Driving along MacPherson, I recalled reading about about an Italian restaurant along the road. So instead of the regular "Tian Tian Lai" yong tau foo at the Circuit Road market, we decided to try the food at the "MacPherson Italian Restaurant".

Making use of Singtel's "internet anywhere" on my phone, I managed to google "Macpherson Italian food" to get the address of the place. It's a good thing I called - because, guess what, I had driven right past the place (a common grouse). Ok, so we backtracked, made the U-Turn at Windsor Hotel and tried again.

Looking for parking spots was not easy (we are talking about "legal parking"). But we figured that the people living in the terrace houses behind the restaurant wouldn't mind their front gate being "slightly" blocked since it was a working day.

Looking for the place itself was another challenge worthy of "Amazing Race". The exterior ABSOLUTELY devoid of the usual credit card decals, celebrity photos and all that marketing stuff. In fact, you couldn't even see the interior of the place without opening the door. I actually thought it was a sleazy pub inside those doors.

Upon entering, we were promptly greeted by a Chinese speaking server who seated us and gave us menus. In fact, the menus were pointless. The most reliable menu in the restaurant was the chalkboard menu and the refridgerated counter (where you can see for yourself what salads and desserts they have). Seriously.

Although the server was polite, I found her overbearing with her recommendations and her suggestions that the two of us (both females) ordered a cod fish to share ON TOP OF our pizza and 2 pastas. There's a fine line between being helpful and pushy, and I reckon she was threading on thin ice there.

Anyhow, after much deliberation (quite surprising for the lack of variety), we ordered a Napoli pizza ($12 - tomatoes, anchovies, capers and black olives. With cheese version is the Romana), aglio olio ($14 - not on the menu) and a squid ink pasta with shrimp and scallops with olive oil ($18).

First up was the pizza. It was YUMMY! Thin crust and just so light on the stomach. One of the best thin crust pizzas here, although I would have prefered the pizza topping not to look so "sparsely spread". But it was anchovies I ordered, so too much would have also made the experience "too salty".

Next to come was the Aglio Olio. Served on an "appetiser" sized plate, the portion was well....small. It was as if the owner had slashed BOTH his price and portion by 50%. Food quality and taste wise, there were no complaints AT ALL. The pasta (not home made) was cooked al dente and the flavours were not watered down (ala Pastamania) or haphazaardly stir fried. This was comfort food. Just you and the pasta.

Expecting the same quality and standards for my Squid Ink pasta, I was surprised to see it come "dry" with no sauce apart from the olive oil. The only thing "inky" about the pasta was the home made pasta. Goodness gracious! But I'd never enjoyed my pasta this much. It was a no fuss dish where the star was not the prawn or scallop. For the first time, I could detect the egg and ink ingredients in a pasta. True to its origins as "home made", the pasta, with its rough edges and prematurely shortened strands, was comforting and satisfying. It was a pity though, that the portion was so dainty to the point of "diet-sized".

By the time I was finished with my meal, I was still hungry (Get what I mean about the dainty portions?). So, resisting the urge to order a second portion of squid ink pasta, I ordered a tomato soup with clams ($10) and a "love cake" ($10).

The tomato soup was rich and its flavour heightened by the truffle oil drizzled into it. I could have done without the 4 small clams but to their credit, they had cooked the clams till it just slid off the shell without the use of the fork (except for one of them).

When the love cake was served, it came "flaming" - literally. Doused and lited with alcohol, the "love cake" was an interesting concept. Whenever I asked the service staff or the owner why it was called a "love cake", I never got a proper explanation except for "try it and see".

Honestly, it is a marketing gimmick because you would order it out of curiousity - just like I did. So, here was the "love cake", dug into it and knew why...."love handles". Here was a portion of fat made from chocolate, butter and cream. I'm usually alright with putting fat in my body, but this "love thingy", just wasn't worth it. For $10, it tasted ordinary but better than the rubbish at Bakerzin. Will I try this again? I doubt it.

In fact, I don't think that desserts are his specialty as his tiramisu looked a little dry from the display. But after the "love cake" experience - which is supposedly a "specialty" and perpetually "sold out" (according to that Chinese national service staff, boy, did I get duped again by their flowery language!), I doubt his tiramisu would fare better.

Taking into consideration the location (poor), service (service staff takes orders at an Italian F&B outlet in Singapore in Mandarin only. Certainly a first for me!), food standards and price, I can assuredly say that the owner knows he has a good thing going with his food and he is not about to lower his ROI (return on investment) on each item on the menu just because the new location of this restaurant is in the "heartlands" or "neighbourhood".

To summarise, he may claim he has reduced his food prices, but he has proportionately reduced his food size. Expect to pay more than expected for a "neighbourhood" located eatery. My bill came to $65.

***5 things You MUST KNOW of The Place***
1) Expect to wait for a table if you come during regular peak hours. I went for lunch at 11:30am. Once it hit 1pm, it was packed.

2) The Chinese service staff who is so friendly and courteous, is a VERY GOOD SALES PERSON. Know what you want before you place the order and then don't budge when the upsell starts

3) Parking is a real pain.

4) Looking for the place, is another pain

5) Although the food is good, you'll think twice about returning becaues of the conflicting vibes.