Guiding you to good food & best restaurants in Singapore

The newest Da Paolo Gastronomia opens in Great World recently and this Tuscany inspired trattoria aims to bring the Italian dining culture to the diners with its extensive array of offerings from freshly made food, grab & go takeaways, gelato, bakes, grocery and imported fine foods from Europe. What’s unique about this new outlet is that they have specially curated menus for each time of the day, from a weekday menu to weekend and dinner, and each contains foods from their virtual concepts, Panini Italiani, Pasta Bar and Pizza Bar.

Starting off with some hearty breakfast brunch items, we had the Double Baked Almond Croissant ($4.90) direct from their bakery counter, the Scrambled Eggs on Toast ($11) finished with parmigiano reggiano, chives and cracked black pepper, and Homemade Meatballs ($14) made with Australian beef and served in a sauce of Roma and San Marzano tomatoes. Perhaps my favourite of the day, the Spaghettone Carbonara Calabrese ($25) pays homage to the classic carbonara with a slight twist of using nduja (Calabrian spicy no case pork salami) instead of guanciale followed by the Seafood Spaghetti Cartoccio ($29) that has chock full of seafood such as slipper lobster, scallops, squid and mussels cooked in a lobster bisque. Last but no least, from the Pizza Bar comes the Rucola e Credo ($28) topped with 24-month aged Parma ham, mozzarella and locally grown rocket leaves.
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✨ Da Paolo Gastronomia
📍 1 Kim Seng Promenade, Great World, 01-163, Singapore 237994
🌐 https://gastronomia-foodtoorder.dapaolo.com.sg/
🍴 [Media Invite]

Amazing cacio e pepe for just $15. Handmade pasta has great chewy texture that bounces slightly. The ribbon shaped pasta is one of the more unique ones, making it a less common find in Singapore. The mafaldine pasta is flat with fluted edges. I liked how the pasta encompassed the the cream sauce of the cacio e pepe. With every slurp of the pasta you get a good amount of sauce and chewiness to it. I always believe that the simplest dishes may sometimes also be the most difficult to get right. The sauce, made come just cheese and pepper was just so flavourful and well textured. To me, It was creamy and smooth, and well balanced between the peppery flavour and the creaminess. However, some might find it on the peppery side and rather a cheesier flavour. But this really hit the right spot for me because although I’m not too much a fan of creamy pastas, I wanted to try this after reading reviews. The black pepper really helped to balance the creaminess out, allowing me to focus on a different flavour node in the pasta.
And the fried egg! What an Asian finish but I will always appreciate an egg. Would think that most people would find the portion small & I have to agree - but that’s because it left me desiring more!

Rate:🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Mentaiko chitarra with soft boiled egg, cream, plum, and seaweed.
The mentaiko chitarra was absolutely yummy. The spaghetti alla chitarra proved to be the right choice of pasta with this Japanese fusion dish, simply because it’s thickness emulated that of udon noodles🤣. But on top of that, the chitarra managed to encapsulate the delicate creaminess of the mentaiko sauce. The plum added a slight sweetness to the cream, elevating the flavours of the sauce here quite a bit. One of the better mentaiko pastas I have tried. Amazing!!

Rate:🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Peru Tres Vecinos (Light Roast)
Origin: Peru
Variety: Typica, Bourbon
Process: Washed
Tasting Notes: Citrus, Stone Fruit, Muscat Grapes, Japanese Black Tea, Buttery Finish

Colombia Dionel Chilito (Light Roast)
Region: Buenos Aires, Pitalito, Huila, Colombia
Variety: Gesha
Process: Washed
Tasting Notes: Floral, Kumquat, Muscat, Apple Cider

And the seafood pancake and the spicy chicken stew
Both amazing

Have heard quite a fair bit about Patisserie Cle’s Orh Blanc Tart — while I had always wanted to drop by the outlet at Paya Lebar previously, the lack of dine-in space was something that quite bothered me (never actually liked to takeaway food items considering how they are subject to other factors such as time and journey). Was pretty surprised to have scrolled past a post from their social media pages to see that they have since included a dine-in area for patrons to enjoy their pastries, cakes and tarts alongside specialty coffee and other beverages at the said outlet; and that is when we ended up deciding to drop by since we are already in the area.

Whilst skimming through the various items in their display shelf, the Lotus Cruffin actually caught our attention considering how it got us into a debate or whether they meant lotus as in the white lotus paste, or whether it was supposed to be Speculoos. A quick check with the service staff confirmed that the Lotus Cruffin was actually mooncake-inspired; likely to be one of those limited-time items that probably will go off the shelves once the Mid-Autumn Festival is over.

Featuring elements such as Lotus Mousseline Cream and Mixed Nut Tuille, the Lotus Cruffin is their take on the mooncake with a twist. The Cruffin was all what we were expecting — crisp, light and buttery pastry similar to that of a well-executed croissant whilst encasing the fillings (i.e. Lotus Mousseline Cream). The Lotus Mousseline Cream was on-point; while it did not carry the paste-esque texture of the usual white lotus paste of baked mooncakes and was more pastry cream-like in terms of texture, we were really impressed with how it tastes exactly of how white lotus mooncakes with egg yolk would have tasted — suitably sweet, earthy with a slightly saltish note, which we found to be really alluring. The mixed nut tuille seemingly carried a strong note of sesame that adds a toasty flavour and crisp texture to the entire pastry. Felt that it could do without the white chocolate drizzle on the exterior however; a little out of place, whilst adding some sweetness that isn’t quite required for the cruffin.

I know — it’s probably a weird move not to have the Orh Blanc Tart or the Orh Nee Salted Egg Cruffin (probably another Mid-Autumn special replicating the Teochew Yam and Salted Egg Mooncakes) considering how it was the Orh Nee/Yam Paste-inspired desserts that Patisserie Cle had made their name known for. That being said, the Lotus Cruffin is probably testament to how innovative they are with their creations; one that is well-executed with attention to detail, yet also features a fusion element that is also not within the usual expectations. We are likely to return once again to probably try their Orh Nee/Yam Paste-inspired items another time, but there is certainly more than just that to look forward to at Patisserie Cle!

Enjoy the real taste of Central 🇻🇳 through BBQ & Hotpot

With their distinct sunshine yellow-gold deco and traditional Vietnamese tables & chairs, @123zo.sg is certainly hard to miss among the shophouses along Geylang Road. Other than the typical Vietnamese food like pho, banh mi and spring rolls, they also offer a wide range of unique dishes that you might want to try.😉

Thanks to Burpple Beyond, we had these for the price of 1!😬
👉Fresh Bee Hun Pork Salad - SGD10
👉Fresh Spring Roll (5pcs) - SGD10

Grilled over charcoal, we ordered some BBQ items too, from SGD2 per stick.😄
👉Beef Rolls in Betel Leaf - SGD2
👉King Oyster Mushroom - SGD3
👉Eggplant - SGD5
👉Chicken Glizzard - SGD2

The last I had bò lá lốt (Beef Rolls in Betel Leaf) was in Ho Chi Minh City and it was so damn good.😋👍 Having high expectations, I’m glad the ones served here didn’t disappoint at all! Special mention goes to their Fresh Bee Hun Pork Salad, which proved to be a pleasant marriage of flavours and textures.

P.S. You can enjoy 1-for-1 deals here using Burpple Beyond! Just sign up for a 30% off (All-Day) Premium Plan using my invite link: https://burpple.com/invite/MRNK633 (Link in bio)

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

📍123 ZÔ Vietnamese BBQ Skewers & Hotpot
747 Geylang Road, S389654
📱9669 9655