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2009-12-02
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Posto Pubblico is a new smart-casual Italian Pub & Restaurant that hails a bold Ethical Concept: unlike most Fine Dining restaurants which always import the best ingredients from overseas, the founders of Posto Pubblico are trying to push the concept of Reduced Carbon Footprint. Meaning, they will only resort to imported produce when it proves necessary (for example, better quality, imported Beef or Fishes, Olive Oil, etc), whereas the majority of their ingredients especially the Vegetables o
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HOME MADE BREAD, OLIVE OIL & SEA SALT -
The Bread and fresh Mozzarella are said to be made in-house, the bread which was similar to a Ciabatta was really good. The Olive Oil is from Italy and seemed slightly infused with other flavours and it was quite aromatic with a bit of a lemony and floral twist. SCORE: 4.8/5
BUTTERED FENNEL, PECORINO -
A warm 'Caldo' Entree dish, the Fennels are first softened in olive oil and butter, then finished off with a top-gratinated *Pecorino Cheese surface. The fennels are nicely softened and cooked, though a few bigger pieces remained slightly too crunchily undercooked. The grated cheesy top has a strongish sharp flavour - there's no mistaking that this is the Pecorino Romano type they utilise and also suggests it to be more probaby American-Italian in style as distinct from the really Italian-Italian restaurants. In the latter, the generic term 'Pecorino' is normally used to describe the more softer, more fresher sheep-milk cheeses that are usually shaved on top rather than grated like the Pecorino Romano version. Look, its all a matter of Terminologies and Wordings anyway, I don't like to get stuck on these trivial matters, but I'm barely pointing out that the Pecorino mentioned in most other Italian restaurants is usually a slightly different thing than what Americans might be used to calling. SCORE: 4.5/5
ZUCCHINI DI FIORE -
I love Zucchini Flowers but its hard to get them on the market after mid-late summer! Glad to see them here, but apparently it should be called Fiore di Zucchini the other way around? The versions here are female flowers I think and quite big, they're simply coated in an Egg Batter before frying. Its good as it is, warm and eggy, but it was slightly soggy and limpy without any stuffing inside the flower or flour batter coating. The stem part and the zucchini slices under were real good. SCORE: 3.8/5
PASTA CACIO e PEPE -
I didn't know what Cacio means to be honest, but it turns out to be Pecorino Romano again. Commercial pastas are first boiled, then drained and thrown into the Pecorino wheel's cavity and further 'sauteeded', suppose to catch some of the cheese flavours. Its then finished off with Black Pepper and some more grated cheese. When I received this, it was actually very cold, also over-cooked and no longer al-dente. Unfortunately it was also way over-salted, yet carrying no Cheese taste as it did not catch some of the Cheese Wheel's flavours, thereby relying on additional grated cheese afterwards.
I couldn't help but make a complaint to the staff, as this was way too Cold and too Salty. Initially, their response is that a fair few customers have made the same complaint but its the way they do this dish and mainly to do with the Cheese... I got someone to take a look at the remaining Salt grains on the dish and told her that whoever was sprinkling on the sea salt wasn't distributing it evenly nor with a deft hand. Look - this is such a simple Pasta dish with barely a few strands of pastas and virtually no other ingredients, but it wasn't even done right. I really think it was appalling value at $120 when the cost wouldn't be more than $10-15. SCORE: 2.0/5
LINGUINI VONGOLE -
To the Credit of Posto Pubblico, they offered to swap me another pasta. A Linguine with Clams but spelt wrongly again on the menu as Linguini (a mistake that I make too sometimes! But at least I'm aware of it lol!). Look, I appreciate the fact that this boasts of using fresh local clams as well as cooked in home-made Chicken Stock...... but I simply don't understand why a Seafood pasta dish is cooked in chicken rather than seafood stock! Not only that:
The server told me that this would be nice and refreshing with a bit of acidity. However, when I started biting in, may be due to our previous complaint, this dish also wasn't seasoned with salt at all, as if the chef is protesting to emphasize the fact that we were wrong to even complain about their previous over-salted pasta. The Linguine strands were way undercooked this time in the middle, and the sauce base was thin and watery, making it feel like eating a Linguine in Brodo, its flavour was also highly acidic with a faint Chicken rather than Seafood stock taste, the Clams never gave contribution to the dish and were tasteless, nor plump either, despite being fresh. And I forgot to say, the Garlics in the dish weren't even browned, they were just there doing virtually nothing. This dish was completely flat in presentation!
U know, although a lot of Italian or Pasta dishes call for white wine to be added in the recipe - the KEY is actually how to and when to add it, whether when cooking the clams/pipis or directly into a sauce, or knowing the trick to burning off certain alcohols or flavours, but only keeping retaining the slight fruitiness and 'aromatic' contribution. Its a trick that's quite hard to master even with a recipe book infront of you! Here, the wine was like the garlic, thrown in for the sake of having it rather than contributing to the whole dish as a whole! Mrs Jones' Linguine alle Vongole dish in the past was way better than here, though that has gone downhill too, but even Al Dente or Antipasto makes a better version. Posto Pubblico really need to improve their Vongole pasta dish from scratch or train their chefs better, sorry to say - the whole cooking method and recipe is way off the mark, just like their Cacio e Pepe pasta above! And please understand that undercooked, cold pasta does not equate to Al Dente textuarally, either!
SCORE: 0.5/5
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I MIGHT SOUND QUITE CRITICAL HERE, BUT WHILST THE ENTREES WERE EXCELLENT QUALITY, THESE TWO PASTAS WERE NOT UPTO INTERNATIONAL RESTAURANT QUALITY, CERTAINLY NOT WORTH $120 FOR THE MINUIT SIZE EITHER FOR EACH OF THEM.
I like its Reduced Carbon Footprint and Organic Concept, I love the Service (except the part when they try to shift the blame on the customer for not understanding their dish, when its obviously seasoned wrong even to the naked eye, or that its cold, or either way under-cooked or slightly over-cooked). I think the Price is slightly expensive for both Drinks and Food but remember you don't automatically pay 10% Services Charge here, but that still doesn't cancel out the bad quality pastas I received.
I decided to write about it here online rather than hassle with the Owners or waitstaff on the spot anymore for the 2nd time, because though they're ultra friendly, it seemed they weren't very receptive to customers' opinions, instead, blaming their own fault onto the customers for not understanding their food and flavourings. If they think this is OK, and giving out cold and undercooked pasta is acceptable and its their 'style, then there is nothing more I want to say to them.
張貼
