Garibaldi Italian Restaurant & Bar @ Purvis Street, Singapore

Sorry for the long absence. I was having a very major exam on the 2nd of Dec. Now that its done and over with, lets hope for the best. I recently got back from Singapore. I have to say, food down south seems to be a lot better than back home. As they say, the grass is always greener on the other side.

Anyway, my 1st lunch outing in Singapore was at Garibaldi Italian Restaurant & Bar. It was a rather quiet and nice restaurant, situated along Purvis Street. Service at Garibaldi was top notch. We were immediately seated upon arrival. The server informed us of the chef's special of the day, and was more than happy to make recommendations. There is a set lunch at the restaurant for SGD38, which I personally feel is a steal. The set lunch consist of 3 choices of appetizer, 5 main and 2 desserts. Being my first and hopefully not last visit here, I opted for the degustation menu SGD98.

Fresh Bread from the Oven

We were served bread to be dipped with extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar. The bread was done very well. It had a nice crusty exterior with a soft core.

To make it easier to read, I'll start off with dishes from the degustation menu followed by the set lunch.

Tartare di Tonno

A Mediterranean Tuna Tartare with orange and topped with Mullet Roe. The fish had a nice smooth texture to it and the slight zing from the orange gave it a good kick. If you're a fan of raw sashimi/sushi, you'll definitely enjoy this.

Parmigiana di Melanzane

Sorry for the crappy picture. The restaurant was extremely dark, thus I had to use flash which usually screws up the picture. Anyway, the dish certainly tasted better than it looked. The above picture was a Naepolitan style baked eggplant with mozzarella, basil and tomato sauce. The cheese certainly gave the vegetable a nice flavour. I really enjoyed this dish.

Ravioli di Granchio

For the 3rd course, I had a homemade crab ravioli with tomato and orange. Personally I felt that the crab's flavour was over powered by the sauce. Its taste was alright but the effort of peeling the crab and stuffing it into the ravioli isn't worth the hard work. (I just made spinach and pine nut ravioli yesterday and it was bloody hard work).

Tagliata di Manzo

For my main, I was given a choice of Atlantic Cod or Grilled US Beef 'Tagliata' with Potato Gratin & Green Asparagus. I opted for the beef. The beef was done to medium. The asparagus on top wasn't only for presentation sake, it gave a nice crunch in contrast to the texture of the beef. The potato gratin was nicely crusted as well.

Semifreddo alla Nocciola

For dessert, I had a chocolate and hazelnut parfait Piedmont style. A parfait is something frozen, usually cream. I suppose one could freeze yoghurt as well. Well in this situation, it was resembled gelato. Taste wise, it was smooth and not overly rich. A nice way to end the meal.

The pictures below are from the set lunch.

Appetizer: There was a choice of a salad, vegetable platter or soup of the day.

Cream of Asparagus

I didn't get a taste of the soup, but I heard it tasted nice.

Main: The choice of mains were different styles of pastas, a fish or a chicken dish

Tonno Bianco con Verdure al Burro e Acciughe

Frankly, I have no clue what that means but the dish consisted of some fried white tuna and buttered vegetables. The fish had a rather soft texture. It tasted good though.

Linguine al Prosciutto e Funghi

The linguine with pharma ham and mushrooms was done al dente. The difference between freshly made pasta and dried packet pasta becomes quite obvious when the pasta is cooked al dente. Freshly made pasta have a slightly chewy texture whereas packet pasta taste a little hard. Generally, pastas usually have a subtle flavour to it unless it is laden with some thick sauce. Simplicity is best when it comes to pasta. This pasta was no exception. I had a mouthful of it. I personally felt that it lacked a little in flavour, perhaps slightly more ham would give it that porky goodness.

Dessert: The set came with a choice of the dessert of the day or gelato.

Cinnamon Roll

I found the roll a little chewy which is typical of french pastry. Somehow, I haven't uncover the ability to appreciate chewy rolls yet.

Gelato

I didn't try the gelato, so no comments here.

All in all, Garibaldi has a nice atmosphere, good service and above average food. Compared to the fine dining one could get back home (even in restaurants in 5 star hotels), I guess Malaysia still has a long way to go. I hope to come back one day. Then again, Singapore has so many nice restaurants (I wanted to have lunch at Iggy's but I couldn't secure a reservation).

Non Halal

Vallet Parking available

*Opinions expressed are solely based on my personal experience
Map to Garibaldi Italian Restaurant & Bar

Address:
Garibaldi Italian Restaurant & Bar,
36 Purvis Street #01-02,
188613 Singapore.

Contact:
Telephone number: (65) 6837 1468
Fax number: (65) 6337 3770
Email: garibaldi@garibaldi.com.sg
Website: http://www.garibaldi.com.sg/

Opening hours:
Restaurant hours: Lunch 12pm-3pm, Dinner 6.30pm-11pm Daily.
Bar hours: 12pm-12am daily.