A Low-Key Anniversay @ Da Paolo Bistro Bar (Rochester)
After all, we did do something for our Anniversary be it a low-key one. After surfing through HGW and asking a buddy in there… I decided on somewhere in the west, which dwindle the selections to Holland Village (again), Dempsey Road, and Rochester Park. Initially, I decided to go to Friends @ Jelita but was totally threw off by their address (ok I got lost… well, I actually assumed it was in Holland Village, above the cold storage there… but it was actually above the cold storage building further down Holland Road). Oh well… By the time I realised the dumbness, we were too late for their 1-1 promotion offered in the ‘promotional booklet’ found in this month of Women’s Weekly. Apparently, promotional orders must be filled by 9:00 pm.
So… next stop, Rochester. Initially, three caught my attention: Eden Sanctuary, Da Paolo Bistro Bar or North Border Bar & Grill… Entering Rochester Park @ around 9:00pm gave me an eerie… almost ominous feeling… The place was just SO DARK…. If this wasn’t Singapore, I’d have left for somewhere brighter. So we strolled up the slope towards Eden Sanctuary, but it appeared to be closed and so we decided on Da Paolo Bistro Bar instead.
The Ambience of this Da Paolo Bistro Bar is really something. Lit only by candle lights, the place gives out a totally different atmosphere… dark… almost gothic yet romantic… As it wasn’t a hot stuffy night, we opted to sit outside. There were only 2 other groups of people there, another couple like us, and a large group of japanese celebrating a birthday.
Wifey was having so trouble reading the menu as it was too dark. The flickering candle light caused by the fan overhead did not help at all. But after some time, we decided on a Tagliatelle Granchio – pasta ($26.00), a Tagliata di Manzo – Steak ($36.00) and a Hoegaarden for me. Frankly, I don’t understand any of the names in the menus… it was the descriptions in the menu that helped me understood what they were ordered.
Tagliatelle Granchio [Rating: 7/10]
From the menu, this is a home made egg pasta dish with crabmeat, tomatoes, cream and vodka. Generally it tasted good. Though I felt that creamier might have been better. Can’t really taste the vodka but quality of this pasta was still very acceptable and greatly enjoyable.
Tagliata di Manzo [Rating: 7.75/10]
This is actually a grilled prime ribeye with wild rocket and shaved parmesan, and I wanted it medium rare. The meat was nicely cooked.. tasted awesome, and very succulent! As it was so dark and wifey can’t see how ‘bloody’ the dish may have been, she actually tried a piece of medium rare ribeye… and she ACTUALLY liked it… then again, it was really good… ESPECIALLY the JUICY, FATTY PARTS… :swoon: The veg and the shaved parmesan went really well with the nicely grilled ribeye.
Is this a place I’d return to? Perhaps, but maybe only on special occassion or if theres some on-going credit card promotion or something. Then again, there’s also a few other joints in Rochester which I want to try such as the North Border Bar & Grill…
