetarian place because I never know if I'll enjoy the food, but Fifty50 proves this to be possible!

My favourite dish is indeed vegetarian - the Penne Pumpkin ($10.50) comprises of sweet pumpkin, feta cheese, baby spinach, pine nuts and cherry tomatoes cooked in a marinara cream sauce. I do think it's a pretty safe combination, but the dish is executed really well with the soft pumpkin and feta cheese coming through nicely with the rest of the components along with the tasty marinara cream and penne. Affordable and delicious, this is one vegetarian that's definitely very suited to my non-meat preferences! 😋

Thank you @fifty50sg for the warm hospitality and for hosting, and @eatmoresg @yongkaiiii for the invite. 😊

This Prawn Pasta A.K.A. B&L Hei Mee ($18) consists of two grilled tiger prawns and spaghetti cooked in prawn stock, garlic, chili and cognac. I guess I can safely say that these tiger prawns, which are y'uge by the way, are real fresh because I did not feel disgusted nor did I feel like regurgitating my food, but surprisingly I handled it well enough. I know I am not sounding very convincing here but the fact that I am fine with this says a lot, and I even asked my dining partner (who loves seafood by the way; if you won't take it from me, take it from her!) if this is what fresh prawns taste like, to which she said that they are indeed so. If anything, I was RELIEVED to have actually enjoyed this. 😆

If anything, I would gladly say that the pasta itself is indeed good and I like the combination of ingredients used to savour up the flavour, while the spaghetti absorbs the flavour very well.

At the end of the day, prawn-related dishes are still far from becoming my next must-order's, but if I enjoyed this, a part of me feels that prawn and seafood lovers might enjoy this way more than I ever could. 😁

This is part of a meal hosted by @bittersandlove @freetherobot.sg.

Ordered the Beef Bolognese ($4.30) - beef patty with beef bolognese sauce, chopped lettuce and pasta 'buns' (?) - and when the burger arrived I already witnessed an issue: all the sauce had slid to the bottom of the wrapper. 😢

The burger itself tastes not too bad actually; not anything mindblowing particularly because it pretty much tastes like what you'd expect of a $4-ish plate of beef bolognese, much like what is served at food courts or coffee shops. I kind of expected the noods to be either dry or deep fried with some crunch but it surprisingly...was like regular pasta. 😂

As I ate, the burger slowly fell apart and progressively became more of a regular pasta dish and I resorted to using a spoon to finish the rest of it, but hey - at least I got to mix it up with the sauce that had sunk to the bottom, which made me think that MOS Burger can actually serve up pretty decent pastas if they wanted to. It's really not bad - can give it try at least once for novelty's sake.

I might have liked this more if the pasta were cooked al dente? Sorry for being extra here. 😂

The dish is really simple, comprising of just the Gnocchi ($24) - homemade potato dumplings, pomodoro sauce, and topped with basil and shaved parmesan.

The pomodoro sauce is addictive; mildly sour with a tinge of sweetness, I loved every bit of it. I believe the basil and parmesan add to the flavour as well.

Gnocchi portion seems to be a stinge, but it's actually filling enough for one person (less the big eaters, perhaps) - after all, they are potato! Sadly, the gnocchi is feels too doughy and chewy for my liking. 😮