Trattoria Cucina Italiana (313 @ Somerset)

For pictures, please check out http://thehungrybunnie.blogspot.com/2012/02/trattoria-cucina-italiana-313-somerset.html

This casual Italian bistro is one of the first generation tenants at 313 Somerset, and I think the reason for its relatively brisk business is the very heavy foot traffic accorded to the bistro. It's gotta do with its very convenient location at the ground floor entrance of 313 Somerset linking to Somerset MRT station. While the food wasn't bad, it just didn't impress, especially at the price point of about $23 for most mains. I've definitely had better food at the same prices and at better surroundings. I guess it's really because the quality of the dishes were on par with what a fairly competent cook can whip up in a home kitchen. But, we did see a lot of Caucasians, both tourists and expats, eating here, so maybe the food's not too bad, and fairly authentic afterall. 

We had:

1) Garlic Bread with Cheese ($6.50), not too bad, fragrant with a heady garlicky aroma, toasty and crusty.

2) Prosciutto e Funghi Spaghetti ($9.80 for Set Lunch with a soft drink) was seasoned simply with garlic and olive oil, and layered with plentiful bacon and shitake mushrooms

3) Porcini Mushroom Risotto ($22.90) flavour was balanced but texture of the rice was soggy

I dined here on the 20th of December after seeing a few days back that there was a 20% students promotion. Before going there, I called up the restaurant to confirm that the discount was ongoing. When I arrived at the restaurant, I asked the waitress that served us a table the same question and she nodded that there was a student discount. However, after eating and when the bill was presented after handing over credit card for payment, there was no discount given. Upon asking another waitress, she simply said we had to present our student card on payment and there was nothing they could do about it. After I argued that they definitely can do something about the payment, she went on to say rudely that actually there was no student discount for the 2 weeks of 19 December to 31 December because it's the festive season. This misinformation and bad attitude really ticked me off.

Never mind the discount, if the food was good, I would not be so displeased with my dining experience here. Unfortunately, given the price of the food (about $20 if you choose the cheaper dishes), the food was far from impressive. We ordered a bolognese pasta which was alright but not stunning, and also a chicken pizza which was really bad. The chicken was rock hard like it was unfresh deep frozen chicken that had been kept for a long time. The tomato sauce and cheese on the pizza also did not stand out at all. Overall, the pizza was a great disappointment and tasted rather bland and was a chore to chew the tough chicken. For the price paid, there are many other Italian restaurants of the same range that serve much higher quality food. It was not worth it to come here and I will never patronise this restaurant ever again.

S and I finally managed to meet up after a very very long time. She recommended that we should have lunch at Trattoria, which is located on the ground floor of 313. It is a cosy and nicely decorated Italian restaurant. She has been there several times before and simply adores the food they serve. Not only that, for lunch, they have a special deal of main and drinks at just $10+++ (woohoo! good bargain!).

For more details, visit: http://foodcautious.wordpress.com/2011/10/29/quality-at-trattoria/#more-2089

Was there with a few friends.  We ordered a Pizza, Veg Lasagna, Calzone, Agolio Olio Pasta.  All the food came in 3 minutes or less - not sure how they manage to cook food in 3 minutes !!!.  The Pizza was so thin that the hot cheese fell through the dough.  The Lasagna was balck in color and the Calzone was horrible with just plain mushrooms stuffed in - dry food.  The icing on the cake was the Pasta - was link Chow Mein.

All in all - Worst food, Disinterested and Terrible Staff.  Do not go there

Surprised at the bad reviews here! Maybe it's because I've only tried a couple dishes here. I loved, totally loved the salmon with mashed potato. Sorry, I don't remember what it's called exactly, think there was mint sauce or something that came along with it. Firstly, the portion was alright (I have a pretty big appetite for a girl) and the salmon was mmmmm, cooked almost to perfection. Of course, that is from the humble perspective of an average girl, not some professional food critic... But yes, just thinking about this dish makes me hungry! Love the mashed potato, it tastes a little different from what you'd usually get elsewhere. So my curious chef-to-be friend asked one of the staff what ingredients were used, and we got our answer. Thumbs up for that staff with good knowledge of this dish :)

I also tried the...rockmelon with prosciutto (if I'm not wrong) and WOW. I loved it. It seems like the easiest dish to prepare though. My friend had the crab meat linguine, which in my opinion did taste pretty bland, but I think he liked it that way.

Overall, the service was pretty good, and I liked how Italian and homely the setting feels. Hahaha. Would definitely go back! :)

Unlike previous reviewers who mentioned about the excellent service, my experience with the service staff wasnt that fantastic. Upon deciding to enter the restaurant, the waitress who showed us to our seats had a unhappy and unfriendly look on her face. 

The place was nicely set, and in a busy location. There was a band playing so it was really loud and noisy, making the experience even worse. (but this isnt the fault of the restaurant)

The food was so so. Ordered the calamari, italian sandwich (the one with honey ham and cheese) and the prawn pasta. 

Calamari was nice. Crispy and soft. Italian sandwich was just toast bread with ham and cheese. not too fantastic. prawn pasta was a little dry, and the prawns did not seem fresh. It also left us feeling a little thirsty. 

For the price i paid, i think i can get better pasta elsewhere. 

We came here yesterday, on a Monday afternoon at about 230pm. Just after lunch hour, so the restaurant was almost empty. My girlfriend and I ordered the set lunch each; reasonable prices at just $9.80 for a main dish + drink. 

I had the spicy prawn pasta with tomato sauce. I wasn't blown away by it - it felt like I was eating something from Pastamania at a slightly higher price. The pasta wasn't spicy at all - in short, it just wasn't memorable. I've definitely had better prawn pasta elsewhere. Although my girlfriend reckons that the fusili pescatora with ham that she had was pretty good.

But credit is deserved where due; no issues with the service. Waiters were attentive, but then again this is a must. 

I do think that there are better places to go to for your fix of Italian food though. 

Went out with my sister after school just because. We saw that they were having some set lunch(vegeterian options are indicated) which came with a choice of main + coffee/tea/soft drink. I was impressed with their service ( the man that served us was really accomodating and friendly) but not so with their food. Therefore, briefly I shall just write about the experience

I had the zucchini 9-inch pizza(meant for one) and coffee( black served with milk on the side). What did I think? Let me see, the pizza crust was thin, chewy and had a floury taste but was not particularly memorable. The pizza toppings was just mozerella cheese, a few pieces of zucchini and a weak tomato sauce as a base. Seriously, it's not worth it. I would rather spend the money on the tidbits at the basement I think. I didn't finish the coffee either, it was just so blah.

My sister had the seafood pasta done aglio oglio style and Iced Lemon Tea. The Iced Lemon Tea was homemade so that's :) but the pasta, while it sounds promising, failed to deliver. The seafood was just octopus and the pasta mediocre. My sister finished it but she wasn't exceptionally delighted.

The reviews below are quite accurate, don't go for the set lunch, you pay more ala carte but i hope quality wise, it will be better. One thing's for sure, I'm probably not returning...

We ordered Serrano Pizza, Calamare Rings and and bottle of Chianti...

Price was ok for a restaurant in Orchard, even though food was not that fantastic.

After the dinner we ordered Grappa for the road...before heading to CQ for booze night. But NO GRAPPA... are you sure... Italiano without Grappa...?

You must be kidding....

I had wanted, for a very long time, to try out this restaurant, and finally I had lunch there with a friend today. I ordered crayfish spaghetti and my friend went for prawn tagliatelle. Mine was utterly disappointing. The spaghetti was so tasteless I had to pour cheese and Tabasco on it. I even had to resort to pepper in the end. To make it worse, the crayfish was dry and boring. I said to my friend, "Swensen's crayfish spaghetti is way better." My friend's tagliatelle was slightly more decent, but the prawns were tiny and the noodles got really dry after a while. 

Overall, I am very disappointed with the food. And it is definitely not worth the price!