Wednesday, September 2, 2009

La Strada

Over dinner at La Strada, I told XLB that for the past 2 days, it almost felt like my birthday instead. On the night of her birthday, after my lesson, we were at Serene Centre. She surprised me (shouldn't it be the other way round?) by lugging some Ion Orchard take-outs; curry rice from Ginza Bairin, Vietnamese glass noodle salad with grilled pork from The Orange Lantern and pork ume burger from R Burger. The first of my birthday feast. Then, we headed to Island Creamery for some ice cream (too bad they ran out of our current favourite flavour, pierre sake) before ending the night at McD's with a slice of walnut cheesecake. It was the best birthday cake I could find at almost 11 pm. Before we left, I gave her the last 2 packets of my Wang Wang Rice Crackers, a snack I munch on between lectures. Not for nothing, of course. If you noticed, the packets are printed with some of the most auspicious Chinese greetings you can think of. Tasty as well. A pragmatic gift, I thought.

I chose La Strada because we've always wanted to try a Les Amis and that she was a pizza fan. If true, then the complimentary slices were a good preview of what the extensive selection of pizzas would be like. Delicious. Just the rich tomato sauce base itself is worth a mention. But we didn't order any that night because we reserved space for more interesting dishes.

If I had to choose the one dish that I'd come back to the street over and over again, I guess it'd be the Spaghetti Carbonara. It doesn't get any more orgasmic than the scent of truffle (I'm no sow) wisping from the warm plate of hand-made spaghetti, Spanish ham, shaved parmesan, confit of egg and ground black pepper. The truffle came from the butter, which when combined with the parmesan and yolk, translated into a carbonara that was rich with every slurp, without being cloying. I talked and dreamed of this for days. XLB had the Merluzzo, which was basically oven-baked codfish with asparagus, cherry tomatoes and clams. Only when it's fresh that one gets drips of briny and sweet juice from the seafood. It was good. Prior to the carbonara and cod was the satisfying starter of Tonno; pan-seared thick slices of tuna served with fine beans salad and drizzled with a sweet apple balsamic dressing.

For dessert, gelati of coconut, passion fruit, muscavado and yoghurt. The ice cream/gelato expert gave two thumbs up, especially for the coconut. I thought the texture was refined and the flavours rather natural (meaning, no artificial flavourings). As I placed the order, I asked for the piece of pre-ordered birthday cake as well. Yeah, I know. Never been good with this kind of birthday thingy. Back to the cake. I was hoping for the chocolate and zucchini that I've read somewhere but got just the chocolate instead. Still, a very dense, velvety piece and definitely spelt Valhorna.

Wishing you all the gelati and Rachael Yamagata songs in the world.

La Strada
1 Scotts Road
#02-10/11 Shaw Centre
Tel: (+65) 6737 2622
Website: http://www.lesamis.com.sg/

16 comments:

Selba said...

Happy Belated Birthday, XLB!

A very wonderful birthday dinner :)

red fir said...

"It doesn't get any more orgasmic..." the most apt description for the carbonara!

Happy Birthday to XLB too. :)

Paranoid Android said...

Sigh... Shaved truffles on Creamy Carbonara. That's what I have been missing in KL. No wonder I stop ordering Pastas from the Italian joints here! Lucky you...

Lovely food and lovely shots and lovely dining companion. Who could ask for more?

Ciki said...

awww.. so sweet.. she lugged all dat food around just for you.. and that's why they say.. the way to hairy's heart is through his FOUR stomachs! hehe :P

qwazymonkey said...

Firstly, Happy BDay XLB! For your present, lemme rag our blur munkey nic here for not surprising u instead. Such a disgrace to us gentlemen of the munkey kind.

Secondly Bro, when u come back during your mid term break, I'm sending you on an intensive course with Kenny Mah's Sweetness 101. I hear it's a diabetic one. I'll go back to the island a changed munkey.

Rebecca Saw said...

hahha.. somehow guys and birthday surprises doesn't go toge horr?
*glaring at Unka* ;p

Anyhow, tht dinner more than made up for it! And truly, with her lugging all that food and the dinner and the cake, what a b'day feast!

minchow said...

Sounds like a perfect perfect birthday to me! And ending it at McDs doesn't even come close to ruining it! Happy Belated Birthday XLB!

UnkaLeong said...

TNG : Glare what glare, poke your eyes out baru tahu.

Sorry hijack your comments box Hairy, one must defend oneself, no? Happy birthday XLB!

Xiu Long Bao said...

XLB - 1 ; Hairy - 0

Thanks All for the bday wishes and Hairy, for the dinner. The gelati were really good *big wet eyes*

Hairy, do I get take-outs when it's my turn to study...hmmm...

ladyironchef said...

me want to try the awesome carbonara from la strada!

"Joe" who is constantly craving said...

awwwww so sweeeet...

HairyBerry said...

selba, yupe, it was wonderful. especially the spaghetti! :)

ice, i sooo wanna go back there for the carbonara! haha!

paranoid android, actually those are shaved parmesan. the truffle's in the butter. but the taste was really pungent, so that was good! :)

cumi & ciki, awwwww....not easy to fill 4 stomachs hor? need lotsa $$$...hahahaha! see ya soon!

qwazymonkey, LOL!!! i really dunno how to do surprise birthday stuff one lah. blur monkey indeed! Sweetness 101 from Kenny? TIDAKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!! but i wanna borrow his writing talent, though..hehe

HairyBerry said...

thenomadgourmand, haha! not defending unka but he's a cool dude la...i'm sure he's much more capable of a good surprise than me. :) and yessss, it was a FEAST!!! had another one yesterday cos it was her lunar bday..haha!

550ml jar of faith, perfectly cool! :) that's why "i'm lovin' it"...no ruining of sorts..haha!!!

unkaleong, i'm with you on this lah bro. and i'm very sure u are a better bday planner than me la. :)

xiu long bao, what's xlb-1 ? that means the next meal on u ar? haha! thanks for the take-outs yesterday. i think i've tasted 50% of b4 ion orchard d...haha...

oh, i think the question is, when are you gonna start studying again. :P

HairyBerry said...

ladyironchef, u hafta try the carbonara lah! it's da bomb! :)

HairyBerry said...

joe, hehehe..where got where got! lol!

Ciki said...

i fergot.. happy belated bday xlb!! hehe