Locanda

I ended up at this place purely by my foodie gang’s recommendation to try them out during our monthly outings. I had absolutely no idea about their famous dishes and walked in blind for dinner

Located at Rowell Road in Little India, Locanda is an Italian Trattoria Restaurant by Michelin-starred Buona Terra. With dishes curated by the same Chefs at Buona Terra, the menu at Locanda is supposed to be more rustic and comfort Italian home-cooked meals

Meaning “inn” in Italian, Locanda tried to manifest this in the decorations of the restaurant with red bricks and black and white pictures in the main dining hall. From the entrance’s get-go, the space felt more like a modern contemporary restaurant with awkwardly placed furniture. My first impression upon entering the space and finding my table was that it felt quite cramped, with tables placed very close to each other and servers passing by your chair to reach the kitchen

As I was the last to arrive for dinner, my dinner mates had already made their orders, so I went with the flow. The first dishes to be served were the starters, and we definitely had to order their signature Locanda Soft Roll with Eggplant, Tomato Dip. The loaf was indeed rustic-looking, as it reminded me of the butter loaves we have from old-school bakeries. The loaf came with 2 dips, which were both savoury, creamy, smooth and perfect for pairing with the bread, which was fluffy and buttery. The next item we had was the Focaccia Bread, Casera Cheese, Lardo, Hazelnuts, Truffle, and Honey, which was delightful. The crispy toasted onion focaccia embraced the saltiness of the melted Casera cheese, layered on with flavours from the ham, nuttiness from the hazelnuts and the fragrance of the truffle. The honey balanced all the savoury flavours bursting in the mouth

For antipasti and mains, we ordered the charcoal-grilled squid, Salmoriglio, Secreto Iberico Pork, Braised Endive, Apple, Seabass Fillet, Mugnaia Style and Mediterranean Seafood Soup. The squid was thin and barbequed well with a charred flavour. The drizzled olive oil and lemon gave it an additional punch. I liked the Iberico pork as the sweetness of the apple came through quite well in the dish, and the meat was tender enough for a nice bite. The seabass was pretty general and forgettable. The seafood soup was chock-full of ingredients like prawns, clams, mussels, lobster, as well as pasta noodles, but the flavours were not deep enough. I had expected deep umami flavours from the broth, but it was quite thin.

For pasta, we ordered Linguine, Clams and Bottarga, Tagliolini, Fresh Tomato, Crab, Lemon and Mezze Maniche, Amatriciana Sauce. Of the 3 pastas, I liked the crab tagliolini the best as the crab combined well with the tomato sauce and gave the pasta a mouthful of flavours. The linguine with clams was not outstanding and quite dry. The Mezze maniche was saucy and full of tomato flavours, but doesn’t leave a strong impression on the diner

Overall, the meal was satisfactory, but the servings were quite small for the price tag. You can find their menu here. Some dishes are on point, but some are just forgettable. We ordered a lot of dishes between us, as the servings did not really fill us up. The cooking style is rustic and traditionally Italian, but priced at a Michelin level

Address: 109 Rowell Rd, Singapore 208033

Opening hours: 6 pm to 12 am from Mon to Thurs, 12 pm to 3 pm and 6 pm to 12 am from Fri to Sun, Closed on Tues