On a Tuesday night after hanging out around Bugis, my companion and I walked around looking for something to eat, something unique that was different from the chain of restaurants that could be easily found at other malls. And we found this little gem as walked along Tan Quee Lan Street towards Beach Road, Ah Bong’s Italian, a humble little restaurant that reminded me of bistros in France.
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| Street View |
Ah Bong’s Italian has an alfresco dinning area that leads up to the main door where their cheery sign was hand written on the glass door.
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| Entrance to the restaurant |
Ah Bong’s Italian, like the name suggests, serves up a small menu of Italian pastas that could go with sides and desserts. The restaurant does not have any printed menu that will be given to you when you enter the restaurant, instead the menu is written on three chalkboard that are hung up on the side of the wall - perhaps a good way to save the environment in a small restaurant like this. When we entered we were greeted warmly by a very friendly service staff who asked if it was our first time eating here and took the time to explain the specialties in the menu. In the pasta menu, you can see that there are two choices - Dried and Homemade. You can choose whether you would like your pasta to be from the store bought variety or homemade that they make in-house.
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| Menu Board |
We ordered the Sea Salt Lemonade and a cup of Cappuccino for our drinks and Angus Meat Ragu and the Quite Traditional Carbonara. Wanting to try the difference between the two kinds of pastas we ordered homemade and dried for the each respective choices. We also ordered another pasta, the Crabby Aglio Olio using dried pasta and the Baked Pears in Red Wine with Mascarpone Gelato for dessert to share. Different from restaurants, which have service staff that take your order, you would have to go over to their counter to order and pay first. We were given a table number and we returned to our seats to wait for our orders to come.
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| Counter to order from |
The first to arrive was the drinks. The Sea Salt Lemonade came in a tall glass with a bubbling soda water and lemon zest all over the top and a little on the rim of the glass. The first impression that was made by the Sea Salt Lemonade was an intense sour note and slowly the bubbling soda water cuts through and you taste the sweetness of the soda water. Perhaps not being an avid drinker of lemonade, I was not expecting the lemonade to be sparkling. The lemonade was a good palate cleanser when eaten with food, especially when we had ordered three pastas of different flavours, however on its own it is way too sour for my taste. The cappuccino was an average cup of coffee, not particularly outstanding or particularly disappointing.
Seasalt Lemonade (SGD 4)
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| Cappuccino (SGD 4) |
Next to arrive was the pastas, which came shortly one after another. It was a little amazing as the restaurant was rather busy on a Tuesday night and the kitchen had only one chef that was cooking and we need not wait a long time for our dishes to arrive
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| Angus Beef Ragu (SGD 16/Dried 21/Homemade) |
The Angus Beef Ragu is a hearty plate of pasta with beef cheeks and duroc pork meat that feels like it had been simmered and cooked gently till tender in a flavorful broth. It is then topped with grounded parmesan cheese and breadcrumb that has been cooked in angus fat. The homemade tagliatelle is cooked a little over for my taste and became a little gummy instead of al dente. I would recommend this pasta definitely to all who like to give Ah Bong’s Italian a shot.
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| Quite Traditional Carbonara (SGD 16/Dried) |
After eating both pasta, I noticed that the portion was smaller than usual as compared to other restaurant and the portion of the homemade pasta was slightly bigger than the ones using dried pasta. Perhaps this was a way to offer a little incentive over the slightly more expensive price being paid for the homemade pasta.
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| Crabby Aglio Olio (SGD 16/Dried 21/Homemade) |
After we have eaten all our pasta, the warm and friendly service staff came to clear our plates and asked if we would like to be served with our dessert. Shortly after our plates were cleared, the service staff brought out the Baked Pears in Red Wine with Mascarpone gelato that we have ordered.
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| Baked Pear in Red Wine with Mascarpone Gelato (SGD 10) |
The dish features two pears halves that had been poached in red wine till tender and served together with a scoop of the mascarpone gelato. The spices such as cinnamon and star anise can be tasted when eating the pears and paired with the creamy and rich mascarpone gelato is a perfect match. However, the pears were not cored or peeled, and when eating the pears the rubbery texture from the skin was not pleasant.
In my opinion, Ah Bong’s Italian is a place that is worth giving a try as it is a unique place that is refreshing to eat at. The warm and friendly service staff helped to bring a cosy atmosphere to the small restaurant. A definitely must try would be the Angus Beef Ragu.
Expected Damage per person: SGD 6 - 21 ($$)
Overall, worthy of ‘try something different’ 2 Ninja Stars
Operating hours:
Monday - Friday: 12pm - 2pm, 6pm - 9pm
Saturday - Sunday: 12pm-2:30pm, 6pm - 9pm
103 Beach Road, #01-02
(Below Marrison Hotel)
Contact Number: +65 9650 6194
Ah Bong's Italian Facebook
Here is where Ah Bong’s Italian is located:
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