Finally, finally a dinner where all four of us can make it! The stars weren't aligned previously and we couldn't arrange a date where all of us were available in the past few months. We finally managed to fix a date this week and I'm thankful that they were so understanding about having to eat around my office. Was getting worried that it was going to be another late day and I did not want to leave them hanging high and dry again, so I suggested that we meet around my office. I went around asking for recommendations for nice dinner places near my office and one of my sweet colleagues recommended Bene Spaghetti at Circular Road!
Now Circular Road is an awesome place for lunch, second probably only to Hong Lim Food Centre, but I've never actually explored that area during dinner. So I was totally excited about checking out Bene Spaghetti for some Japanese-Italian food. The restaurant is situated pretty near to to the start of Circular Road, and the eye-catching deco and the large flag of Italy are pretty hard to miss.
Greeted by a super cheerful waitress who brought us to our seats and handed us a couple of frozen towels to wipe ourselves with. We were quite amused by the frozen towels because they really were frozen and so stiff! The waitress also handed us a "clapper" - this tool which we could shake when we wanted to get their attention. We focused on the dinner sets because they were so value for money. After much deliberation, we decided to order three dinner sets to share namely the Clam and Mussels with Tomato Sauce Risotto, Smoked Pork and Blue Cream Cheese Pasta Dinner Set, and Shrimp and Squid with Aurora Sauce Gratin Dinner Set.
The green salad, focaccia and antipasto came first but I was so distracted by everything that I only remembered to take pictures of the salad. The salad was nice and refreshing, the focaccia was fluffy and warm, and the antipasto was a few bowls of potato salad, egg plant, and sauteed fish which tasted great!
This is the Smoked Pork with Blue Cream Cheese Sauce Pasta Dinner Set. This was set on our table for 5 minutes while the pasta was steamed within and small puffs of smoke floated out through the small hole at the top. When 5 minutes was up, the bell rang crazily and the waitress came over and lifted the lid. The pasta was in a thick blue cream cheese sauce with thick slices of smoked pork, mushrooms and vegetables. The sauce did not have the pungent taste of blue cream cheese. In fact, it tasted like normal pasta in cream sauce. However, the pasta was still very tasty and the smoked pork was nice and tender.
The Shrimp and Squid with Aurora Sauce Gratin came next. The sauce was nice and rich with a large amount of yummy cheese on top. The Gnocchi Gratin was nice and chewy, going very well with the sauce.
I love the Clam and Mussel Risotto best!!! It was marvelous. The clams were fresh and juicy, the risotto soaked up the tomato sauce to perfection and the sauce was super yummy. The dish came with basil leaves and some chicken soup. They advised us to grind and mix them up and pour them into the risotto if we wished. However, I prefer the taste of the risotto without the basil leaves and chicken soup.
We ended the meal with a Bamboo White Wine which came with bits of grape fruit within. The white wine was light and sweet, totally yummy with the chewy bits of grape fruit within.
The service at Bene Spaghetti was perfect. They were attentive from the start to the end and were always quick to respond to our requests. The Japanese waiter and waitress even ran after us while we were leaving to hand each of us half a loaf of focaccia bread for breakfast the next day! However, the restaurant is a bit noisy as the vibe of the restaurant is a cheerful noisy place. Not a problem if you are a bunch of friends looking to catch up over food, but perhaps not too ideal if you are trying to get to know somebody on a first date.
I would highly recommend this place to everyone, especially those who work around the area!
83 Circular Road
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