It’s the second last day of the year and that is a valid reason to have a good lunch with a good friend!

Even though there are many food new establishments around, I didn’t want to ruin the special date so I suggested OTTO Ristorante, which has been tested and proven to be good. In fact, this should be my favourite Italian fine dining restaurant in Singapore.

For lunch they had a 3 course menu which changes weekly. There are selections for all 3 courses. We were also informed that the alba white truffle season was coming to an end and it was one of the last few chances to try out their truffle specialties. Therefore, the both of us decided to take a set menu and 2 pastas to share. I like how they would help us split most of the items making the dining experience neat and orderly.

Amuse bouche

Sauteed Clams

This was the appetizer from the set menu, portioned into half for sharing. This was pretty decent but nothing spectacular.

Bone marrow ‘Agnolotti’ served with walnut pesto and white truffle – $58++

This was half of the full portion. The truffle was $10/g and there was 3g in total for ours. Of course the truffle was heavenly aromatic but what I loved even more was the stuffed pasta itself. I am a fan of bone marrow and the filling was sinfully good – squishy and rich in flavour (if you know what bone marrow tastes like, good! If you haven’t tried GO TRY IT!). The pasta itself was perfect too, al dente and thin enough for my liking. If this was a permanent item I would definitely have this again should I have a chance to dine here.

Spaghetti with sea urchin and grey mullet bottarga  – $32.00++

This was the full portion of the dish. This is what OTTO is famous for (in my opinion at least) and remains the best sea urchin pasta I ever had! The standard is consistent to what I had the previous time. If sea urchin is your thing, go try it. If it isn’t, it may be too rich and heavy.

Unfortunately I forgot to note down the name of this, but this was the main course for the set lunch. It was fish and mushroom and generally well executed. This was the full portion before they proceeded to splitting it.

Pear chocolate cake

This dessert was part of the set lunch and isn’t offered in the ala carte menu. It was my first time having pear in chocolate cake and I must say the combination turned out well!

The overall experience was very good because the service was as good as the food standards. The portion is substantial enough and the above is filling for 2 and I felt beyond satiated when I left.

For an earlier review of OTTO Ristorante: https://hungryinsingapore.wordpress.com/2013/03/23/otto-ristorante-dinner/