Cugini: My favourite plate of pasta
OK, I am going to let you in on a little secret. For the past few months, I have been enjoying this particular pasta dish which I can only describe as Super Shiok. It is the only pasta dish which I have ever eaten again and again. So much so that I have to say that it probably is my favourite pasta dish ever.
This dish is only referred to as Seafood Pasta and is not on Cugini's menu. They made it for me because I had returned for their Sea Urchin pasta last year only to find out that the Sea Urchin is only available for a very short time every year. You might wonder why, since you can get Uni (Japanese for Sea Urchin) all year round in any Japanese restaurant. Well, this Sea Urchin isn't just any Sea Urchin. This is a very special Sea Urchin that is harvested by Chef Mauro's brother who still lives in Sardinia. He would harvest the Sea Urchin and then wash it in the Mediterranean Seawater before chilling it and Fedexing it to Singapore. I am eagerly waiting for the Sea Urchin to become available again but in the meantime, I am just enjoying the Seafood Pasta.
If you enjoy Lobster Bisque, then you are going to like this dish. Mauro uses what ever fresh seafood is available and infuses it with a toasted crustacean and tomato flavour with I love. The homemade sphaghetti is, as always, perfect to the bite. I used to like only cream based pasta and would never touch a seafood pasta. Now I have seen the light. 4.75/5
This dish is not on the menu as they only do it specially for their friends. But Gerri and Mauro are willing to call all our blog readers their friends, so just mention you are from the blog and they will make this dish for you. Once you get to know them, they would be more than happy to customise the dishes to suit your tastebuds.
Cugini has just shifted to their new premises in Club Street. I like this new place much better than the old place. The restaurant is located in a Peranakan shophouse and they have designed it to have a bright summer decor. It is much more homely and casual now compared to when they were in Robertson Quay. Gerri and Mauro have also heeded the feedback from our readers as well as their customers and revamped the menu so that the portions are now bigger and the prices lower. So now most of the pastas range from $14.80 to $22.90. Given that these two guys actually import most of their stuff from Italy, I feel this is good value.
Anyway, if you like the seafood pasta then you will also like the seafood soup which also has that wonderful toasted crustacean taste. I think the base for the soup is the same but it is just a little more tangy and salty. Most locals have commented that the soup is too salty but I liken it to eating a slice of really good Parmesan cheese. The reason for the saltiness is the use of capers and they would be happy to cut down on the capers if requested. But this is how the dish is served in Italy so they would serve it as it unless you specify otherwise. 4.75/5
I did not mention the squid ink pasta in my previous post because even though it was good, I did not think it was exceptional. However, this time round, Mauro has further improved on the recipe and I must say that for the first time, I had a plate of squid ink pasta which I really enjoyed. This was Liverpool's favourite dish and throughout the meal he was deep in thought trying to figure out what ingredients went into making the sauce. 4.5/5
The guys were mum about what goes into the sauce except that it was "made from a lot of ingredients". Mauro says that he doesn't use any cream for any of his pasta sauces, so you are not going to get your usual mushroom cream sauce here. I have actually seen him cooking in the kitchen and he really does put in a pinch of this and a splash of that. Another thing that you will notice about the pasta is that they always use just the right amount of sauce so that you will only have enough left on the plate to clean up with a piece of bread. That really is how it should be.
Conclusion
This is currently my favourite place for pasta. Everytime I visit, I tell myself that I want to try other stuff but I end up always ordering the Seafood Pasta. I am eagerly waiting for Sea Urchin season to start in October! If you like to join me for the Sea Urchin Pasta, make sure you are registered on Twitter. There will be a "Silent Mobilization" for a small group when Sea Urchin season starts.
To read my last post, please click here.
Cugini
87 Club Street #01-01
Singapore 069455
Open daily except for Saturday lunch
www.cugini.com.sg
Posts
53 comments:
I love their Seafood Pasta and Seafood Soup too. Time to visit their new place to try the Squid Ink Pasta.
give me the squid ink pasta anytime!...I was actually hoping that you would be ordering this instead of the frutti di mare as seconds! :)
Haha, we can always go back again for the squid ink pasta!
sounds great! will try it soon.
anyway just a lil tidbit, handmade pasta has rougher surface, thus more sauce is able to adhere to it, as compared to dried pasta. i guess that's how its easier to get to ''the right amt'' of sauce.
I tried their squid ink pasta at their old premise and it was fantastic! 1 of the best I've tried. And Mauro kindly changed the cuttlefish to big fat juicy prawns for us. Great service and adaptation to customers' tastes!
Hmm, sounds good! and pretty affordable.
I'll suggest this place for the next bday gathering. More people can order more different pasta!
If you want to get the best meal there make sure your party is small. Mauro cooks each dish himself so you might have to wait a long time if it is a big party.
Ahh.. I see. Thanks ieat.
okay, lets head there for lunch one of these days ! sunday they are open right ?
who wants to go there on sunday ? parking i think will be better at club street on sunday.....i hope
Derrick, Sundays are no no day for me for lunch.
Oooo... nice! Can't wait to try out all these places you recommended! Have to really go on a diet before I come back to fit all these stuff in!!! Was just in Italy this summer and had one of the best pizzas I ever had! And cheap too (between 3.50 - 7 euros for a big pizza)! The Margherita pizza in Naples was so simple and yet so good! All the pizzarias we were at use big wood-fired ovens. hmmm... I miss that already. Les, you have to start exploring Europe for us in the future! :)
Yes, Cugini is now my favourite Italian restaurant. Enjoyed every dish I tried there. Agree with Liverpool the squid ink pasta was superb, and Leslie that the seafood pasta was superb. But the most memorable dish for me was the Truffles Ravioli. Heavenly! At $22, i can afford to indulge in it! : )
Truffles Ravioli!!!!!
And $22!!!!
I always like Ravioli! Whatever is stuff in there. Just like it that way.
Of course not pure Truffles. The filling very well blended. But that unmistakable truffles taste and smell just brings you to another sensorial dimension.
Les should have posted that dish. 2 of the 4 who ate there that lunch chose truffles ravioli as their favourite! : (
derrick...parking no problem, can always park at China Square Central which is just across Club Street
Pong, we had the truffle and potato ravioli with walnut butter and parmiggiano...
Derrick...sorry forgot to add...they open everyday except lunchtime Saturdays... :)
"Ping said...
Les, you have to start exploring Europe for us in the future!"
You can start the ball rolling Ping! :)
Derrick, let me know if you're going. I'll go for the truffle ravioli. : )
i just went there for a celebration dinner and ordered the seafood pasta! great pasta i must say.. plenty of flavor and the spaghetti bites just nice! thanks for the review that made us go there (=
I am glad you all liked it.
If the kakis are interested, let's organize lunch there sometime! I think Sunday lunch might be a good time since many cannot make it on a weekday and they are closed on Saturdays.
I think Derrick is calling you soon, Ieat. : )
Liverpool, that sounds yummy man! I should go down and try soon!
Hello. Just had to try that plate of pasta and it was well worth the wait. The spaghetti was phenomenal. And the tiramisu isn't too bad either!
styleofmint, glad you enjoyed the meal. I was very impressed myself. Did you have to wait long?
I'll be heading there for dinner on september 11!
Ravioli here I come!
You won't regret the ravioli choice! : )
Also try Liverpool's black squid pasta. In fact, I'm ordering these 2 items in my next visit. If still have space, will order the seafood pasta! ; )
I guess we'll order quite a lot!
Can't wait!
Friday faster come! I wanna eat pasta!
ya, sunday LUNCH ! onz.....
club street is quite quiet during lunch on weekends, only picks up at night. i bet they wont mind have us for a lunch makan =)
Oh my! The seafood pasta looks so delicious! My fave pasta is actually the garlic prawn pasta from Coffee Club. Looks like Im missing out on something..
I'll remember Cugini the next time Im craving for pasta. Thanks for the recommendation!
We tried the seafood pasta at Cugini on Friday and was rather disappointed. It didn't look anything like the pic in your post! Yours clearly had pieces of squid, prawn and even mussels. All we got were two miserly small prawns and that was it! The pasta with mullet roe was no better, again two little sad prawns. Disappointing for the price we were paying...
Oh!
Tried the seafood pasta today and it was fantastic... Not the other pasta that we tried though, tasted way too like hokkien mee. Loved the mozzarella cheese with tomatoes and the dessert selection. Overall, great recommendation! :) Thanks!
Hmm.. only 2 miserly pieces of prawns. I haven't heard of that from frens who have visited Cugini.
They are quite consistent with their servings and quality, unless its a huge group of 30 at a go. But even then, the portions are pretty standard in terms of ingredients.
I had a blast at Cugini on Friday!
The Pasta, Pizza, Side Dish and wine were Fabulous!
But the Pasta were a little too salty for me and the group of friends.
Truffle Ravioli was the best!
Yay! Another fan of the truffle ravioli! Power aunty's fav too! : )
Heh, maybe they can give 1 more piece for ieaters?
5 seems too little for me.
May I know how much you pay for the seafood pasta?
Sunshine, I'm sorry, I've forgotten how much.
$22 I believe! :)
Pong, you had 5, I had 2 leh. We had to share... : (
I had 4, the other 1 exchanged for a beef Ravioli with another friend.
=D
But Truffle Ravioli is still the best.
i think many forumers and readers would be keen to know if they still have their set lunch available on weekdays. i remember going to cuigini when they were at robertson square for their reasonably priced set lunches.
the last time i went their signature dishes were only available as ala-carte and not in the set.
perhaps if they could allow diners to change their main in the set for a add in cost or allow a add on of coffee/tea or dessert, this will help a lot in being competitive. =)
No Cugini has decided to stop the set lunch deal because they have lowered the prices of menu.
But I hope they will take note of your feedback.
Hopefully they will and I am sure to go back again!
@Cactuskit: It was a Saturday night and the place was half full, so I had to wait about 30mins. To be fair, the wait staff already warned me of the long wait, but I had a pasta craving, a grim determination to try ieat's favorite pasta, and a good book I'd just bought from the nearby bookstore.
On a sidenote, like Chien Mien, I too got very few pieces of actual seafood. I think it was one prawn and one small piece of fish. It didn't spoil my enjoyment because the pasta really was amazing, but the amount of seafood was definitely nowhere near satisfactory.
They will be reading all the comments. Hopefully, they can do something about that. But have you tried their Truffles Ravioli? Must try! : )
Thanks for the reply. I will go and have a try real soon. =)
have tried the squid ink & ravioli...it's good ah! the tiramisu was "ok" only.
but the aglio olio was disappointing. supposed to be their unique version but it wasn't very impressive...maybe they can improve on it? (T, was this the one that tasted like hokkien mee?)
my seafood pasta also only had 1 prawn & 1 fish...seems like a few people have commented on this :( (chien mien & styleofmint)
will go there again to try other pastas. have heard a lot about squid ink, seafood pasta & ravioli but would like to try the others (i think they have 15 pastas on the menue). let's hope the other pastas are good and not just 3 or 4out of 15.
ieat: i think it's great that they have lowered their prices but hopefully they are not compromising on portions/ingredients instead. your review pics showed a hearty portion with lots of ingredients but a few of us have been disappointed. i hope the restaurant is not only pleasing reviewers and regulars?
Hi everyone,
Thank you for your feedback and for coming to Cugini to try our food philosophy!
I would like to give a personal overview to some of your comments:
- One, two, three pieces of sea food……! The seafood pasta is not in the menus, therefore as ingredients I use the fresh seafood of the day that I have in the house; however, the flavor of the pasta does not come from particulary form the fish of the day, but from numerous sauces I include in the dish which needs hours of preparation, if not days. Normally when the seafood arrives at Cugini, I extract different flavor which I will use for my sauces used for the pasta that make it very unique. That is the translation of the price you paid for. I give you an example: try to buy 1 kg of mixed fish, cook it with a tomatoes base, and then let me know the result. In this case you will understand that the fish itself is not the main ingredients which bring the flavor, but you need much more elements.
- Hokkiem mee? The aglio e olio? Probably is the Sardinian style “bottarga” spaghetti. Honestly this is the way we cook it in Sardinia, I do personally love it, as well as I do like Hokkiem mee; however I do personally find it very different, simply because I know 90% of the ingredients of these dishes are completely different!
- We did lower all our prices following the suggestion of all of you, but I did not lower the quality of the dishes including the freshness of my food. ( I personally put all myself in what I do and I always try to do it at my best, I know sometimes can be not always perfect)
- According to my palate I love all the pasta dishes I do; of course I also have my favorite one as everyone else; we have an extensive menus to try to suit all palates; however I am also aware that we cannot please everyone.
- I am sorry if you feel we use a different treat to all of you, it is not our intention and is not the way we run it. Again, the remark I made above fell also on this point. It is impossible to pleased everyone although we always do our best
- I know all of you go to try many other Restaurants, I just gave you this little explanation because I do value your comment so I think it was important to give you my thought!
- Last but not least, I hope to see you all at Cugini again for many years to come.
- A special thanks to all of you again an also to ieat blog which gave to us the chance to meet you all.
To thank you all again and to give you the chance to try more of our dishes, we are pleased to give until the end on October 10% off the food bill to all of you that will mention "IEAT" before paying your bill.
Sincerely
Mauro Muroni
Hello Mauro + fellow ieaters;
I headed down to cugini today, and i must say i was very impressed with the seafood pasta. having read on the blog all the wonderful reviews about it, i already had high expectations, but even what you served me today surpassed all expectations. i really loved the robustness of the seafood flavours, which was very unami and just....awesome. great stuff. in many ways there's a bit of resemblance to wah kee's prawn noodles [in the seafood essence, sort of].
if u remember, i was with a big group, and i also thought the tiramisu was great. pity we had to wait longer though, but i felt it was worth it.
thanks.
1 word to describe cugini = Disappointing.
Sat down at around 6.30pm, waited for friends to come and find the place.
Placed our orders at 8pm, got our starters at around 8.30pm.
The parma ham melone was soso, bruschetta was bad. so i guess they arent any good in their starters.
was really looking forward to the seafood pasta that everyone raved about.
Only that, it took them an hour to cook our pastas and we had to constantly rush them because we had a movie at 10 plus.
After an HOUR's wait, our pasta was finally served.
Took the first bite of the pasta and felt that it was really hard and uncooked, asked my mates and all 3 pastas tasted the same, uncooked.
Decided to "cut" open a piece of the pasta and the "heart" of the pasta was still white, uncooked.
Asked the waitress over and had troubles explaining to her what was wrong with the pastas and finally she brought the plate of pasta back to the kitchen to the chef.
They offered to recook the pastas for us but hell no because of the long wait.
I believe Cugini has problems with it's kitchen because other customers was also waiting for horrendous period of time and we witnessed a couple left halfway through because of the waiting time.
After a long period of explaining to the waitress, they waived of the 3 pastas.
Lost my appetite after the long wait.
The only redeeming part was that the waitress was very patient and friendly.
Overpriced, mediocre food = bad.
I totally agreed....Overpriced and mediocre food..
I ordered seafood pasta.. Iy came with only 2 prawns and 1 fish...So different from the picture posted in the website and it costs $24.
urtterly disappointing
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