New: Trattoria Nonna Lina

Read about a new Italian (omg how many Italian restaurants do we have in our tiny Singapore??!) restaurant along Craig Road with an opening promotion of 20% off ala carte mains during lunch hours that ends on Nat day so I was like "HEY let's go down cos the promo ends tmr!" to my friend YH. So off we went! Its few doors down from Miz Japanese Restaurant and the sign is quite seenable, else just look out for Miz Jap Restaurant, its along that row!

Just FYI, the restaurant recently had its grand opening on 10 Aug!

First page of the menu is a short intro about the chef & his background + his food written by the chef himself & I think its really cute that family pics are added :)

Besides the mains in the menu, you can ask the chef for the specialties of the day (which I think would be easier if they wrote it down somewhere or have the waitress tell you when you're seated). That day the special pastas available were tagliolini, parpadelle, and gnocchi. Then you choose your pasta & discuss the sauce w the chef! So mine was squid ink sauce w the tagliolini in the end :) oh and there was sting-ray as well which was off the menu! The chef was super cute, he was like "not sambal sting ray!" 

They have desserts too! But on offer (at the time when I visited) are - tiramisu, ricotta cake w choc chips, gelato (if I'm not wrong), lava cake (if I'm not wrong!), combi of Italian pastries (according to the lady that day, there are 3 pastries, one's hazelnut and then lemon and sth else which I forgot but you can ask! This was $11) and some more but I cant rmb sorry!

Yellow interiors which explains the yellowish tinge in my pics!

Bruschette 

I liked the balsamic and the olive oil. The tomatoes were slightly sour and sweet. Overall, a rather nice bruschetta! :) This was w compliments frm the chef!

Homemade Tagliolini with Seafood Squid ink 

$28 (if I'm not wrong! Or $27)

This one had a thick sauce that had hints of saltiness and just a different kind of taste from the usual squid ink I've had and I think that was what made me finish the whole plate! It could have done w more ingredients though but I'm not complaining though I'm not usually a carb kinda girl but the sauce was good for me. Its not extremely flavourful mind you, but, I dont know how to put it in words, it just did it for me. Try it if you're a squid ink fan. Am warning you, your lips, teeth, tongue, mouth will turn black!! Better check mirrors aft eating this! There was squid, crabmeat inside and that's abt it! But I was still happy w it! :) 4.5/5

Penne with Crabmeat in Light Creamy Tomato Sauce

$23

YH had this! Personally I do not like penne 'cos I dont think it let's me slurrrrrp my noodles which I like to do haha. So no comments abt the pasta. The sauce was more creamy than tomato-y to me. Quite generous w crabmeat I'd say! But more of an average-ish dish to me! 3.6/5

Grilled Sting Ray

flavoured w truffle oil and lemon juice

$27 (or $28 haha)

The truffle oil was barely discernible for me but YH said she could smell it q strongly so I'm not sure abt that! Couldnt taste it while eating the sting ray tho! It was undoubtedly fresh and grilled nicely with a very soft flesh. But it was kinda monotonous aft awhile as it didnt have much flavour and that's where the lemon on the top comes in. Good for sharing! 3.7/5

The chef is very friendly and so are the wait staff but I think it'd be better if the waitress knew what the catch of the day is, what the combi of Italian pastries consist of etc so that she doesnt need to ask the chef to talk to us (what if he was busy cooking?) or someone else to tell us. The restaurant was v quiet on a weekday lunch and I think its prolly cos it just opened? Its a decent place for Italian and hopefully it'll stay open w so many Italian restaurants nearby!

Trattoria Nonna Lina

4 Craig Road

62220930

Opens daily from 11-2.30pm and 6-10pm

Website

Update 26/9/12: I took down pics of the menu as requested by the restaurant as they said that their menu changes regularly!