Bella Italia
Dinner with Audrey at Bella Italia in Serangoon Gardens turned out to be a bit of a mixed bag.
It is very much a neighbourhood Italian restaurant. Casual, straightforward and convenient if you live nearby, but there is not much ambience to speak of. We started with the Parma ham and burrata. Pleasant enough, although this is also the sort of dish that is difficult to judge the kitchen by. The ingredients did the heavy lifting, nicely assembled, and there is really not much cooking involved.
The Salsiccia Pizza was probably one of the better dishes of the evening. Topped with homemade pork sausage meat, olives and onion, it was decent and enjoyable, with enough flavour to keep us going back for another slice.
The squid ink seafood pasta looked promising and the pasta itself was competently executed, but the seafood let it down. The calamari and mussels tasted like frozen products to me, with that rubbery texture and without the natural sweetness you get from fresh seafood. It made the whole dish feel a little flat.
We also tried the New Zealand ribeye. Again, acceptable, but the quality of the beef was not particularly impressive and it was not a steak I would travel across town for.
Overall, I left with rather mixed feelings. Nothing was disastrously bad, but nothing really excited me either. Bella Italia probably works well as a convenient neighbourhood option for residents craving pizza or pasta without travelling far.
For more serious food lovers who are particular about ingredient quality and execution, however, I think there are stronger Italian options around Singapore.
