Was there for lunch. With so many Italian or Italian-like restaurants now in Singapore, I am not sure how they differentiate themselves from one another. More and more it seems that one is paying double the money in some restaurants only for the service as the menu and food quality is almost similar. And I am of the opinion that service is a given thing.

I had the set lunch that included a starter (pita w/ crab meat salad), a main (ravioli in cream sauce) and a dessert (pineapple carpacio) for S$28++. Value for money but the food was ordinary. I am not sure if the cooking is different when it comes to set meals but I found the crab meat salad ordinary, ravioli undercooked. The dessert was tops for its creativity, though.

This place is good but nothing to shout about.

Amazing first date place. Excellent food, great wine and fine service. Recommend to all fine dining lovers! :)

The large plaster urns which sit grandiously on the pavement outside Senso on Club Street announce that this restaurant is ITALIAN, but with the effect presenting all the class of an East End gangster's funeral. Staring out at us from these vessels are the faces of particularly ugly goats - smiling, to boot (awwww)- with the impression calling to mind a well-to-do plumber having splashed out one Saturday at his local garden centre ("I had to have them, cost me an arm and a leg.")

Retro kitsch of this nature would never be seen in a top end modern restaurant in the large Italian cities, where classy minimalism is the order of the day, but then this is Singapore, and people know no better.

The entrance vestibule glows with wall mounted lamps that have a curiously amateur ambiance, as if done on the cheap, something which permeates the main restaurant and the courtyard. The latter is dominated by another kitsch "Italian" sculpture that looks as if it belongs in Forest Lawn Cemetery at the tomb of a celebrity hairdresser.

The former is a basement room, which at first appears to possess the ambiance of a metropolitan restaurant in Europe, until one looks more carefully. There are annoying egg-shaped plastic panes cut out of wooden pillars which again look like the work of the local carpenter.

And the paintings are plain dreadful, like something bought in a Woolworth's clearance sale: poorly executed abstract "modern art" and a hideous vast canvas of poppies that must surely have come from a Phukhet street market. Meanwhile the service was, like most of the service in restaurants in Singapore the one thing you don't want it to be - uncertain.

Professional service must be brimming with self-confidence and coordinated common sense, radiating from the top down. Not here, sadly, where one sensed that disaster was never far off. So after ordering an 06 Chianti (from the period after the rejigging of Classico - nothing before that is worth it) we were told it was out of stock.

We accepted the recommendation of the waiter for an alternative but sadly the toing-and-froing meant he vanished somewhere and in that time our food was presented, minus the wine. This has happened to me in Singapore on countless occasions and is something of a signature hallmark of the gormless service found all over the city. The wine list struck me as ill-conceived and probably of the "job-lot" sort where a large consignment of mediocre wines is bought at a discount and massively marked up to the customer.

Meanwhile my dining companion had gone to the lavatory, which didn't prevent the waiter serving the food minus customer.

The osso bucco on mashed potato was edible but pedestrian, the soup which preceded it available at countless lower priced venues across the city and lacking in deep flavour or distinguished texture. My companion had the caprese and the seafood linguini which were marred by a lack of seasoning, devoid of taste and which contained second-rate ingredients which seemed less than fresh.Our tiramisu was simply average.

The days of this place are numbered if the likes of Charlie Trotters arriving at the new resorts show to Singaporeans what a real high-end restaurant looks and feels like. This might raise the bar and in the process squeeze out all the amatuer joints like Senso and Angelus just up the street. But I'm not holding my breath.As another commentator on a similar web-site to this noted, this restaurant wouldn't survive a week in London or New York.

We were glad our waiter suggested that we should share the soup, as even when split into two, the serving was still large than normal.

I had the Veal Shank Ossobuco which was braised to perfection with enough tenderness but not too mushy.

Non of us had dessert had we were stuffed after the main course.

Excellent choice of wine on the wine list.

TO MY DEAREST SENSO:

Last night was simply incredible. You took my breath away again like you always have and always will do. Your pristine beauty chased away the repugnant ebony clouds that hung menacingly over us. Your heartwarming food was crisp, clean and without frills. You set our minds at ease and left us carefree for the entire duration we were there. You took me to Venice for the night, back to the courtyard where Romeo scaled the labyrinth of vines to bid his Juliet farewell. You made me fall in love with you all over again and indeed goodnight goodnight for parting is indeed such sweet sorrow but I shalt only say goodnight till it be morrow, for trust me my love, I will be back for you soon!

This has been my place since the dawning of mankind. Not really but I have been a regular visitor here for e last 7 years or so. I reckon it is hard to constantly be able to maintain a consistent following in an industry that burgeons with new firms everyday seeking desperately to capture a share of the market. Senso however has captured my heart, my imagination and my stomach. It is the epitome of Italian cuisine in Singapore and encapsulates the essence of fine-dining - good service, great setting, wonderful food. I know this is a place that many have heaped compliments on but I still think that considering my clandestine love affair with this place (I try to not tell people about it when they ask me for recommendations haha), I should give my two cents worth.

1===> Ambience
From the moment you step into the establishment, you are transported into another dimension. The bar area is classy and a good spot to spend lonely nights looking for other lost souls out there. The interior furnishing is antithetical to the exterior creating a pleasant juxtaposition of modern day chic and old world charm. I would have dinner at one of the indoor tables any day and still rate it highly with its simple elegance enhanced with statues and sculptures, but after you tasted Eden would you want to go back inside?

Now how many Italian restaurants in Singapore boasts an Italian courtyard? I can see the mind spinning, the lips reasoning but no fingers coming up. Yes this indeed is a rare sight in Singapore but how apt that an Italian restaurant should be set with such a lovely dining environment. Granted Singapore's torrid climate ensures that on quite a number of nights every year, the courtyard will be watery grave of statues and fountains, but I believe the angels of Senso shelters its patrons from the rain on most nights (yes I do believe this place is magical and justly so).

Trust me boys and girls, it is pretty. Girls will wither at the sight of the splendidly decorated outdoor dining area. Friendships bloom and relationships will flower. I stare up at the doors on the second story of the courtyard wondering what marvels they hold beyond them (I know its probably a storage area or something, but give me a break guys). I feel like I am in Piazza della Signoria in Florence in olden days and eating amidst the Italian people. The moon above is curved in a shape of a grin and the stars offer solace to a grim night. Perfection knows no boundaries like it knows Senso.

2===> Service
Now honestly I am not the best person to ask about the service here because I am often too indulge in the setting, my dining partner and the food. But from what I remember, the very little of it, the waiters were always primed to be at your beck and call. They had adequate knowledge of the menu and were very very unintrusive. Pleasing to say the least. Service was never slow especially in the Italian nature of meals.

3===> Food
I always wish they had a tasting menu of sorts here. The food is really in line with traditional Italian cooking. The flavors are subtle allowing the produce to shine. Good handmade pastas, herbed meats and decadent desserts. The menu is of adequate size, not one of those which resembles a John Grisham novel, so every dish is perfected and cooked with pride. The menu changes over the course of the year. New dishes are added and remove according to what is in season. EVERY restaurant should learn to cook what is fresh in the market rather than what they think will be good. Good produce triumphs over good cooking on any given day.

Starters:
I always have the duck liver and the one at Senso coated in polenta takes a slight twist on the traditional foie gras. It is served with chili relish and onion confit as opposed to the fruit confit used by most restaurants. I am a big fan of foie gras and if you are too then this is a definite must have dish. It is gentle and satisfying on the taste buds without being tardy or overfilling and hence a perfect start to a meal. The smoked sturgeon carpaccio is quite an appetizing starter as well. Fish over beef allows for a fresher and lighter flavored carpaccio and the Siberian salmon caviar provides little gems of liquid salt delight.

The lobster bisque which is presented as half a lobster in a white soup bowl without any liquid to begin with is in my opinion the best lobster bisque in Singapore. The waiter comes along and pours in the aromatic soup which instantly titillates your nostrils. The soup is divine. Consommé style, if your looking for something thick then this is not your thing. But if you are looking for lobster essence encapsulated in a bowl then you have yourself a culinary masterpiece in front of you.

Mains:
The pappardelle with the wild boar ragout and the linguine with the live lobster are my favorite. Both the pastas are fresh and handmade while the sauce is thick and coats the noodles well without any excess. The flavors are indeed astounding. Wild boars are greatly used in Italian particularly around the Tuscan area and gives the pasta a heavy game meat sort of feel. Somehow there is still balance in the dish and I attribute this to the mastery of the chef. It is heavy yet fulfilling without being cloying. The portions are just right. Big eaters may squeeze in a carne or a pesce but I am often happy after 2 starters and a pasta.

Dessert:
The cioccolata, a lava cake, is quite a nice end to the meal. It is small yet decadent and leaves you ending on a sweet note. Personally the one at Garibaldi was better but this is definitely up there with most other restaurants. The pera with pannacotta is also quite a treat. Panna cotta essentially is "cooked cream" in Italian and Senso infuses the scent of vanilla and bourbon. Interesting combination which surprising goes harmoniously well with the poached pears (pera = pears, im sure u got it). The gelati or sorbetti also proves to be worthy of its place on the menu. It really brings me back to my trips to Italy.

4===> Value
Pricing is in line with the other top Italian restaurants out there therefore in my opinion it is quite a steal considering the quality of the food and the serenity and beauty of the dining setting.

Final Words:
Senso borders into the realm of unreal when it comes to culinary havens in Singapore. If you want a taste of Italy without having to travel the miles, this is the place for you. Who knows, you might fall in love with it the way I have.