Cugini Trattoria Pizzeria, Club Street

I've been wanting to visit Cugini (87 Club Street, #01-01, tel : +65 6221 3791) for the longest time. So it's finally happened this weekend! If anyone is wondering, their food is southern Italian styled with influences Sardinia and Sicily, which I read, were where the owners were from.

Today's visit was a little whimsical. We didn't exactly order what the restaurant was known for. We just picked some of the stuff off the menu that sounded like they might be interesting and hence, totally skipped their southern styled pasta noodles that they are known for.

Cugini's calamari fritti was very good. I'd easily rate it amongst the top of fried calamari I've had. The meat was springy with bite, firmly enveloped in a crisp batter that was sufficiently salted and flavoured with something lightly smoky with some heat. Paprika or cayenne perhaps or something similar, but it was light and present, certainly made those calamari good enough to eat on their own. Dips on the side were very well done. 

This pizza was named golosa. Which translates as I understand, into something along the lines of 'glutton' or 'gourmand'. Perhaps the name of this Frankensteinian pizza was meant to be an innuendo sheathed within a double entendre. Just saying.

I actually liked this. For one, the fries are thicker cut. And slightly soggy which is the way I like fries. What it did was bulk up the pizza and the element that kept it from getting boring was the bits of Gorgonzola that was nicely spread through the pie. It's been a while since I've had a tomato based pizza where I didn't quite mind (even quietly to myself) that tomato base.

We had some Sicilian styled lamb ravioli in artichoke cream and butter. This was really good stuff. Didn't taste so much of the butter, but the artichoke cream was lovely and the finely minced lamb,  was lamb-y enough to retain characteral flavour to the meat. I never understood people who ordered lamb and complained of gaminess. Pasta was well stuffed, properly cooked and firm to the bite.

Dessert was a white chocolate panna cotta with some crumbled Bronte pistachios and a raspberry sauce. The texture was smooth and creamy, a little heavier than a usual panna cotta because of the chocolate.