La Scala

I was looking for a simple place for a farewell dinner for a friend and this article on fancy restaurants under $50 popped into my feed. Looking at the pictures, the food looks tantalising and I decided to suggest La Scala as the dinner venue

Chef Diego helms the kitchen for the La Scala Ristorante which took its name from the world-renowned La Scala Opera house in Milan. Nestled along the line of restaurants within the Capitol Kempinski Hotel’s Arcade area, the restaurant has an open-concept foyer and loft seating area

The menu is available via a QR code at every table. In terms of price, the range is considered mid-high for the a la carte items. They do have a pocket-friendly lunch menu at SGD 21 for 2 courses and SGD 26 for 3 courses. ( tax not inclusive)

After we placed the order, we were served bread sticks and olive bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar drip. There was also butter served on the side. The bread was soft and slightly warm with a slight herb taste which was great to munch on while we waited for the rest of the food

Both our pasta arrived at the same time; this was the linguine alla granchio which crab meat, vodka, tomato, cream, chilli flakes, parsley and parmesan cheese. For SGD 36, the serving was less generous than we thought and as we were sharing, each of us got only a mouthful. In terms of the taste, the sauce was packed with crab meat but I could hardly taste it as it was quite overwhelmed by the tomato cream sauce. I could not taste the vodka as well as it felt like a mere tomato-based pasta

Our 2nd pasta was the mezzi rigatoni amatriciana which is topped with aged pork cheek, pecorino, chilli, white wine and tomato sauce. This was priced at SGD 28 with a similar serving size. While both plates of pasta are cooked authentically al dente which is my preference when it comes to pasta doneness, the sauce for this dish was a little disappointing. There was hardly any meat in the sauce and only a strong tomato-based sauce

We ordered 1 pizza for sharing and the choice was limited for me as I do not take beef so we went with the pizza salsiccia ragu which is topped with tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, parmesan cheese, black pepper, pork sausage and eggs. For SGD 32, the size was reasonably huge which was enough for sharing amongst 5 people. The pizza came cut into approximately 9 slices with 2 pretty egg yolks right in the centre. The pizza was freshly baked and still hot when served with a hand-pulled crust. The dough has the right amount of stretch and chewiness with generous toppings of cheese and tomato. We spread the yolk before eating and it added an additional layer of creamy flavour. The pork sausage was actually small chunks of meat scattered around the surface and I hardly taste it. Even though the pork was neglectable, the taste of the pizza was still pretty good as the egg was the saving grace

When we visited in Jun, they had a special seafood sharing platter set which came with scallops carpaccio topped with caviar and served with a side salad. Both the scallop and the caviar were very fresh and sweet which leaves a nice umami aftertaste in your mouth

As part of the platter, we had a serving of mussels in Marinara sauce. They were a total of 5 to 6 mussels in one serving decorated with sprouts. The mussel was generally fresh but nothing too spectacular to note

The star of the platter was supposed to be the grilled seafood basket which has grilled salmon, jumbo prawns, crayfish, octopus and peeled shrimps and fried calamari. For a sharing platter, the serving was more suitable for a party of 2 to 3 persons only.

The platter also came with a small serving of polenta and 2 side dips; mayonnaise and a tomato-based sauce. Personally, I am not a fan of polenta and the flavours were quite light and we were also full of the other mains we had. As for the dips, I liked the tomato dip as it has a good balance of sourness and savoury flavours from the chopped onions and herbs

Overall, the food did not leave a strong impression on me. The only dish which struck a chord was the pizza as the flavours were rather unique and the dough was stretchy and chewy in a good way. For the rest of the pasta dishes, the flavours are rustic and not exactly in line with the price tag. The atmosphere is generally nice and the service quite attentive but if you have a limited feasting budget, there are better places to splurge on

Address: 13 Stamford Rd, #01-86 Arcade @ The Capitol Kempinski, Singapore 178905

Operating hours: 11.30 am to 2.30 pm and 6 to 10 pm