La Braceria Pizza and Grill (Greendale Ave)

Caught up with my university group mates over dinner, and we decided on La Braceria Pizza And Grill, known for its authentic Italian food. 

Finding the restaurant was a challenge. Located in the suburbs of Greenwood, at Greenwood Avenue, La Braceria Pizza And Grill is hidden behind a wall of plants, effectively blocking their signage and storefront. And at night, the road that runs alongside it is totally dark, making it easy to miss. I actually walked by La Braceria Pizza And Grill twice, before I finally found the entrance between two plants. 

This is definitely not a restaurant you can stumble upon easily, and so, La Braceria Pizza And Grill is relatively quiet and perfect for romantic dates or quiet dinners. 

We had 2 pizzas, the Alla Bismark, and the Alla Braceria. The pizzas were tasty, and I particularly like the poached egg in the middle of the Alla Braceria. The ingredients were fresh, although a little more of it would have been nice. 

We also tried the Ravioli Della Casa, a hand-made ravioli pasta stuffed with cheese. While I appreciate the effort to make it, the portion size was more like an appetizer than an entree, and served on a big plate, it just looked underwhelming. It did score points on taste however, and I recommend it for sharing among friends, more than as a main course. 

I tried the house wine that day, and I absolutely hated it. Tasted exactly like cheap wine... Bitter, and not aged. Should have gone with the other wines available. 

Will try their pasta and anti-pasta some other time, though I'll probably only visit this place for special occasions rather than regular dining.

We've been a few times and its great here.  Great Italian food, good wine cellar and I've always found the service to be good.

The atmosphere is always quite lively and the place has a buzz to it. There are good Pizzas and a great range of pastas and fish.  

La Braceria is a blessing to the folks living at the Greenwood residential enclave! Because of its off-beat location, it is quite unlikely that you'll ever chance upon the restaurant unless you already knew about it. Yes, the service can be a little more polished...but the no-frills classic Italian fare is hard-to-fault. We love the off-menu burrata served with slivers of Parma ham, rocket leaves and cherry tomatoes, the porcini mushrooms-studded risotto laced with truffle oil and home-made ravioli stuffed with procini mushrooms (again). Don't leave without trying the home-made mascapone cheese cake.

http://bibikgourmand.blogspot.com/2011/02/4-authentic-italian-restaurants-in.html

I especially like their angel hair. Cabonara was a nice creamy texture and the smell of the cheese could wake you up. Ask the wait staff to recommend you their must tries. :) And top it off with their tiramisu. Heavenly.

Have to tell the wait staff to speak slowly. Didn't understand their accent.

Please reserve before going down. The few times I turn up impromptu = no food for me.

The food, ambience and service is what you would expect of a cosy family run Italian restaurant.

We tried the white pizza and crab linguine as recommended by the audience. The pizza is nothing exceptional and the crust could have been more 'moist'.  The crab linguine is generous in the sauce but again, there flavor lacked any punch.

If you live around the neighborhood, it is a restaurant you would visit for simple Italian food.   But to make a trip out there, I am not sure.

Seems like management of this poorely managed place requested them moderator to remove my review. Again, I guess it's cherry picking the favourable reviews and not facing up to criticism.

1. Staff are poorely trained, if at all. Or, they are their part-time girlfriends...

2. Food is so-so, this in Singlish means: average food !

3. They always try to overbook themselves, I guess to create that bustling atmosphere at the expense of turning away people who have reserved, dressed up and waited an hour...

 

We were recommended this restaurant by a good Italian friend, after he got fed up with the disproportionately higher prices of a long-established Italian restaurant. And because we very much respect this Italian friend as a discerning foodie, we went with high expectations. Overall - while the interior is nicely done up, we were DISAPPOINTED. Here's why :

- the waitress (think she was Filipina) spoke in such a soft and gentle manner, we could hardly hear what she was saying. There was no sense of authority or pride in presenting the menu. We had to ask her what the specials of the day were. She listed them, but without much passion at all.

- one of the starters, the shell pasta with sausage meat - came first, before our other starter, calamari came about 15 minutes later. Bad timing.

- we had asked for the pasta to be in an appetiser portion, but clearly it was a main portion. By then, we weren't too motivated to send it back, mainly to avoid dealing with the soft-spoken waitress.

- the tenderloin steak came, and looked terribly unappealing. It was supposed to have been on a hot plate - but there was no sign of sizzling or steam. A piece of meat, sliced into 3 or 4 - too rare for what was supposed to be a "medium" order, with a few pieces of uninteresting carrots on one side, and a small blob of mashed potato. We had to send it back to get the steak cooked right.

- the lobster pasta came, and the entire dish looked squashed on a small oval dinner plate. Surely the restaurant must realise that this dish deserves a larger platter, so that the diner has the space to 'untangle' the lobster from the pasta. The taste was average at best, and the lobster obviously not fresh - in fact it tasted like it had been frozen. 4 out of 10.

- the crabmeat pasta was passable. An undiscerning palate would think it good, but since we've eaten this same dish elsewhere, comparison was unavoidable, and hence, deemed only passable. 6 out of 10.

Would we return? Maybe - for the pizza. For an Italian gourmet dinner - no. And would we keep going to the other Italian restaurant that's longer established and is pricier - yes - simply because their serving staff are GREAT and the food quality is GOOD - even if you do see "red" when you get your bill. Bon appetito!

Having been to Peperoni at Greenwood Ave for great pastas and pizzas countless times, the missus and i decided to give this place around the corner from peperoni a try as for a belated-valentines dinner on 16 Feb as it seemed to have a more intimate feel and quieter ambience to the place. It most certainly looked posh...but well that's about it really.

I had made a reservation for 7.30pm and promptly turned up on time and waited at the entrance by the roadside. During this time i noticed that the intimate setting somehow meant sitting in a pretty small 'garden' where you could probably hear the conversation going on at the next table. Well, that's if you get a table. We waited for a good 10mins at the entrance but given that it was a public holiday and possibly lack of staff we gave them the benefit of doubt and continued to wait. Posh restaurants like this certainly must be way too busy to even offer customers an explanation. A frantic looking waitress finally came up to us to verify my name and reservation. The poor girl informed that a table just became available and we'll be shown to the table after she clears it up. No apologies for the wait, no explanation given. I suppose posh meant they expected paying customers to wait even with a reservation.

Another couple shows up during this time and walks straight through to an italian looking guy behind the bar who i assume must be the owner/manager. Guy takes a glance at the outdoor seating area and the table that the waitress had just cleared and promptly showed this couple to their table personally. I suppose posh meant as a restaurant owner/manager you could give priority to more deserving clients, especially so when they are foreign looking, dress the sort and possibly a regular. So i suppose a posh restaurant with supposed posh service meant customers who wait at the entrance for 10mins even with a reservation don't really matter.

At this point, the poor waitress seemed confused and ran up to the owner/manager to explain that she had told us we're getting that table first. Owner/manager shrugged, glanced at the us still standing at the entrance and again did not offer any explanation whatsoever. He disappeared for a bit and took out a rickety table and threw a white table cloth over it. A posh restaurant like this using a makeshift table u find at hawker centres?? Most certainly not you'd imagine.

At this time, we felt utterly disgusted and downright insulted. I spoke briefly to the owner/manager to offer feedback, who throughout the conversation, did not offer a word of apology nor looked like he really gave two hoots about my feedback. Instead, he blamed the poor waitress for being 'new' and inexperienced.

Well, as restaurants go, no matter how good food can be or how posh it looks, La Braceria is certainly one restaurant which ranks as one of the worst i've been to both here and abroad judging by the way customers are treated if this experience is anything to go by.

The wife and i decided to take our business elsewhere and headed to good ol' Peperoni where we certainly enjoyed the night there.

First up, the fish carpaccio. This is not your regular cottony type white fish. This was cod, and so on top of fresh, it was slightly crunchy, with a nice firm bite to it, and took in the flavours of the rocket, cherry tomats, and extra virgin very well.

Our other appetiser of the braised tripe in tomato sauce was a burst of flavours and textures. Sweet yet tangy from the tomatoes and carrots, there was a hint of herb but not overpoweringly so. The tripe was braised soft, yet with a slight chewiness so that as you grind away, the flavours become even more distinct. Best outside of Roma that I've tried.

I was told the seafood linguine is not on the menu but I highly recommend you try to ask for it. If that doesn't work, beg. A very synergised dish, you would not think the linguine was not a fruit of the sea, because it simply took in all of the scampi, scallops and shrimps. Just imagine the complexity when all that is tossed with garlic and tomatoes over heat.

And just so we can exceed our meat quota even more, the perfectly executed medium rare T-bone. Reminds me of Florence's bistecca, but not served on a chopping board and perfectly sliced so we could just lift it piece by piece and eat like civilised persons. If I wasn't leaving room for dessert, I would have liked to pick up the bone and enjoy the best bits.

Frankly, if you ask me, the molten chocolate cake is done to death and face it, it's just boring. But we decided we had to order it because it was the only smell which caught my fancy when our neighbouring table was tucking into it, as we sat down to lunch. Reason: the flambe over the alcohol which above the aroma, adds a perfect dimension in taste. And it is also very rightly moist and ok, if you never eat molten chocolate cake again, you need to eat it here and only here. Easily the best I've had in Singapore.

For the original review and photos, please visit www.edeats. blogspot.com

Ambience

Its dimly litted, which I guess its a good setting to bring a date there. But the lightings made my friends and I sleepy, esp during this raining season. The place is rather cosy, and has the semi-fine dining feel.

Food

Crabmeat Linguine - the best amongst the 3 pasta we had. Tomato base with real crabmeat. Nice and yummy. If you wanna eat pasta, shud eat this.

Ink Squid - not a fan of the black pasta but friends said it was nice. The prawn was fresh!

Truffle Pasta - Truffle-cum-cream based was very strong! Pasta was abit oily too. didnt like it. we did not finish it.

Pizza - Pizza was nice, thin crusted. Seems to be the main choice for most diners!

Lava Cake - was mediocre. tasted better elsewhere! it does not come with any icecream which it shud!

Value

We paid about 40 bucks each. Not worth it for alrright food.

Service

The waitresses did not top up water as regularly as they should. However, as we went early for dinner time, food arrived very fast, within 10mins!