Da Mario Pizzeria @ Robertson Quay

Da Mario's was a place that I'd been meaning to try as I'd read and heard good reviews about it. Nibble & Scribble (who was the first to tell me about Da Mario's more than a year ago) warned me that her recent visit was disappointing but we decided to give it a try anyway.

We were served cold Ciabatta, which was a disappointing start to the meal. We asked the PRC waitress if she could warm our bread. She looked flustered, mumbled something rather incoherent and scurried off without our bread basket. We figured that she might probably be getting a fresh basket of bread for us and had forgotten about the cold bread in her haste.

A sexily-clad Chinese lady (presumably the lady boss/manager) came by to our table and told us that she heard that we had "problems" with the bread. We told her that there was no problem besides it being cold and we'd prefer warm bread. She then explained to us that Ciabatta is an Italian bread, that she had baked herself on that very day, that the reddish "colour" came from with Sun-Dried Tomatoes, so they can't be stale. Gee, thanks for teaching us about the bread but surely, she could have laid off the condescending tone whereby she sounded as if she thought that we'd never eaten bread or Ciabatta or Sun-Dried Tomatoes in our lives. Then she went on to say that their ovens are very full and they didn't have the time nor oven space to warm breads. We told her, ok, we won't trouble you but please remove the cold bread as we won't be eating it anyway and we wouldn't want to waste them. She looked annoyed and took the bread away.

We were already pretty stressed with work so we decided not to let the bread incident get to us and started with the Tomato Salad. It was refreshing as the fresh and juicy tomatoes had been tossed in a Balsamic Dressing.

I was craving cured meats so we ordered a Rocket Salad with Cherry Tomatoes, Scarmoza Cheese and Parma Ham. I preferred this salad to the Tomato Salad, as I love Parma Ham, Rocket and Cheese. The combination was excellent however, I couldn't help thinking of Ristorante da Valentino's Pan-Fried Scarmoza Cheese Wrapped with Parma Ham. The only thing I didn't like about this dish was the conspicuously sprinkled Ground White Pepper and Fine Salt as I tend to enjoy Parma Ham on its own.

I was initially torn between the Capellini Regina (with crab meat, artichoke heart, button mushroom and white wine sauce) and the Fettucine with Gorgonzola Cheese and Parma Ham in a Cream Sauce. Joone warned me that the Capellini she had previously was way overdone and soggy, so I decided on the Fettucine instead as it's usually harder to overcook this type of pasta.

Unfortunately, the Fettucine was over-cooked. It wasn't a soggy and mushy mass but it lacked the bite that is characteristic of al dente pasta. The cream sauce was a little too heavy and salty. I felt bloated after eating about half the plate of pasta though I didn't feel sated. I thought it was a pity as I generally like pastas in Aglio Olio or cream sauces but this was too much to bear and I decided to give dessert a miss.

Joone's Seafood Spaghetti was also overdone and the tomato-based sauce was rather bland.

The bill came up to about S$75 for 2 (inclusive of tax). It was a reasonably priced meal considering we had 2 starters and 2 pastas but we left unsated. I guess we won't be coming back for quite a while.

Da Mario Pizzeria
60 Robertson Quay,
#01-05/06 The Quayside,
Singapore 232252
Tel: +65 6235-7623

Operating Hours:
Tuesdays to Sundays: 11.30am to 3pm & 6.00pm to 10.30pm
Closed on Mondays