It was one of those annual pilgrimages that I make with a friend who is a dear friend of Chef Pavanello. Reservations are mandatory and then sit back, relax and enjoy the evening roll by.
The usual breads get served up and the main grouse this visit is, none of them actually felt like they were fresh from the oven. Mostly lukewarm to touch though I managed seconds of the onion loaf.
Amuse bouche on the house that reminded me of a ham wrap, gone too fast without a fuss.
Italian octopus carpaccio with celery salad and Taggia olive pesto ($28)
Shaved so fine, I could barely taste it but this has to be a first of octopus carpaccio eaten. Very delicate flavours in a dish.
Wagyu beef carpaccio with mushroom and parmesan cheese salad ($28)
More of the carpaccio with beef, this had more flavour and loved how strong it came about with the parmesan cheese shavings and sticky vinaigrette.
Assorted leaves salad with mix grilled vegetables ($20)
I can never get diners who order salad and we did exactly the same. A bowl of well tossed greens in vinaigrette, nothing huge to rave about though the leaves were slightly tired.
Pancetta wrapped monkfish fillet with leek veloute and red wine reduction ($44)
Charcoal pasta made up the fish skin-like fritter balanced on top the monk fish fillets. This had alot of complexity going on and the fresh monk fish did shine through quite well with its succulence.
Linguine Boston lobster in spicy light tomato gravy ($38)
For pictorial purposes since I did not attempt this.
Spaghetti with sea urchin and grey mullet bottarga ($32)
I once fell so head over heels and stomach over gut in love with this rich dish. Sea urchin and grey mullet roe sounds like the full proof recipe and this time, some of the magic was lost. I'm not sure how and not sure why but it no longer elicited the same kind of excitement as I used to have.
The noodles were al dente and ingredients almost the same but a tragic case of same same but different.
With love from the Chef, angel hair cheese pasta.
Now, this spoke volumes though it was just a simple angel hair pasta tossed in cheese sauce and topped with truffles. Amazeballs, for a lack of a better word. He should have this on the menu! Rich and shamelessly showy with the truffles but no indulgence is too much.
Homemade selection of ice cream and sorbet ($14)
Three scoops of icy delight and I only remember hazelnut being outstanding.
Giamaica coffee Tiramisu’ OTTO ($16)
Lots of cream with a hint of espresso, I suppose this tiramisu was decent enough for me.
A single espresso shot to round the Italian meal up, not quite the ultimate Italian meal to have but in this case, it was a dinner to catch up, remember the past and look forward to the future.
Personally Otto Ristorante may have lost some of its sparkle, a has been in some way or another.
Otto Ristorante
Red Dot Museum
The usual breads get served up and the main grouse this visit is, none of them actually felt like they were fresh from the oven. Mostly lukewarm to touch though I managed seconds of the onion loaf.
Amuse bouche on the house that reminded me of a ham wrap, gone too fast without a fuss.
Italian octopus carpaccio with celery salad and Taggia olive pesto ($28)
Shaved so fine, I could barely taste it but this has to be a first of octopus carpaccio eaten. Very delicate flavours in a dish.
Wagyu beef carpaccio with mushroom and parmesan cheese salad ($28)
More of the carpaccio with beef, this had more flavour and loved how strong it came about with the parmesan cheese shavings and sticky vinaigrette.
Assorted leaves salad with mix grilled vegetables ($20)
I can never get diners who order salad and we did exactly the same. A bowl of well tossed greens in vinaigrette, nothing huge to rave about though the leaves were slightly tired.
Pancetta wrapped monkfish fillet with leek veloute and red wine reduction ($44)
Charcoal pasta made up the fish skin-like fritter balanced on top the monk fish fillets. This had alot of complexity going on and the fresh monk fish did shine through quite well with its succulence.
Linguine Boston lobster in spicy light tomato gravy ($38)
For pictorial purposes since I did not attempt this.
Spaghetti with sea urchin and grey mullet bottarga ($32)
I once fell so head over heels and stomach over gut in love with this rich dish. Sea urchin and grey mullet roe sounds like the full proof recipe and this time, some of the magic was lost. I'm not sure how and not sure why but it no longer elicited the same kind of excitement as I used to have.
The noodles were al dente and ingredients almost the same but a tragic case of same same but different.
With love from the Chef, angel hair cheese pasta.
Now, this spoke volumes though it was just a simple angel hair pasta tossed in cheese sauce and topped with truffles. Amazeballs, for a lack of a better word. He should have this on the menu! Rich and shamelessly showy with the truffles but no indulgence is too much.
Homemade selection of ice cream and sorbet ($14)
Three scoops of icy delight and I only remember hazelnut being outstanding.
Giamaica coffee Tiramisu’ OTTO ($16)
Lots of cream with a hint of espresso, I suppose this tiramisu was decent enough for me.
A single espresso shot to round the Italian meal up, not quite the ultimate Italian meal to have but in this case, it was a dinner to catch up, remember the past and look forward to the future.
Personally Otto Ristorante may have lost some of its sparkle, a has been in some way or another.
Otto Ristorante
Red Dot Museum
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