I was first drawn to La Nonna because of Vain Pot's love for Italian food, my own love for pasta and well the fact it offers weekend brunch at affordable prices. One of the biggest drawbacks about being amply updated about food is that you amass so much food you wish to try but not enough time to try them. The researched done on La Nonna was thus done in early 2016, which relied on information provided in 2015. For some strange reasons which seems consistent among a lot of cafes and restaurants in Singapore, the food standards drop over time. Please don't be mistaken, the food at La Nonna is definitely edible and within acceptable standards. It's just that I may not have short-listed them as my New Year venue if it's based on updated research.
The Crab Linguine ($26) does taste decent. Pasta was cooked al dente, sauce was creamy and flavourful and there was generous chunks of crab meat. So what's the problem? It's good pasta which I wouldn't mind eating again but it's not fantastic. The food didn't leave an after-taste in my mouth and well I forgotten how it tasted already except that I had good feelings about the dish when I ate it.
The Risotto Allo Zafferano is risotto with butternut pumpkins and king scallops ($27). It's far too creamy and the rice was too hard in my opinion. The scallops which came with the dish had a strange bacon taste to it. I kinda enjoyed it but not Vain Pot. Vain Pot was telling me that she likes to order Risotto because she uses it as a measure of good Italian food. Apparently too few establishments can get this dish right. She also rightfully pointed out that many places can get a pasta done well but not a Risotto. Since I'm a pasta lover, I didn't noticed this but it's good to take note in future!
We ordered two small soups Funghi and Zuppa De La Nonna ($11 each) to share. Basically they are mushroom and pumpkin soup and I enjoyed both soups. Both soups are prepared with natural ingredients and are rich in taste. Thumbs up to the soup.
I'm really torn and undecided whether I want to return to try their weekend brunch menu. It's a tough call because I'm mentally prepared that I won't get fantastic food but it's really decent Italian fare which I would like my family to try. Their oven was down so no pizza for 2 weeks starting from this date. I do want to try their pizzas too. Perhaps one more chance?
La Nonna
26/26B Lorong Mambong