Ristorante Da Valentino

24 Jalan Bingka. T. 6462 0555

I would like to say we came here with no expectations, but I guess on a subconscious level it was too much to ask. With Cantina's renown for unpretentious, homestyle earthy Italian cooking, it was difficult not to expect more of the same from Chef Valentino at this, his new four month old establishment. And to be honest the food was good. Just not great.

We had the quatro stagioni pizza: artichokes, olives, ham, mushroom, tomato and mozzarella, a lovely blend of flavours, and not overwhelmingly heavy despite the number of ingredients. I would've preferred if the olives were not whole; delicious though they were, each tart burst was momentarily overpowering. Also, the pizza crust was a bit soft, and it would've been nice to be able to pick the slice up without it collapsing from the weight it bore. As for the chef's speciality: baked chicken pasta with sun-dried tomatoes, well it really didn't seem all that special without the sun-dried tomatoes. But those were sweet, sharp and smooth bits of heaven I have to say.

And of course, what would dinner be without dessert? Lemon tart didn't make the mark cos it was too thick and eggy, profiteroles on the other hand weren't too bad at all. Refreshing even, and that's not typical for profiteroles. Of course, I am partial to chocolate, and this had plenty.