Speaking of distances and proximity, Jeffrey and I went to Da Paolo Il Giardino, which isn't too far from where we live, for some Italian food last week.
Da Paolo Il Giardino is situated near Serene Centre, directly opposite Botanic Gardens
The Entrance. We loved the nice garden-ish pathway that lead us to the restaurant. It was as if we were being transported away from the hustle and bustle of city life into this secluded, serene place for lunch.
Wooden tables & benches. The entire restaurant was, in my opinion, decorated with a garden concept in mind and it exudes a "bring italian dining into your backyard" feeling.
A roll of cushion on the wooden benches for added comfort. Walls with a fireplace/ brick-ish design.
A snapshot of the outdoor seating from inside.
The kitchen area. I liked how the seating and kitchen areas are separated by a glass partition. It allows us to see how the chefs prepare our food and it enables us to gauge when our food is coming!
Shirley Temple ($8.50). Because they do not serve sprite (they only serve 7-up and I don't really like 7-up, I prefer sprite), I opted for a glass of Shirley Temple! I found it refreshing but Jeffrey found it too sour! haha I think he has an extremely low tolerance for sour/ bitter things.
A basket of complimentary bread and a dish of olive oil. The bread was really warm and soft =)
Pizza with ham and mushroom ($19). Jeffrey says that the pizza is similar to Modesto's in terms of thickness and the way it's cooked but I think he prefers Modesto's because of the kind of mushrooms that they use. The pizza tasted pretty normal so there's nothing much to rave about.
Ravioli Ricotta ($24). One reason why I chose this was because the ravioli slices have spinach in them! I'm not really a big fan of spinach but I try to eat iron-rich food because they help to increase my miserable blood count. I think they could have added a few more ravioli slices because I doubt I would have eaten my fill if I'd been a tad hungrier. The sauce was a bit too runny and it wasn't as tomato-ey as I thought it would be.
The inside of a ravioli - the spinach wasn't very fresh either. It felt quite dry and it didn't have much flavour.
Chocolate lava cake with vanilla icecream ($16). This was probably the best dish that we had that day but the portion was way too small! =( I wish everything was double in size! Heh. Perhaps you can try another dessert if you go to Il Giardino because this wasn't exactly fabulous.
In short, I wouldn't recommend Il Giardino if you want to satisfy your craving for good Italian food. I don't think the quality of food justified the amount of money paid. However, if you don't mind having average Italian food at a place with nice ambience, this place will suit you just fine (: We don't regret dining at Il Giardino because we feel that it's good to explore new places (even if they aren't as good as we hope for them to be) so that we've a better idea of where to find yummy food.
Alright, that's all for now. Selamat Hari Raya Adilfitri and have a good long weekend everyone! (:
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