Solo Ristorante @ Amoy Street

 Saint Valentine's is always a good reason to celebrate and I am a diehard romantic like this. Solo Ristorante, a brainchild of Chef Gabriel Fratini, ex chef at DOMVS Sheraton Singapore. I gave the restaurant a shot yonks ago and it was well nice not great kind of experience. If anything time changes people and I was keen to check out what else he had to offer.




Oh hello, the restaurant does honours for male diners who decide that bouquets are over the top pricey for this commercialised day.





Tables or counters?




A glass of proseco to start the night!





Pre-meal snacks of burrata, tomato, olive and salami - I liked what they presented but it was a no brainer course.




Grilled Goat Cheese with Hokkaido Scallops and Sea Urchin

This was well put together and truth be told I never knew grilled goat's cheese would be this smooth and creamy. Delicious though there was a creamy chunk I still have not figured what it is.



Beef Tartare with Avocado Puree and Black Truffle

Smooth handchopped beef paired perfectly with avocado, a marriage made in heaven if I may add.



After our appetizers came a bread basket of cold hard bread loaves which were clearly not baked in house (we may have been too pampered here but freshly homebaked bread ftk always) and butter served in sealed foil. I swear this would have been the meal's major faux pas - equivalent to emptying one of those storebought salads and serving it as gourmet salad. Anyhoo, one serving and no refills offered. It would have been nice if they asked or perhaps it ain't a practice but the wait from then one was the beginning of long.



Linguine with Boston Lobster, Crabmeat and Cherry Tomatoes with White Wine Sauce

Expectations are high because it is lobster pasta and while I wish he served handmade pasta the lobsters made up for it with the freshness and doneness.



Fruits Paccherini Pasta with Duck and Orange Ragout

Surprise is finding blueberries in my duck pasta - this actually outshone the lobsters for me. Piquant sauce, on point seasoning and the al dente paccherini pasta - sublime!

After what was also another round of eternity, our second mains finally appeared.



Bread and Zucchine Crusted Seabream with Sweet Datterini Tomatoes and White Bean Sauce

I liked the breading, really light and thin but it was only coated at the top, leaving the bottom without batter. Seabream was fresh and the bean sauce appearing really cakey, not the best in terms of presentation I'd say.



Iberico Pork Chop with Roasted Sweet Purple Potatoes and Italian Barbecue Sauce


So then this was very homecooked in my opinion with a barbecue sauce that I'm not sure if I really liked it or not. Maybe Italians have this all the time in their home kitchens but this whole pork chops in BBQ sauce somehow did not taste restaurant quality. High scoring on portions if anything.



Strawberry Mousse with Caramelised Passion Fruit



 This was more of a medley of desserts, a dollop of tiramisu, half a passionfruit served with a caramelised sugar layer and chocolate shell with strawberry mousse (this was purely by deduction since my tastebuds could not detect strawberry mousse anywhere!).


If we had to return, it will be only for the paccheri pasta. Service was incredibly inconsistent,  being the first to order yet the pacing was such that we all ended up converging at the second mains which meant someone had to wait terribly long - and that was us.


128++ per person

Solo Ristorante
45 Amoy Street