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Introduction
La Strada, a subsidiary of the award winning Les Amis Group, reopened end September 2013 at Shaw Centre with a laid-back Trattorian makeover. Dishing up a delectable spread of Italian cuisine, La Strada offers diners a temporary escape from the monotony of the urban jungle.
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Opening Hours
Mon - Sun
12:00 - 14:30
18:30 - 22:00
Above information is for reference only. Please check details with the restaurant.
Signature Dishes
La Strada has been around for quite a while but after our rather uninspiring lunch at Les Amis (http://www.timelessfacade.com/2015/02/les-amis-past-its-prime.html - sister restaurant under the same umbrella) a few months back, I wasn't too keen on dining at La Strada. But as fate would have it, I had an errand to run in the vicinity so decided to drop by for a quick lunch, seeing that the place was relatively empty on a Monday afternoon.Located just next to Bistro Du Vin (http://www.timelessfacade.com/2013/07/bistro-du-vin.html - which serves great set lunches by the way), La Strada sports a compact, cosy interior with red tiled floors, wooden tables and chairs against a yellow backdrop. I opted for one of the 3 small tables by the window for a view of the adjourning walkway but do note that means the passersby see you as well.Carbonara - La Strada's signature Carbonara; didn't look like much but every bit an excellent dish. Beneath the thin, al dente, homemade guitar string pasta lay a confit of egg yolk which added to the creaminess of the dish when the yolk broke. Sprinkled with crisp but a touch overly salty lardo crumble (salumi, an Italian cold cut made by curing strips of pork with herbs and spices) for that extra crunch, this dish also boasted a rich fragrance and earthiness courtesy of the truffle butter sauce. Delicious without coming across as nauseating. But to be fair, I guess that in part has to do with the portion size, which was really quite small. I would probably need at least 2 bowls to fill myself up but at $28++ a pop, it's definitely not that affordable. One of the best Carbonara I've had to date.Tiramisu - Served up in a bowl and dusted with chocolate flakes (not the usual cocoa powder), the mascarpone cheese to sponge ratio was pretty good but unfortunately, the bottom of the sponge came across as very soggy from soaking in too much of the Kahlua. Topped with coffee lookalike, chocolate beans. Decent but not outstanding.Lunch cost me about $54 and prices are undeniably on the high side for a relatively casual restaurant and the small portions. In this aspect, the set lunch @ $35++ does seem like a more viable alternative, just that you won't find the signature Carbonara listed as one of the options. Service came across as rather friendly and good. I'll definitely be happy to return for the Carbonara when the craving hits.See all my pictures at http://www.timelessfacade.com/2015/09/la-strada-excellent-carbonara.html
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For picture and full review, pls visit:http://madamechewy.com/2015/05/13/la-strada/La Strada, which means “The Street” in Italian, is a subsidiary of the award winning Les Amis Group. The restaurant serves classic Italian cuisine and is conveniently located at Shaw CentreIts rustic interior is reminiscent of the laid-back Trattorias in Italy, providing a temporary respite from the urban rat race for all who step into its cosy premises. Despite being almost full on a weekday, staff maintained polite and efficient service standards. We went for the set lunch at $35++ for 3 courses, with 3 selections for both entrees and mains, a fixed dessert, and coffee or tea.To start, we had Prosciutto E Manzo Stagionato, a ham and cured beef platter with toast and ratte potato salad. It’s a simple, classic dish that tastes as good as it looksCapesante Alla Griglia was something new for me. Flashed-grilled Hokkaido Scalloped clocked in rhubarb sauce, with slices of endives. It’s a combination I’ve never tried before, but fell in love with upon the first bite.Bistecca Alla Griglia. Char-grilled Black Angus Striplion jazzed up with argula pesto was not the most tender, but acceptable. Adding texture and variety to this main, were perfectly fried cardoncello mushrooms and root vegetables, perched prettily atop the steak. While we could smell the lovely truffle aroma, our taste buds could hardly detect it.Admittedly, I was quite disappointed with Pancetta Di Maiale, a dish of Iberico Pork Belly, sitting in a moat of sweet white cabbage and caraway sauce. The crackling skin was spot-on-crispy and flavours were lovely. Unfortunately, the meat itself was too tough and dry.The dessert in the set lunch menu didn’t excite us, hence we topped up $5++ each for a Tiramisu and Honey & Pine Tart. La Strada’s Tiramisu is moist and each bite fills the mouth with a explosion of coffee, chocolate and cream flavours, with a hint of alcohol. Not my kind of Tiramisu!Toasted pine nuts, coasted with honey, are piled onto a thin pie crust and topped with a huge scoop of strawberry ice cream. The intensity of the pine nuts was rather overwhelming; I’d have like this if the ratio of pine nuts and buttery pie base were equal.Overall not too bad, but La Strada did not leave a huge impression on me.
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I’m totally not exaggerating when I say that La Strada has one of the BEST Carbonara I’ve ever tried in Singapore. And most of the other dishes on their menu are equally good too. The price range is slightly higher than Jamie’s Italian, but the quality of food here is so much better, as you would expect from a restaurant under the Les Amis group.First up, the Risotto All’Aragosta ($40) – juicy Lobster chunks served with saffron-infused Risotto. Mmmm.. just thinking about it now stimulates my saliva glands! >.< If you're like me and enjoy indulging in rich, flavourful foods then this is a dish you will love. They probably used lobster bisque to cook the rice because it's just exploding with the taste of lobster and the strings of saffron hidden in the risotto gives the dish an uplifting quality.One thing I also liked about this dish is that they don’t stinge on the lobster meat. I was delighted to find huge chunks of juicy lobster meat cooked to perfection.It’s always good to eat in a group because you get to share food and try out more dishes that the restaurant has to offer. This pot of Blue Mussels ($28) is slightly different from the one I tried at Bistro Du Vin (also part of the Les Amis group of restaurants). This version is without white wine which makes it slightly less tasty, but I actually prefer it like that because the wine can be a bit overpowering.And of course, the star of the show is the Chitarra alla Carbonara ($28)! The restaurant actually makes their own ‘Chitarra’ pasta which is literally translated as ‘Guitar String’ pasta. And I’m not sure if they actually make the pasta fresh on the spot, but my order took quite a while to come (20 – 30 min). It was well worth the wait though, because the pasta retained it’s fresh al’dente quality that you will not get from ordinary dried pasta that you buy from supermarkets.The Truffle Butter Sauce is unlike anything I’ve tried before – thick, buttery and infused with so much truffle. And there are still more unique attributes to this dish! Next up is the crispy thin slices of Italian ham that is served with it, unlike other carbonara which uses bacon. And finally the Egg Confit which sits atop the pasta, unlike the usual poached egg which is just simply poached for 3 – 5 min, this egg yolk is slow cooked for about an hour and infused with flavours from the ham.To think that the chefs went through all that trouble just to create this heavenly dish makes me respect them even more. And I think the price tag of $28 is really quite reasonable, although the portion may be quite small for some people. Just be sure to make a reservation in advance to avoid disappointment because the restaurant can get really packed during lunchtime on weekdays.
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My first time in this restaurant and the ambience was cozy and nice. My friend took over the orders as I wasn't familiar with the food here and we had some entrees before our main course. We had the portobello with a pouch egg and prosciutto ham(so yummy). A chargrilled squid with some drizzle of balsamic vinegar( very succulent) and then the main was spaghetti bolognese, I find the sauce a bit sweet as they used fresh tomato from scratch. The dessert was a lemon tart with vanilla ice cream(not sour enough) but the ice cream was creamy and tasted some vanilla pod in it. Overall not too bad.
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My partner and I ordered calamari and tomatoes with mozzarella cheese as starters. Both dishes were great, especially the calamari. Its not the typical fried squid you would have, instead they are grilled to the right texture. I had a crab meat pasta. However, it was a little too salty to my liking. The crab meat were very fresh though. My partner on the other hand, had vongole pasta. The sauce was really tasty but the portion was a tad bit too little for a guy. The service crew were rather attentive. I'll definitely give it a second chance for the pasta.
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