Madrinaa Italiano

located in chip bee gardens, enclave of the expat and yummy-​mummy, this restaurant serves up rustico italiano — a direct translation (and language massacre, my apologies) of what I fancy is rustic italian home-​cooking. it’s surprisingly good too, considering the lack of reviews and the empty tables we arrived to at lunchtime.
we were sat quickly — word to the wise, don’t do the al fresco unless you’re a sun-​starved foreigner: the sweltering heat isn’t kind at noon — amidst our choice of table in an empty restaurant, and our orders were taken quickly. there’s a lunch set, but I don’t find that particularly good value given the mains are mostly meatless pastas (why? just, why?) — so stick with the à la carte.
interestingly, the food is cooked up by an indian chef — not quite what you’d expect, but expertise isn’t necessarily home-​grown, eh? our calamari came decently well-​fried and tender, though the batter was a touch greasier than I would have wanted, and tended to separate from the seafood. I would have preferred a chunkier, spicier marinara too, but that’s personal preference.
the mains were most surprising — both our squid ink risotto and sausage penne had a depth of flavor you might not have expected, so savory and umami-​filled it almost seemed too salty (which it wasn’t).
they don’t look like big portions, but they are wholly filling and satisfying — it’s interesting to note also that there was rather more sausage than noodle in our pasta dish (which is not an often-​seen phenomenon), and the risotto was supplemented rather generously with fresh squid rings and prawns.
we finished with a dessert of tiramisu (what else?) — and this was a more than decent rendition, served with boozy brandied cherries and a drizzle of coffee syrup across the plate. it’s also not a particularly wet tiramisu (which I might prefer, actually) — you can see that the biscuits are just soaked-​enough to provide a sturdy foundation.
it’s not cheap — this is holland village, after all, but the prices are competitive with other in-​town italian establishments. it’s more than worth a visit, and a pasta per person makes for a good, decent lunch.

Came here for a 1-​for-​1 promotion and our party of 6 ordered various pastas.
We had Frutti de Mare, Vongola, Rigatoni Sausage, Cacciatore and the Bromia Pizza. My friends all raved about their selections, all said very very good!
I’ll explain mine in more details… I’m a seafood marinara person. Default choice anywhere and theirs didn’t disappoint. Fresh seafood and generous in amount too. Pasta was also cooked till al dente which has a slight Q in it. Some place cooked their pasta till it’s too soft. The tomato base sauce is not from a can, and if it is, the processing that went into it is damn power then. I’ll buy THAT type of can sauce any day! It’s not tangy and full of the sweetness of the seafood that went into it.
A hearty portion too so a girl like me with a healthy appetite is smiling to my last mouthful.
Will return again to cash in the 1-​for-​1 deal soon!!!