inITALY Bar Ristorante
A homey Italian restaurant on Craig Road where the homemade pasta dishes are the stars of the show.
The buzz: Yet another Italian eatery to join the fold, inITALY Bar Ristorante is under the care of owner and chef Mario Caramella, who was most recently at the helm of Forlino.
The vibe: Located in a shophouse along Craig Road, this rustic, homey spot is well put together, with marbletopped tables, brown leather chairs and a cheerful canary yellow accent wall.
The food: In the same spirit of things, what’s coming out of the kitchen isn’t overly fussy, just generous portions of tasty Italian food. Think crowd-pleasing fare like crostino, crisp focaccia with melted Taleggio cheese, prosciutto and black olives, and homemade beef-filled ravioli with Chianti sauce. If you’re feeling particularly ravenous, dishes such as stewed beef cheek with porcini mushrooms and polenta and gran bollito misto, a meat medley of boiled beef, veal and veal tongue, pork and chicken, should do you nicely.
The drinks: Vinos are the order of the day here. The extensive collection, mostly from Italy, is hand-picked by Caramella himself. For those after a post-work tipple, happy hour runs from 6-7pm Mondays to Saturdays with wines starting from $10 per glass.
Why you’ll be back: This is a great choice if you’re in the mood for comforting Italian fare in a casual setup; it doesn’t hurt that prices are easy on the pocket either.
There’s certainly no lack of Italian food in Singapore and it’s easy to get lost in the fray. This homey Italian restaurant, with its rough stone walls and leather booth seats is a solid option for the neighborhood (though, sadly, not much more than that). The rustic menu is full of simple, comforting dishes elevated by ingredients you can’t find in a home kitchen and everything comes in generous portions. Go straight for the ravioli di ossobuco in gremolata ($32), a simple dish of homemade veal ravioli, saffron sauce, chopped lemon rind, parsley and garlic. It’s hearty, cooked perfectly and bursting with creamy flavors from the well-braised veal jus. The cream burrata cheese ($30/48) with parma ham, heirloom tomatoes and capsicum chutney is also a solid, fuss-free starter option. While the signature orecchiette Barilla ($28) leaves us wishing for a little refinement, it comes with a well-balanced porcini mushroom sauce and crispy parma ham that’s comforting if a bit too filling. Overall, it’s a pretty solid bet when you’re having a pasta craving, with only a few off notes. Service can also be pretty slow (we’ve had to ask multiple times for a bread basket) even when the place isn’t that crowded. Expect simple classics here, but no fireworks.
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| Address: | inITALY Bar Ristorante, 38, Singapore, 089676 Singapore |
| Phone: | 6423-0918 |
| Website: | www.initaly.asia |
| Cuisine: | Italian |
| Open since: | July, 2012 |
| Opening hours: | Sun-Fri 11am-1:30pm; Sun-Thu 5-9:30pm; Fri-Sat 5-11pm |
| Nearest train | Chinatown |
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