If you want food that will put a smile on your face, come to Cugini. I have never been to a place where food is prepared with so much love and passion. The dishes served here have so much balance in terms of flavour. Additionally the ingredients used here are of the freshest and finest in quality. As Chef Mauro (that shd be his name if my memory doesn’t fail me) states with so much pride and passion in his eyes, “Everything in Cugini are all handmade only with the finest and freshest ingredients. Down to the pea that’s served with your pasta, they are all hand-skinned”.

As I heard it, I was in total awe. I felt that it would be a total sin to waste any morsel on the plate. If my pride of maintaining my image didn’t get in the way, I would have licked every plate clean.

I learnt from my partner that evening that the true way to really test the quality of the food is really not adding any form of additional condiment on the dish, i.e. Black Pepper, Tabasco, parmesean etc, but really to have the food as how the chef prepares it (Chef Mauro beamed when we told him that we did that). In my opinion, every dish we had was a true winner.

Starter: Parma ham with aromatic salad and Emilian fried dough
Such a unique dish, I’ve never had anything like it. To my surprise, the Parma ham isn’t that salty, rather it was flavourful, and paired really well with the Emilian fried dough. This wonderful Italian side is light, aromatic and non-oily (totally amazing since it’s supposed to be deep fried). A definite perfect starter that made me chuckle with glee with every bite.

Main 1: Freshly made squid ink fettuccine with baby cuttlefish, fresh pea and mullet roe
The squid ink fettuccine ( handmade) was cooked till al dente perfection, that you can even taste the pasta. The baby cuttlefish was fresh and lightly seasoned. Every ingredient in this dish blended very well together. This pasta dish is so light and enjoyable that you can keep going at it till the very end. And of cause last but not least, finally a squid ink pasta that you can enjoy even when you’re out on a date. See Ma... no black lips or teeth!

Main 2: Freshly made ossobuco ravioli with green cabbage and Barolo reduction
Before I came to Cugini, I read about the wonderful Ossobuco ravioli. I was wondering to myself, what the heck is Ossobuco? Goggled it and found that Osso Buco is actually a Milanese dish. In short, it’s simply veal shank. Interesting, I thought. When the dish was presented, it looked very pretty and reminded me of wontons. I thought the portion was rather small, but don’t be fooled, it does fill you up quite quickly. Again back to the balance of flavours, the ossobuco mix was done just right. The green cabbage paring brought that additional crunch to every single ravioli bite. Very delightful!

Dessert: White chocolate panna cotta with raspberry
This is such a wonderful dessert. Unlike other panna cottas that I’ve tried. This one had a firm texture, yet very light and creamy on the palette. Somehow with the way it was done you can tell that the white chocolate used was of very good quality. It gave the dessert such “body” that you can’t quite put a finger to it. All around the panna cotta, it also had pounded bits of pistachio that added greater aroma to entire dessert experience.

Wine: Castello Banfi “San Angelo” Pinot Grigio – IGT 2007 12.5 vol Grape variety – Pinot Grigio (Toscana)
Cugini has a good selection of wines. We decided to go with the premium house white. In terms of price, it wasn’t too bad at $88 a bottle. It’s aromatic, fruity, and very light on the palette. It’s a great all-rounder that went very well with everything that we ordered. During the chat with Chef Mauro, he reiterated that every bottle of wine picked will go perfectly well with everything they have on the menu.

I definitely had a wonderful dining experience. In my opinion, this restaurant is a true winner, from food and wine, to service and ambience. You will certainly see me back there again.

Ambience,

Pseudo-zen contemporary decor. Love the pictures.


Food,

One of the better Italian restaurants in my opinion. Genuinely "Al Dente" pasta, a big plus point. Pizzas done right.

Appetizers,

Prosciutto with Emilian fried dough. Fried dough, fragrant and delectable. Prosciutto, saltiness well controlled, aged well, sliced nicely. Salad in the middle was uncharacteristic. 6/10

Burrata on tomatoes and black olive oil. Absolutely mind blowing. Cheese was fresh, cold and light. Nice and fragrant black olive oil complimented the cheese perfectly. Tomatoes low in acid, good texture, wonderful. 7.9/10

Antipasto Misto. Speck and parma was delicious. There were 3 kinds of cheeses, a hard one that tastes like pecorino, one relatively soft one that tastes like good cheddar and a soft one that tastes like brie. Brie one was boring. 5.5/10

Beef carpaccio with confit of rhubarb. Beef slightly discolored. Lacking of acid. Rhubarb too earthy to match the subtle combi of beef and mayo. 4.9/10

Mains,

Osso bucco Ravioli. Good flavors and acidity. Under seasoned. Processed parmigiana spoils the unadulterated flavor of the osso bucco. Barolo reduction provided good acidity to balance. 6/10

Truffle and Potato Ravioli. Delicious. Generous amount of truffles both on the external and internal of the ravioli. Silky, warm and flavorful. Perfectly seasoned. 7/10

Squid ink fettucine with baby squids. Pasta perfectly done, and i mean perfectly done, you can't find texture like that easily in Singapore. Flavor, good. Lacking of acidity. Scallions a tad overpowering. Baby squids, seasoned well, but crispiness lost. Seasoning well done. 6.5/10

Wheat spaghetti with guanciale and pecorino. Atrocious. I believe they re used a frying pan that had made seafood before. Dish was smoky and fishy. Over seasoned. 2/10

Desserts,

Tiramisu with sambuca. Delightful. Tiramisu nice and fluffly. Can't identify sambuca in sambuca caramel. 5.3/10

Ricotta semi freddo with citrus sauce. semi freddo, well done, small tiny bites of ice yet creamy and delightfully sweet. Citrus zest in sauce, delicious. 7.2/10

Hot fondant cake. Too much acidity. Acidity overpowered flavor and sweetness. Pleasant cheese aroma. 5.7/10

If u have been reading my reviews (pls dun tell me no one... boohoohoo..) u would know tat my recent craze is e ramen binge (which has pretty much died down) and frequenting robertson walk / mod sultan area... why? u might ask? simple! coz tat area do host some of e yummiest food around!

Loving both Jap and Italian cuisine... it's great tat there's a nice italian resto in this jap restos dominated area.. I can easily n literally hop to Menya Shinchan to get my ramen fix.. hop to Sugisawa for a lovely bento or hop to Cugini for an italian affair!

So wat's up with Cugini? For a start the decor is interesting... deviating from e usual cozy italiano joints (tink pasta brava).. Cugini offers a chic n modern dining ambience.. stepping into Cugini would 1st bring u to e lounge bar.. with cozy plush cushions and an illuminated full bar.. u would b like..so where do i eat?!?! haha stepping further into e resto would finally bring u to e dining tables.. Chic would be e word to describle e decor n ambience n wait staff decked out in black providing excellent service ! But is e food chic as well? Let's find out!

For a start e chef do send out complimentary starters to all diners.. which is a nice gesture but i dun rem wat izzit.. some potato n cheese thingy which is quite tasty! For our own start.. we had e bianca pizza ($19) to share... it's e 1st time e 3 of us had a cream based pizza with mozarella n ham n mushroom.. interesting! it's a nice change from e usual tomato based version n to our surprise.. it's quite lovely! although it would b lovelier if they r more generous with e toppings.. do add a dash of e chilli oil to spice up e pizza!

For mains i had e potato truffle ravioli ($27).. it's freshly made truffle and potato ravioli with walnut butter n parmigiano.. beautifully presented in a row of 6 (yes oni 6!).. but oh my god this is delicious!!! i gotta say tat e filling is really smooth n creamy n full of flavours! i was deciding over e ossobuco ravioli or e potato ravioli coz i wanted meat but i'm glad i chose e potato ravioli coz it's so rich n yum! absolutely heavenly!

We also had e crispy bacon spaghetti ($26) artistically twisted into a nice heap.. e salty crispy bacon is a nice twist from e usual juz throw into e pan bacon.. e crispy texture brings some fun to e tasty pile of tomato chessy spaghetti! Needing more meat in e picture (haha...) we had e milanese veal cutlets ($39) served with baby potato salad n custard sauce.. i'm not a fan of this as although e meat is tender n pink.. i do not find it flavourful at all... not sure wat e outer coat is made of but other than e refreshing salad.. i'm not too impressed by e veal cutlets..nah..

Ending on a sweet note.. the white chocolate panna cotta ($15) is wonderful! e panna cotta is wonderfully infused with e white choc flavour yet it do not come across as too sweet as e raspberry sauce do counter a little..The hot chocolate fondue cake ($15) is again tastefully presented n ozzing hot choc makes me go gaga! sinfully delightful although it's not e best i had...

Exquisite presentation and interesting twists do make e food as chic as e ambience.. however e portions could b a tad more generous to match e px tag.. perhaps e portions r meant for a full blown starter main n dessert itinerary...so for those looking to fill your tummy with juz e mains u might really wana order more or u will go hungry!

If u r looking forward to attacking a hearty plate of italian pasta with great gusto..Cugini's not for u.. But if u r looking for a chic n classy italian fare with exquisite presentations.. come to Cugini!

psst! there's a 15% discount for Citibank credit cards!

In my opinion, the test for the quality of pizza in a place is always the humble margarita. Having acquired a taste for the pizza margarita in Italy, I've sought to replicate that simple, delectable taste which would transport me back to those wild days in Italia roaming the stone cobbled streets, marvelling at the breath-taking sights and salivating at the margarita pizzas.

Having read the reviews here, I must say I was sorely disappointed that this "traditional italian" place was neither as authentic nor amazing as I had hoped.

Ambience

I've always liked the square in Robertson Walk. It's breezy and cool. Not overly noisy, the healthy sound of chattering adds to the vibrancy of the area. Though not really a romantic setting, it's quite a nice place to chill out and unwind on a Friday evening.

Service

The service was pretty prompt. We were shown our table, seated and brought menus in a flash. So far so good. Then this happened:

"Still or sparkling?"
(This isn't even a posh restaurant)"Do you serve tap?"
(Waiter moves from right side to left side)"Still or sparking?"
(Thinking they don't serve tap)"Still please"
(I then noticed that the table next to us clearly was drinking tap)"wait, do you serve tap? Tap will do thanks"
(Disgrunted waiter saunters off)

Attitude was quite bad. And this was not the worst. When we complained about the pizzas when we asked for the check, this transpired.

"How was everything?"
"The pizzas were very badly done"
(Disgrunted waiter conveniently ignores it and saunters off and comes back with the bill)
(Whilst signing) "The pizzas could have been done better"
(waiter ignores comment and walks off with the bill)

Like seriously, why bother to ask for feedback if you are not even going to consider it?

Food

Decidedly famished, our party of four decided to get 3 pizzas. My favourite, the margarita, a seafood pizza and one with parma ham and riccola.

I would describe my margarita as plain awful. They have taken this old classic and ruined it totally. Such a simple pizza, the base of most pizzas in fact, was so crappily made that it stunk of complacency and clear lack of effort. There was no basil, the cheese was lacking. The tomato base was very mediocre. The crust was burnt and overall, it sucked. There were eight slices, I had four (only because I was starving) before I decided that I just couldn't bring myself to eat anymore.

The seafood one, I didn't eat, but apparently that was not too bad because there were a lot of ingredients. My friend had six out of eight slices.

The nightmare must be the parma ham pizza. The reason why I write parma ham pizza is because there were not rocket leaves on it. Like, how on earth could you omit to tell us this and serve it like it was meant to be like that when the description clearly states otherwise? The parma ham was clearly of low quality (for high quality parma ham, jones the grocer does a pretty decent job), it was hard and there was no fat on it. On retrospect, I wonder if it is parma ham even. Parma ham, as I know it, should be sliced into paper-thin translucent slices so that you can taste the sweetness and uniqueness of the ham and it should have a slightly chewy consistency. The girls each had one slice and left six slices.

Value

About the price I would expect for pizzas at a restaurant, in the S$20 - S$28 range. But for the quality of the pizza, I would say it's really not worth it. You are definitely better off ordering Spizza.

Needless to say, I was thoroughly embarressed by this recommendation I made to my friends. This review is hence slightly angsty but in my opinion, fully deserving.

Qualification: This review is only based on the pizzas. I've come to realise that most of the other reviews are made in reference to pastas. My bad for not reading the recommendations carefully. =P

The mission of Cugini is simple - bringing affordable and good quality Italian fare to the locals.

Located in Robertson Walk, the fine dining looks may scare the spending-conscious diner away, but a closer look at the prices peg it closer to your neighbourhood Italian eatery than the other fine dining places around.

I had the opportunity to try the food some time back. I tried an assortment of pastas and pizzas. I found the pastas impressive and tasty, and one of my favourites had to be the squid ink pasta. The raviolis are full of meat and it is clear that a lot of effort is put into making these pastas.

For desserts I tried the Tiramisu which was alright.

If you are around the area and are looking for some affordable Italian fare in a nice dining environment, do check out the restaurant.