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2011-01-16
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'This restaurant is really a hole in the wall!' - JR. Yes, this lovely gem is petite. The entrance is difficult to find and there are only about 14 seats inside. Seats are pretty tight and there is usually a short queue for the delicious thick-cut loaves they're famous for, right at the entrance. But service is quick and you can technically be in and out in around 30 minutes. 20, if you're a quick eater. I've heard about the famous loaf for a long time. Finally got to try it today. Food:Seasonal
Yes, this lovely gem is petite. The entrance is difficult to find and there are only about 14 seats inside. Seats are pretty tight and there is usually a short queue for the delicious thick-cut loaves they're famous for, right at the entrance. But service is quick and you can technically be in and out in around 30 minutes. 20, if you're a quick eater.
I've heard about the famous loaf for a long time. Finally got to try it today. Food:
Seasonal spaghetti - Mushroom spaghetti ¬$65
I liked it a lot. The mushrooms weren't cheap chinese/brown mushrooms. They were something else, i forgot. I love mushrooms. There was no creamy sauce coating my spaghetti strands but somehow they were extremely tasty - probably because of the fragrant oil. There were also dried seaweed strands on top, which added a second flavour to the dish. Pasta itself was cooked al dente. The mushrooms were pan fried with onions - and of course you can imagine how good this simple combination tastes. Apart from the pasta, there was a halved piece of thick toast I liked the fact that they didn't charge you extra for that. (well it's probably been incorporated into the food costs without us knowing...^^) The classic thick cut bread is really special. I haven't tasted bread like it before. There is a small knob of butter smeared onto the rim of your plate, just a small knob, enough to smear one side of a piece of toast. To be honest the toast is as good with butter as without, because it's quite buttery standing alone, probably from the manufacturing process. Texture: I would describe it to be a cross between a croissant and white bread? Yes that would be an apt description. It's oily on the outside, the center is soft and kind of airy but not as airy as croissant middles - yet not as substantial as white bread. Somewhere in between. I loved the crust
Napolitana-Japanese style spaghetti ¬$65
I tried one forkful of this pasta and preferred mine. This one was a bit like a tomato sauce but less sour than you'd expect. I suppose they cooked the sauce with a considerable amount of sugar. There was also bits of ham...ONE broccoli (so generous), two halves of a cherry tomato...yeah. and of course a halved thick toast. After both of us cleaned our first plates, JR was hungry and wanted to order another item. Thank you JR for adding evil calories to my diet. And this is what JR picked:
Heavenly deep-fried pork cutlet sandwich
The pork was fat, deep fried, hot, crisp, heavenly, everything the name suggests. The crust wasn't dripping with oil though. It had a fried dough-like solidness to it, which is nice. I liked it, a lot. The sandwich was one large piece of meat wedged between two slices of toast, halved. There was some lettuce and brown sauce too. The sauce was good too. At least it's a variation from plain old mayo. I wonder how they made it so delicious. But next time i am NOT ordering this again because it's WICKED. I'll go for the pastas again. Or the egg sandwich, which is supposed to be good too.
Conclusion:
Oh i am so definitely coming back. No question about that! with another troupe. A small troupe. And we might make reservations. I will also try the sweet items. The heading for this entry describes the comforting fact that this wonderful bread can be served with anything - savory, sweet...and can be eaten for breakfast, brunch, lunch, tea, even dinner. So versatile, so good.
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