Italian Nannies

Well that's what it sounds like and looks like to me.

Actually, the restaurant's proper name is Italiannies (see the resemblance to Italian Nannies??)

Located at 111 Somerset (the revamped Singapore Power building), the Italian restaurant self-proclaims authenticity with the mantra "We cook more than we eat".

Although, shouldn't a chef eat what he cooks to know whether it's any good?

Well, I love my Italian (country, food...and men!) and a sampling of Italiannies was certainly in order.

Ordered the Bruschettona for an appetiser. Italiannies' version was a more elaborate take on the humble bruschetta - toasted focaccia topped with tomatoes, capers, onions, arugula leaves and a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese.

Bruschettona

It looked really good. But unfortunately the taste test came up short.

The bread was too dry and hard.  Tomatoes were not sweet because they weren't ripe enough, and Italiannies' used the local tomatoes instead of the much sweeter (and more suitable) vine tomatoes or roma tomatoes. There was insufficient olive oil in the mix and just not enough punch of flavour.

Mediterranean food has so much natural goodness and flavour, the explosion of flavours in your mouth should be a natural occurrence. But this dish was just bland.

Clearly Italiannies' motto about cooking more than eating backfired on them in this case. They've been cooking too much to do a taste test.

Gave them a second chance with their Pesto and Prawns pasta dish. We asked for linguine noodles instead of the recommended fusili.

Pesto and Prawns with linguine

Thank goodness this dish saved them some.

Generous serving of prawns paired with a very moist and tasty pesto sauce. The pasta was cooked perfectly al dente with the right amount of chewiness. I have to say the flavours of this dish came together very very nicely.

A pity though, for a self-proclaimed authentic Italian restaurant, they don't make their own pasta noodles from scratch. 

Their fresh fruit shakes were not bad either, a welcome reprieve from a humid evening in Singapore. These are essentially fresh fruit juices blended with ice (not to be confused with their fruit coolers which are served with soda water).

Strawberry and mango fresh fruit shakes

We tried the mango and the strawberry fruit shakes. Both were very refreshing and thirst-quenching, although I personally preferred the mango one more for its stronger fruit oomph.

Overall, I wasn't particularly enthralled by the quality of my meal, and service was also mediocre. On several occasions I had to wave my hand frantically before a manager noticed me and sent a waiter/ess scurrying over.

Doubt I'd go back there again, until food standard improves....

Photos taken with Nikon D5000