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2014-10-08
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Nice place, prime location but quality of food can fluctuate.This restaurant has caught my attention quite some time ago but only now have I dared to brave the mixed reviews and sample what Lupa has to offer at lunch time.Decor and AmbienceDepending on where you sit, the ambience and the dining experience can vary quite a bit. Upon being greeted at the concierge, you are escorted along a corridor, with half-circle sofa tables on your left. If your seat is not one of those, there are quite a numb
This restaurant has caught my attention quite some time ago but only now have I dared to brave the mixed reviews and sample what Lupa has to offer at lunch time.
Decor and Ambience
Depending on where you sit, the ambience and the dining experience can vary quite a bit. Upon being greeted at the concierge, you are escorted along a corridor, with half-circle sofa tables on your left. If your seat is not one of those, there are quite a number of cafe tables and chairs in the main dining area. Rather clustered too. As people filled in the main dining area, the din can be quite affective if you're trying to strike a healthy conversation. There it feels like a noisy cafe or canteen. However if you were seated in the sofa tables along the corridor, as we were, the ambience is a bit classier and more private.
Food
I've heard about the brunch buffet on weekends, but I didn't do my research thoroughly to investigate what they actually offer for lunch. (Or it wasn't immediately obvious from the first few pages of reviews on Openrice, no matter). For lunch on weekdays, most people would probably go for the lunch buffet which includes some selection of starters, salads, soup and dessert, plus a limited selection of pasta/pizza/mains with additional charge of up to $90. The basic lunch buffet was $188 or so, FYI.
If you were more particular about food or can't be bothered to share the lunch buffet with us "commoners" you are welcome to choose a la carte from their lunch menu. I suspect this menu differs from their dinner menu, but should offer enough variety in any case.
In my honest opinion I do not think their salad bar is half bad. As compared to Gold by Harlan, or Bloom, the salad bar Lupa offers a more fullsome variety including seared tuna, some decent parma ham among other cold cuts, salmon, seasoned aubergines, pesto pasta salad, cubes of cold quiche, olives etc. (8/10 - the way salad bar goes)
Our meal was going fine until this penne. Quite disappointed to find it lacking heat, which is quite a no no for seafood (frozen) obviously. The pasta was probably homemade, which is encouraging but also gives for less quality control I believe. The texture is unlike any other penne I've had, it's almost crispy, crunchy. Which is so unconventional for pasta and penne....Not sure what to make of this. It's not your usual al dente, nor was it uncooked. (6.5/10)
I really like this dish and so would you if you, like me, love pasta sauce more than pasta, as well as comfort food like mac n cheese. A critic would probably say the proportion of oxtail ragout vs gnocchi is a bit too much, indeed there is as much oxtail meat/sauce as there are gnocchi. But that's fine with me I like wet and soft foods. The softness is another thing that strikes me. The gnocchi probably shouldn't have been so soft as baby mush...but I liked it for what it was. At least it's got individuality lol. (8/10)Dessert
Neglected to take pictures of the bit size cakes and desserts from the buffet table. Nothing worth noting anyway. But I do appreciate the cheeses they had. (7/10)
Service
Their service was quite good and professional. Exceeds the quality of the food in fact. Keep it up!
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