Trattoria Gallo d' Oro, Central Mall

It was a quiet Wednesday evening down at Trattoria Gallo D' Oro (Blk 7 Magazine Road, #01-03 Central Mall, tel : +65 6438 8131) within the compounds of Central Mall. Luca of Bontá, perched on a chair near the entrance was in conversation, half watching any guest that might have appeared with his hawkish Stellan Skarsgård-like gaze.

Right till the point when the head chef Carlo Marengoni stood up and warm smiles broke out with 'hello's off the lips. They had probably meant 'benvenuto' as well. I hoped.

The website of the restaurant mentioned northern Italian home style food. Not sure what was northern Italian about it but home style hit the mark. If you're still reading at this point, the portions of the food before the first plates were quite generous.

sliced pork loin with tuna mayo

This was basically vitello tonnato. Except that pork was used instead of veal and underneath, a salad. The sauce was rich and smooth, but remember, must share. Easily feeds three.

a misto fritto of sardines and calamari

We opted to leave out the prawns from their fried seafood plate so that we could have more of the calamari and sardines, the latter which was something they were known for. The fish was fresh tasting, had a crispy batter nicely salted and was in simple terms - very delicious. The best part of the fry was the lack of excessive grease. I need to eat this again.

pappardelle with goose liver

Off menu was a goose liver pasta. We swapped the fettucine for pappardelle. Creamy and balanced off with spinach, it was served hot and a lot lighter than it looked. Good stuff.

sliced beef tenderloin sauteed with rosemary and spinach

I don't think beef is their forte here. Perhaps, I'm prejudiced with the treatment of bovine protein matter. And bias when it comes to the application of rosemary. I like my meat beefy and this was oiled with too much other flavours. It was in truth, a decently done up piece of meat, but I think this might be the last time I'm ordering sliced steaks that doesn't come with a Gorgonzola sauce in Italian restaurants.

strawberry panna cotta with cream pudding?

We pushed for a dessert in spite of being rather stuffed at this point. Strawberry panna cotta? It was a regular panna cotta with a sliced strawberry and sauce. What got me was the spice that I tasted in the pudding. I think it might have been aniseed or liquorice; faint and just enough presence to be tasted without being overbearing. I liked it. I just couldn't tell what it was.

mystery diner "A"