I don’t know about you, but Italian cuisine is one of my favourite cuisines out there. With so many notable dishes such as Pizza, Pasta, Lasagne, and Gelato, there is never a bad time to have Italian food. In Singapore, there are a ton of places selling Italian food too; some affordable, some pricey. One of the many options is GOTTI Italiano and we were invited to try out their new three-course lunch menu, which is more budget-friendly than their usual ala-carte options. I, of course, obliged.
Starting from S$32++ per pax, the menu offers up a fairly decent range of dishes for you to choose from – 6 dishes each for both starters and mains, 3 desserts, 2 side dishes and 14 drinks; with some carrying an additional cost.
Along with two of my other colleagues, here is a glimpse of what we got to experience from the preview of the new menu:
Starters
Zuppa Del Giorno (Soup of the Day)
For us, the soup of the day was Potato Soup, topped off with olive oil and croutons. So how did it taste? Well, the soup was super creamy and rich in flavour; I found myself wanting to finish the entire bowl on my own, but I had to hold back. After all, I had to share the food!
The olive oil was a great touch, and the croutons were delightfully flavourful and still managed to keep crisp even after being in the soup for quite some time (we had to take pictures of the dish). Overall, this was a great dish to start with!
Insalata Di Zucca
A traditional dish in Italy and one of the recommended dishes on the menu, GOTTI’s version of Insalata Di Zucca includes Butternut, Rucola, Feta Cheese and Cherry Tomato, and is topped with Amalfi Lemon Dressing.
This was a great dish too, with the lemon dressing countering the slightly nutty and bitter taste of the Rucola with its slightly acidic and sweet taste. Pair that with the Feta Cheese and the Cherry Tomatoes, and you have a mouthful packed with flavour, leaving you once again wanting more helpings.
Carpaccio Di Capesante
Another dish that might ring a bell, especially for Animal Crossing Fans, would be the Carpaccio Di Capesante. GOTTI’s take on the dish includes ingredients such as Orange Pulp, Salmon Roe and Japanese Ponzu. However, the dish’s main star is the Hokkaido scallop carpaccio.
Unsurprisingly, our consensus that this dish was the best of the lot was unanimous, with the salmon roe providing a delightful umami taste to top off the scallops, which were neither too tough nor too chewy at the same time. Be sure not to miss this out!
Mains
Aurora
What is Aurora? Well, it’s essentially a typical pasta dish, just that the sauce is creamier and richer than the original tomato sauce you might commonly see in other pasta dishes. We decided to have the chicken add-on, which cost an additional S$8, but my oh my was it worth it.
As expected, the pasta (Fusilli) was perfectly cooked, and they just paired so well together that we polished off the dish within minutes. Not forgetting the chicken too; they were rather generous with the portions, and even better still, the chicken was not dry at all. Instead, it was tender and amazing to eat!
This one got us off to a brilliant start for the mains.
Filetto Di Manzo
Getting the Beef dish Filetto Di Manzo was a must for us, even though it would cost an additional S$10. And ordered it we did, but we were left rather perplexed.
We ordered it to be medium-rare, and it was cooked perfectly, but we were served a fillet-sized portion instead of the larger tenderloin. It was just a tiny blip however; the beef tasted great, while a dash of mustard, a side of roasted baby potatoes and a forest mushroom ragu topped off and complimented the dish ever so well.
Is it a recommendation from us then? I’d say it’s worth a try if you love beef, but for the additional price, perhaps other dishes might be a better choice.
Costolette Di Maiale
We were informed that the Costolette Di Maiale would see a permanent change to pork jowl (pork cheek) instead of the pork ribs written on the menu, but that didn’t deter us, nor did the additional charge of S$8. We wanted to give it a go either way!
So how was the pork jowl? To us, it could’ve been so much better. The pork was not as tender as we would have preferred, though it was seasoned pretty well. The dish also came with mashed potatoes which we were sorely disappointed with, owing to how it wasn’t creamy and more starchy than we would’ve liked.
There was also a Rucola Salad that was paired alongside it. It wasn’t too bad, though it did taste very similar to the Insalata Di Zucca we had ordered earlier. Overall then, this dish gets a no-go from us. Perhaps if it were pork ribs, we would have liked it more.
Desserts
Panna Cotta
Quite the traditional Italian dessert, we were told that they were offering Panna Cotta in addition to the two desserts listed on the menu, so we of course had to try it too. Panna Cotta is delicious, after all…
Unfortunately, the Panna Cotta was rather disappointing, with the dessert having too much of a jello-like consistency — meaning that instead of it melting in your mouth, it felt more like having milk jelly instead. This one also gets a pass from us.
Crème Brûlée
Crème Brûlée is a French dessert, but it is still well-loved and enjoyed by many worldwide. Gotti too decided to have it on their menu, and we were excited to see how they fared in making a dessert that some might find hard to do so.
Their Crème Brûlée was delicious, with the pudding inside melting nicely in the mouth. Mix that with the burnt sugar on top, and you get a sweet treat that pairs well together! A shame that the sugar wasn’t as caramelised as we would have liked, as we wanted to see the thin layer of sugar break, but that wasn’t something to be too picky about!
Overall, this one is a great dessert to have!
Semifreddo
GOTTI’s Semifreddo involves components such as pistachio parfait, berries and a caramel sauce, and we loved the presentation of the dish when it was served to us!
Semifreddo generally resembles ice cream, essentially just a frozen mousse. And this one did not disappoint! It was nice and light, and the caramel sauce didn’t overpower the dish’s overall taste, which, after each mouthful, didn’t feel too overwhelming and overpowering.
This dish was also another one that we loved, and of course, it disappeared pretty quickly too, so it gets a thumbs up from us!
That was all we ordered from the menu at GOTTI Italiano, but there are also other options too! GOTTI has since refreshed the menu with new items and If you want to view the full menu, you can do so via their Direct Online Menu! Otherwise, if you would like to look at their other offerings, visit their Official Website.
Reservations can also be made online over on the SevenRooms website, so you can lock in a slot to go ahead and enjoy a lovely lunch together with either your colleagues, friends or loved ones!
Photos by Glenton Weng of the DANAMIC Team.
