Pasta, Pizza 🍕 & bites

Smoked Chicken Breast | Leeks | Mayonnaise | Scallions | Balsamic

Creamy smoked chicken pizza served on hand-pulled, wood fired pizza. It looked rather disappointing, with pretty measly portions of meat. The smoked chicken was thinly sliced - so thin that it appeared ham-like. I was expecting chicken chunks. Being so thinly sliced and sparsely spread out in the pizza also meant that there wasn’t any ‘smoked chicken’ taste nor bites from the chicken. It was rather disappointing. The cream, and the leeks were pretty good tho! But… would I pay $28 for leek, mayo pizza? Probably not…

Met standards but nothing particularly exceptional. It’s hard to go wrong with truffle isnt it? The aroma of truffle was wafted through as soon as the dish was served. There was sufficient truffle cream sauce to envelope every pasta strand. It was delightful, tho nothing exceptionally wowww about it

Sautéed Smoked Duck | Sriracha Cream | Mozzarella | Mayonnaise | Scallions

Thick cut fries fried in duck fat, then top- loaded with mayo, melted mozzarella and sriracha cream nicely blended into a creamy mix. There were some stretchy bits but there wasn’t any prominent taste of cheese. I guess it’s kinda masked by the sriracha sauce. For those we can’t take spicy foods, worry not! It wasn’t spicy at all …

1 small soft shell crab fried tempura style, served with linguini doused in tomato based sauce. Seafood-y enough for fans of seafood. I would have appreciated it a lil’ more if it wasn’t tomato-based!

Seafood pasta comprising of spaghettini doused in some garlicky and really seafoody broth. As pictured, the portion for the mussels was generous. Perfect for seafood lovers

Al-dente spaghettini with crab meat and pasta sauce infused with lemongrass! We liked how there’s a refreshing spin to the traditional tomato pasta. Our only gripe was the slightly small-ish portion size and pasta sauce - would have been way more delectable with way more gravy!

Amazing pesto fettuccine - cooked al dente and looks healthy with the green hues (of course, I’m kidding). The addition of sun-dried tomatoes added a tangy twist to the mix. Chicken breast was nicely done - not overly dry nor tough due to overcooking. One thing to note tho - the pasta does dries up so be sure to polish them asap!

A sister brand under the Spizza group, the woodfired pizzas here were on par in terms of standards. I tried La Nonna’s signature pizza which was served with an abundance of truffle paste, eggs and meat. It was delicious! While the amount of truffle spread appears overwhelming in this pic, the truffle taste wasn’t overpowering. It’s definitely a great choice for truffle lovers!

We arrived at 2.30pm and the cafe was … filled! Waited for approx 20mins for a seat. For a cafe that remained packed to the brim past lunch hour, there must be something worth the hype. We didn’t do much research on what’s great for the mains and casually picked out two items that appealed to us - one of which was this creamy plate of carbonara. We love the al-dente-ness of the spaghetti, and the creaminess of the dish. The bacon tho, was a tad disappointing as the bacon strips were at least 50% fats. It turned out to be chewy and a tad gross/cloying at one point, and unfortunately it also goes without saying that there wasn’t any hint of bacon goodness. It seemed like the bacon were added for mouthfeel sake and I’d rather not have the empty calories! Other than the lil’ gripe over the bacon, the dish is otherwise satisfactory.

Decided on the carbonara because it came with a chef’s hat! Chef’s recommendation shouldn’t go wrong right? But well.. it really wasn’t the best choice. I’d say, stick to the pizza selections at Lucca’s! The pizzas fared way better than their pastas in my opinion. The spaghetti were a tad thicker than usual - not too sure what’s the pasta type here. Given it’s thickness, it could do with a longer cook time. It was not exactly al-dente. A tad too thick and not as chewy as we would love it to be. While the cream was great, the bacon slices were in a 50-50 ratio of meat and fats. It’s great at the first few bites but it does get cloying and exceptionally filling after some time. I’ve definitely tasted better carbonara elsewhere and unfortunately the rendition here doesn’t provide the same satisfaction as the others did.

Prawn linguine in seafood sauce, topped with argula leaves. Simply seafood-y joy for those who love seafood-based pasta and of course, prawns. I’m not a fan of tomato based pasta sauce but this actually turned out to taste way better than the carbonara (with the chef’s signature hat!)

It’s the second visit with the husband. He decided to give the seared prawn pasta a try. Being a seafood fan, it’s not hard to win his heart. The penne was cooked al-dente and really huge in size, meant to soak by the prawn and garlicky bits. For garlic haters, the overpowering fragrance (?) of garlic might seem rather nightmarish. For garlic heaven, you’ll love this to bits. It’s a great seafood option, but I wouldn’t say this is much to scream about or travel for. Priced at $26++, this is rather steeply-priced. Thanks to Burpple, we got this at $13++!