PepeNero

Begin your meal with a serving of warm crusty bread. The wait-staff are ever ready with friendly suggestions to offer for your dining choices, and wines to go with your meal. We were served a glass of Prosecco, a dry sparkling white wine, to go with our bread to whet our appetite for the sumptuous meal ahead. Chef Marco kept up a cheerful banter with us throughout our meal and designed a degustation menu for us to sample the best of his dishes. And it wasn’t just us who enjoyed this special treatment! Chef Marco made the effort to pop by every table once every while, and epitomized the effervescence of Italians with his raucous laughter and spirited entertainment of his guests.

Our first course was a Pan-seared Foie Gras with black cherry, black truffles and truffle sauce. The top of the foie gras is slightly charred to an elegant crisp, and it melted on our tongue, slowly releasing the aromas of the truffle within.

Following closely was the Angus Beef Carpaccio Cannellone wrapped around Burrata cheese, Arugula salad and Pickled mushrooms ($24). The cacophony of flavours made this a thoroughly exciting dish. The mushrooms, juicy with a light sourness pairs well with the mild buttery cheese, and this provides a good contrast with the savoury carpaccio which seals the tastes together beautifully.

The Roasted Octopus with Mashed Potatoes and Marinated Sicilian Cherry Tomatoes Mediterranean Style ($21) came next. An absolute delight that teased our eyes just as much as it did our taste buds. Visually arresting with the crispy leeks balanced precariously atop the grilled octopus below, this dish exemplifies the chef’s precision and tender loving care in showcasing his dishes. Shipped from Japan, the octopus exudes freshness of the sea, and has a bouncy texture against the creamy mashed potatoes below.

The chickpea soup with tiger prawns was a wonderfully homely dish, a warm hearty broth consisting of cherry tomatoes, crunchy chickpeas and carrots. The prawns were delightfully fresh, rubbed with herbs and which tickled our noses with its light rosemary scent.

The Ravioli with duck confit and meat jus and black truffles ($29) seduced with its aromatic sizzle the moment it was placed in front of us. The duck, braised for 8 hours, is deliciously tender, almost creamy, and it dissolved easily in our mouths, leaving us wanting more.

We were served a gorgeously breaded lamb with grilled cheese zucchini. While i'm not a huge fan of lamb, it was so well cooked that the gamey taste was reduced to a minimum, and the crust was absolutely delicious! The zucchini provided a nice contrast against the meat, which balanced out the dish nicely.

Not content with a simple end to our meal, Chef Marco prepared two courses of desserts for a delightfully sweet experience. The creme brulee ($12) was perfectly burnished on the top, and creamy within, while the forest berries that came with it provided a welcome tartness to counter the sweetness and kept us going.

With all the good food we had, it was simply perfect to end our meal on a refreshing note with the Boiled Peach and Mango Sorbet. The story goes that in the past, grandmothers in Italy would receive peaches as gifts from others, but if they were damaged, it couldn’t be eaten alone. Therefore, lovingly poached in red wine essence, it brings out the goodness of the fruit and topped with an invigorating mango sorbet, left us feeling just satisfied with wonderful memories of our Italian experience.

*This is an article i wrote for reserveit.sg (: Try out their online reservation service, and you can check out more articles there!

PepeNero

14 Stanley Street

Tel.: +65 6222 5808

Lunch 12pm-2pm (Mon-Fri)

Dinner 6.30pm-11pm (Mon-Sat)