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2012-06-17
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It is birthday again... and this year, here I was, at Tosca. Having heard about the new hip place at Ritz for almost a year, I was in much anticipation for this birthday dinner. Toscana was originally led by Bombana at Ritz Carlton in Central. After the relocation at ICC, I was wondering who would lead the new Tosca. I was looking around at the open kitchen and oooh! It was Chef Vittorio Lucariello, the former chef at Grissini and Angelini. I remembered I had taken a class on Italian cooking wit
The deco of the restaurant was a little weird, it seemed to me they wanted to present a modern impression but had overdone it. There was a fountain right next to my table which I found a little too noisy with the incessantly flowing water. The view was impeccable nonetheless, and I started turning the page for the menu.
Tosca was a Southern Italian restaurant, specializing in traditional Neapolitan cuisine. A very down-to-earth and classic selection of Italian food, and we picked a few dishes to share. To start we had an amuse bouche of two small dishes. I liked the tofu with green beans in wasabi taste! Pretty interesting dish to freshen up my palette for the night, while the teacup was a cold tomato soup.
Purple Shrimp Tartare, fruit, beetroot puree and capers caught my eye and it was the first appetizer dish we ordered. I loved the tartare as the natural sweetness of the shrimps matched really well with the freshly diced fruits. Parma ham has always been one of my all-time favorite and decided to try the Selection of Italian Ham, melon, figs and aged parmesan cheese. We started from the lightest taste to the strongest. My heart went to the ham from Northern Italy. I remembered the manager's elaboration that it was a type of black pork from Northern Italy. It was a perfect combination of sweet and lightly salted flavor, accompanied by fig! It was just right for my liking!
Contented with the Parma Ham, the main arrived. We decided to try one of the Signature Dishes - Homemade Tagliolini with Red Prawns, tomato tartare and chili peppers. Taglioini was al dente, and the chewy red prawns blended well with tomato tartare. It was definitely not bad, but was a little too ordinary to be memorable. The other dish was Roasted Mediterranean Sea Bass, spring onion purée and Buffalo mozzarella. Same comment - a little too ordinary. Smooth texture of the fish meat while the mozzarella side was not heavy at all. It was a light dish to save up space for dessert.
When I was contemplating of the choices of dessert, I realized it had been pre-ordered (thanks for the thoughtfulness!) and Oh My! There was actually a 'performance' of the cooking process! They made home-made ice-cream with liquid nitrogen, to prevent it from melting too fast. It instantly froze the ingredients inside to make ice-cream and voilà! Here was a birthday dessert platter! Loved the texture of the ice-cream, and the rich chocolate brownie! We had another dessert which was Orange chocolate mousse. I am a big fan of orange dark chocolate and it was such a divine experience to eat chocolate mousse along with a sweetened slice of orange!
We were actually a little too full for petit fours and only managed to eat half of it. Dark Chocolate macaron was very nice!
Maybe there was too much hip about Tosca and its skyscraper location. If you wish to be wow-ed and awed by the creativity of the dishes, Tosca is not the place for you. But if you have a craving for traditional Italian cuisine, you might still want to have a try but keep in mind part of the premium is dedicated to the night view.
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