whine & dine

After the past few months of sitting and waiting, I finally found a good enough reason to head over to Il Lido in Sentosa. I’m quite a fan of Italian food (at least when properly done), and have been wanting to check this new place out. However, we all know that restaurants deserve at least 6 months before you make the sojourn over expecting any level of food and service near what the institution should be capable of.

Anyhoo, as we were on our way out for dinner on Saturday, the bunny suddenly remembered having seen an advertisement where HSBC credit card holders can get a 1-for-1 lunch deal at Il Lido. What better reason than that to hop on over – this way you get to try it and not risk having to pay the potentially overpriced full fare for a so-so meal. Whatever the case, Il Lido didn’t disappoint.

The set lunch for this HSBC menu, unfortunately, didn’t provide as wide a variety of choices as their normal menu does (for obvious reasons). However, what we tried was definitely good enough to entice us back for a second meal – probably dinner this time. The meal was preceded with the prettiest basket of crostini that I’ve ever seen (pictured right), simply seasoned with garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper. For starters, you can choose either parma ham or seafood soup, followed by lamb (pictured above), or home-made rucola pappardelle. Dessert was a simple, but well made, tiramisu, and you end off the meal with coffee or tea. Their wine list was also rather extensive, but I’m not one to pretend I know anything about wine. I had a glass of a very smooth 2001 Italian red (whose name unfortunately has slipped my mind), which is supposedly made with the same grapes that a chianti is made from.

The service was impressive – although we were sitting outside and tucked away in a corner (thanks to the dearth of smoking tables in Singapore), the only time we had to wait at all to get one’s attention was when we were calling for the bill. To be fair, we’d probably sat there enjoying our wine and tea for a good hour after the meal, which is not difficult to do with the lovely views of the fairway and beach.

My one beef with the restaurant was their umbrellas/awnings that were built in to shelter the outdoor dining area from.. I suppose sun and rain. They reminded me distinctly of the Clarke Quay thingiebobs which really need to be done away with. I don’t know which designer is responsible for them, but I for one don’t know what he/she was thinking.

To do a complete review of the place, I’m probably going to have to go back at least once or twice more – I want to sample the rest of the lunch and dinner menus, as well as possibly take the Italian hostess up on her offer of specials for the day – “We have home made taglioni, fettucine, or risotto, or anything else you want.” :) Until then, this place still hasn’t kicked Senso off it’s place of honour as my favourite Italian restaurant in Singapore (Bucco Nero’s standard has gone way down, Oso wasn’t fantastic, Garibaldi is… -shudder…. and the other Italian places I’ve tried just really aren’t the kind you can compare), and is in no way comparable to the other Sentosa fine dining restaurant, The Cliff in terms of ambience, decor and service.

Related:
Popagandhi’s Life In The Fast Lane
Chubby Hubby’s First (and second and third) Impressions