The Naked Chef Jamie Oliver (and his mentor Gennaro Contaldo) is now on our shores with their successful joint venture opened two weeks ago. With 35 branches worldwide, the five-year-old UK restaurant chain is committed to using only free-range, sustainably sourced produce. And the Singapore branch, in collaboration with Singapore's Hotel Properties Limited, is Jamie Oliver's first foray into Asia and the fourth outside UK after Dublin, Perth and Saint Petersburg. Upcoming locations include Canberra, Dubai and Turkey. Serving family-friendly and relatively affordable Italian fare, the casual eatery on the 1st floor of VivoCity opposite Poulet caters mainly to walk-ins with a small percentage of tables reserved for those who book online via its website. Though the 6,500 sq ft restaurant has more than 200 seats, customers were not seated outdoor when my dining companions and I visited yesterday and a few indoor tables were left empty.
Arriving just before noon, we saw a snaking queue outside and contemplated whether to go ahead with our original plan. In the end, we decided to and queued for about 15 minutes to just leave a name and contact number. Estimated waiting time for a table of four was 15-20 minutes so I went to ask after half an hour and happened to see from its system that we would be next. But saw another four being seated and upon asking again, my name had disappeared from the waiting list as staff thought we had already been seated. Another table by the floor-to-ceiling glass walls at the back was arranged for us instead. We walked past the merchandise section and pasta-making corner on the right as well as the Italian wine and cocktail bar on the left, to where we could see an antipasti area and open-concept kitchen. Red bench seats and pastel blue metal chairs stood out in the raw, industrial interior with lots of wood (think chairs, floor and tables) to exude warmth and a cool vibe.
Appetisers were served quickly. Sicilian Sardine Bruschetta had raw-looking pickled fillets, unlike the familiar canned sardines in tomato sauce we often see in local supermarkets, which put one of us off. These sat atop a parsley and mint salad, topped with crunchy red onion, lovely pine nuts and sweet sultanas. Loved how the taste and texture, its ingredients and seasoning, came so well together though would prefer the a-tad-hard-and-dry bread to have a crisp outside and soft inside. As I was the only one who relished this, finished both slices and did not try Crispy Stuffed Risotto Balls – three (we were told there are five) golden fried balls of rice with smoked mozzarella. "Good but not worth the price" was the verdict from the one who love Italian food and have tried various dishes at many places including in Italy. Flooded by natural light in the day, industrial-chic light fixtures and the centrepiece chandelier unique to each Jamie's Italian that was brought in from UK did not stand out.
Our mains took a while to arrive. Skin of Wild Mushroom Ravioli was thick and hard, as if it was not fully cooked and I thought there was a taste of raw flour in the dough. Filling – mushy mess of garlic, wild mushrooms and soft ricotta, were pathetic. This was my 1st time trying 'Italian dumpling' (there were 4 pieces in the small portion or appetiser-size) and I could only swallow it with the accompanying mushroom and tomato sauce. Could taste the squid in Black Angel Spaghetti cooked al-dente with anchovies, capers, chilli, garlic and wine, and served with fresh but nothing-to-rave-about-or-fault scallops. Seafood Bucatini steamed in a bag with capers, chilli, garlic, tomatoes and white wine reminded me of local paper-wrapped chicken. I did not like its chewy tubular spaghetti reminiscent of Japanese udon but empty inside. Except for crab which we neither saw nor tasted, other seafood such as clams, mussels, scallops and squid were fresh and sweet.
Apparently, all pasta used here is made fresh daily on the premises by two chefs and takes one and half minute to cook. Every home-styled pasta dish is also prepared separately for consistency of each. For desserts, we had Tiramisu that looked very different from the usual ones in Singapore and toppled as the staff placed it on our table. More like a sloppily-cut (see uneven edges) layered-sponge cake fell into a cup of coffee and was quickly retrieved for plating. While this did not sit well with all at the table, two of us still found the cake with intense coffee kick palatable enough to finish. If only it was not so moist, and had more shredded orange peels and barely-there base of chocolate. Having also seen the portions of JI Warm Brownie and Sour Cherry Bakewell, we concluded its desserts were overpriced. Other items on the menu, which would be changed twice a year with 15-20 dishes replaced each time, include Jamie's signature starter 'planks' and hearty mains.
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