Al Dente, an Italian restaurant at the Esplanade--Colours by the Bay is a nice dining spot in terms of location, but if what you're looking for is good food, look somewhere else.
A two-storey restaurant, my cousin and I went there for dinner. We chose to sit upstairs which was the alfresco section. The view there was the only thing I enjoyed about the dining experience. Overlooking the harbour and the Singapore skyline, it is really quite pretty and wonderful at night with a breeze blowing the night.
Not terribly hungry, we decided to head straight for the mains. We decided to go for the two recommended pastas as they were supposed to be the house specials. My cousin ordered the seafood spaghetti (it had some fancy name but I can't remember the exact name save for the fact that it was really only contained seafood) and I ordered the lamb penne.
When the food came, I was hard-pressed to find the speciality in their specials. Ok fine, it's not that usual to have lamb with pasta, but still it wasn't mind-blowing to say the least. The lamb was tender enough, but the gravy a little too oily for my liking. The penne was a little too hard too. The seafood spaghetti was forgettable too. Nothing that I haven't tasted before.
For an Italian restaurant, I felt they should have had a greater variety of pasta. The usual spaghetti and penne is just plain boring! I'm not even sure if I saw linguine, fusili, fettuccine, capelli etc on the menu.
The desserts in the dessert menu didn't look particulary exciting and we weren't that hungry anyway so we decided to give it a miss.
The service was ok. Not particularly attentive in terms of filling our cups of water, but overall acceptable in terms of getting the attention of the waiters and waitresses. I was not, however, pleased when the bill came and I asked if they had any discounts for any credit cards. The young waiter didn't seem to understand my question and couldn't give me an answer. I mean, I expect such knowledge to be at the tip of their fingers! Anyway, fyi, you can get a discount with any UOB credit/debit card.
Prices fall into the mid-range. For just two mains, the bill came up to about $50. If you're going there for the whole works, i.e. appetizers, wine, mains and desserts, be prepared to spend about $100 per person.
Posted by DSD at February 15, 2005 8:25 AM | TrackBackal dente is one of those places i tell myself never to go back again. =) was just at the esplanade on saturday!
Posted by: a l at February 15, 2005 8:48 AMal: Yeah, i'm not going back again too!
Posted by: dsd at February 15, 2005 8:50 AMSpaghetti Marinara is the name you are looking for? The first thing you should look at in a good Italian restaurant is the control of sauce. If there are sauces left on your plate after you finish your pasta, it means the chef is not good enough.
Posted by: Felix at February 15, 2005 10:11 PMYes Felix, i think that was the name. Thanks for that. And thanks for the tip re the sauce!
Posted by: dsd at February 16, 2005 8:31 AM