Garibaldi Italian Restaurant

I love Italy, with all its charm, history, ladies, and of course, food. I have every belief that I will return to Italy again in future, and with every hope that it would last much longer than the two weeks I had there earlier this year. Till then, I can only try to recreate those memories by dining in Italian restaurants that serve the most authentic of Italian food here in Singapore, which to be honest is a much harder task than you would expect. With scarcely any genuine hole-in-the-wall trattorias around, it's left to those restaurants on the posh and high side for that ephemeral but divine trip down memory lane. Other than Cugini (with a new post coming up next!), Al Forno and to some extent, Borgata, one other place that is up there on my list would have to be Garibaldi.


Of course, some things aren't typical of Italian tradition, but to have warmly toasted bread is definitely something I would readily welcome. Soft in the middle with a crisp top, these bread slices awoke the carbohydrate lover in me and got me tempted to have more than thirds. It did not help when the Italian waiter, pleasantly surprised to hear me utter "Grazie" on my first serving, kept returning with a wide smile... and a tray of fresh breads. But to hear him reply with "Prego", ahhh, it's those memories of lovely Italy that I'm helplessly chasing.

Spaghetti
Spaghetti with Seasonal Seafood & Fresh Tomatoes


The Spaghetti was good, really good. While the noodles itself did not reach the "homemade" benchmark set by Cugini, nevertheless the sauce itself - thick and flavourful - was quite amazing indeed. Seafood ingredients were fresh and firm to the bite.


Linguine
Linguine with Crab Meat and Vodka Sauce


Ms Vanilla's Crabmeat Linguine pasta seemed to be as good as well, given how the sauce wrapped itself around the pasta so magically with each pull of the fork. What it lacked in ingredients, I hoped it made up for it in taste.

Tiramisu
Tiramisu with Homemade Lady-Finger Biscuits and Licorice Scented Mascarpone Cream


No Italian dinner would be complete without one of their famed desserts or a cup of cappucino, or both even if you have space. Garibaldi's desserts may not have been the most impressive, but at least the supple taste of Tiramisu in my mouth is enough to satisfy me. The partner felt it would have been better moist (I remember adding that I may have developed an un-Italian love for BLIC's tiramisu ice-cream) while I felt the coffee flavour overpowered the chocolate a bit more than I would have liked.

Torta Di Mele
Roberto’s Mother Apple Pie with Vanilla Gelato


Choosing between the chocolate and hazelnut parfait ("Semifreddo") and the Torta Di Mele was a difficult undertaking for both of us, but the partner decided on having one instead of my greedy idea of doing the whole nine yards and ordering both. The vanilla gelato, which probably sealed the decision, came out to be more ice-cream than gelato, but at least it had loving vanilla beans all around (and on the vanilla sauce on the side too) which did it for us. Nothing spectacular on the apple pie, no real caramelised apples inside that would have gotten me on a sugar high, but I suppose it still played its part in ending the meal on a sweet note.

Service
Excellent.

Price
$30 for the Spaghetti
$30 for the Linguine
$16 for the Tiramisu
$16 for the Torta Di Mele
$9 for each bottle of still water

* Prices subject to the usual 7% GST and 10% service charge.
** Citibank Credit Cardmembers get 10% off.

Place
36 Purvis Street #01-02.

Pictures taken with the Apple iPhone 4.