Quality food is one thing. The other thing is whether you can prepare it. The bf and I came here hoping for a Sunday brunch special, but we were disappointed to find out that we'd just missed breakfast (hint: it would be *nice* if more places could keep the breakfast menu options open for a little longer on Sundays. It makes a lot more people - or at least two more - happier).

So anyway, since we'd already been seated and were rather unwilling to get up and leave considering that our iced waters had already been served, the heat was sweltering outside, and the other restaurants and bistros were far too crowded, we decided to see what we could do with the lunch menu.

I've come to the conclusion that I tend to order the wrong things. There is a whole range of stuff to choose from, and I order the baked canneloni with crab meat ($28.00). What the hell is it? I don't know. All I know is that it's a pasta, it's baked and it has crab meat.

The bf ordered the foie gras with macarons ($22.00) for his starter, and the duck leg confit ($24.00) for his main.

Now, he was impressed with the starter. Probably because for $22.00, it was one huge piece of goose liver. And it was so soft and fatty and tender and well-marinated; slid down his throat like silk, apparently. His only gripe was that it was a little bloody; a little on the undercooked side. I guess my bf doesn't exactly like raw.

Then came the mains. My dish consisted of three giant tubes of pasta completely drenched in a creamy sauce, and stuffed with crab meat. They were really generous with the crab meat, I have to say. But I think I made the wrong choice. Because the dish was too rich and heavy, and the cream drowned out the taste of the crab meat, and for all I knew I could have just been eating pasta stuffed with yong tau foo fish meat and not have known the difference. *sigh*

My bf's main looked prettier than mine; one piece of duck meat, mashed potato and salad. Unfortunately, he said that it was too marinated and too gamey. My bf doesn't mind duck, but only if it is cooked in such a way that the gamey taste of duck is masked. In this case unfortunately, it was a little too undercooked for his liking, and therefore too gamey.

Suffice to say, paying for quality food is one thing. But if it isn't cooked to one's liking, it's difficult to justify the prices.

We went there for a lazy Sat lunch but the experience was horrific! It wasn't busy when we got there but there was no one to show us a table so we just grabbed one ourselves and sat down.

No waiters seemed to notice our presence and we waited for at least 5 minutes and still no service. We had to wave many time, and frantically, to get some attention. A bartender girl saw us and came and asked if we were to order food but we said we needed the menu. It took us a few minutes to decide what to have (not a very extensive menu at all!) but then we had the same problem finding someone to serve us. We waited for at least 5-10 minutes before the same girl came to us again.

We ordered our food at 12.45pm. We waited and waited and my patience was running out by 1.10pm. I asked one of the waiters to check on the food but all I got from her was that she was not responsible for this section but she was only there to help out! What sort of help out is that if all she said was she was not responsible and offered no assistance. I asked her to kindly check for us and she said the food was being prepared. I asked again if it's ours and she said she saw food being prepared in kitchen but not sure if it's our food! Then I asked her to go in to the kitchen and check for us but she said we should talk to the waiters who were responsible for it! I then simply asked if she could check with that "responsible waiters". Then she walked off.

A few minutes later, the same bartender girl came and we asked her about the food and she said it would be another 10 mins! All we ordered was a sandwich and a simply fish disk, surely it wouldn't take more than 15 mins to prepare. I was shocked! I immediately complained to her on that and she said maybe one dish was ready but the other one wasn't and she could bring out one dish first! I have never worked in a kitchen before but do think that they will try to time all dishes for the same table at the same time to be served. If what she said was true, then the food is not as freshly made as it should be for a restuarant's standard.

The table sitting next to us was also complaining how long it took to get the food...

The food finally came and it was alright but for sure it's not worth waiting for 40 mins!

Food was average, service was horrific. For me the worst part was they were not proactive and not taking responsibility when challenged...

It was a Saturday afternoon and we managed to get a seat quite quickly (around 1pm). It was only after a while, that it became full house again (thankfully).

We ordered the pasta special (Fettuccine duck confit), Scampi Sandwich and Brownie for dessert. We also had 2 glasses of Pelligrino drinks and a glass of Australian riesling. We liked the Scampi sandwich a lot. Fresh and juicy. We liked the taste. The pasta was alright - the sauce was ok - but its presentation can be improved.

Overall, the service was good. Being busy, they had tried their best to be quick. The lighting in the afternoon was a little bright, but bearable. We may try sitting away from the glass door next time.

Went there for lunch on Saturday, not a bad place~~

It was my friend who suggested the place, and I had to agree that its is indeed a nice spot for a leisure lunch or even Sunday brunch. Dotted with tais tais and leisure ladies, and occasional families, with attentive and well informed service staff who makes you feel at ease.

My friend ordered the lamb shank. Not being a red meat lover I chose their pasta of the day: pasta with smoked salmon and crayfish. The lamb supposedly is good. The pasta taste wise was not bad, although I wished the smoked salmon was strips instead of chopped up and tossed in. The crayfish...er...came in mini-size. The many mini crayfishes covered the pasta, looked really nice, but had really puny pieces of flesh...not enough taste-wise for me.

Had a bottle of wine too. I think it was their 2004 housepour, not too bad actually. Kudos on the ambience though. Tables were really close to each other but you don't feel closed in. Nice~~

Must have spent about $100 for lunch, including the wine. An indulgence for a weekend, but will be back to try their other stuff.

Culina is the first place I visited at Dempsey Hill. I was there for a very late lunch with my cousins two months back.

I like how the place is very clean, quiet and nicely lit by the afternoon sun, the al fresco area is very pleasant too. We had a foie gras, smoked salmon bagel and the steak sandwich. The total bill amounted to about $40 which in my opinion was okay. Taste wise, it was nothing special, sort of a 6/10.

Overall, a nice place to dine and do your grocery shopping at the same time. Plus points for their selection of wines.