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2014-01-03
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On Christmas Eve, we met up with a friend at Linguini Fini for lunch. The restaurant was located on the first floor at The L Place, and our initial impression was how messed up the access was. The elevators we got on did not go to first floor so we had to get off the second floor at The Salted Pig and walked down the stairs from there. The staff at The Salted Pig seemed pretty used to it as they automatically gave out directions.Once we finally got to the restaurant, the place was bustling and c
Once we finally got to the restaurant, the place was bustling and chatty with its casual ambiance. We were led to our table which was rather small even for 3 people, and I had originally made the reservations for 4. The set lunch was simple with 2 courses for $118. The starters included salad, soup or tripe while for mains, you can choose any of their signature pasta or the beef brisket.
Their signature pasta had 6 choices which included the pomodoro, aglio olio, puttanesca, genovese, goat cheese fonduta, and diavola. You can order pizza, antipasta, or salad from their a la carte menu as well. J and I choose to order the set lunch as that seemed to be a good deal.
After we placed our orders, bread was brought out in a rather cute tin can. Too bad the bread was cold though so it was just alright to nimble on. The olive oil provided was just average as well - not really fragrant or flavorful enough.
8 Hour Tripe (4/5) - the tripe was very tender and soft to eat. Although, it kind of reminded me of chinese braised beef tripe but swapped out with tomato sauce instead. The result was eerily familiar yet different. It worked for me!
Roasted Pepper & Eggplant Soup (3/5) - the soup was hot which was well appreciated. The taste was a bit bland and watery though. A bit more seasoning would have helped.
Genovese (4/5) - spaghetti wtih basil pesto sauce. The pasta was alright but not quite al dente. The pesto sauce was fresh and flavorful albeit a tad oily. The cherry tomatoes were very sweet and refreshing though!
Beef Brasato (2/5) - braised beef brisket with marscapone polenta, fennel and onion salada. The portions were big but beef brisket was a bit lean and tough. The flavors were one-dimensional and heavy. I wasn't so hot on the polenta which was thick and bland. The whole dish was too much to absorb as it was pretty oily as well. A disappointing dish on the whole.
When we were got the check, a card was placed on our table to inform us that this restaurant does not automatically charge 10% service charge. Rather, they believe that customers should tip what they want - which was refreshing as many restaurants especially those serving western food adds 10% to the bill and we pay up without batting an eye.
Conclusion - the food at Linguini Fini was average while the value for money was marginal for me. The prices were alright given it's in Central I guess. My friend said that the dishes here can be a hit or miss depending on what you pick, and given its inconsistencies, I'm not sure I would come back to take my chances. I've never been one with random luck anyways.
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