Ristorante De Parma
14B Kensington Park Road
Serangoon Garden Estate
6281 3380 / 6280 1096

Wanting to satisfy my sudden craving for a good tiramisu, I made my way to this small family-run restaurant after reading rave reviews about its homemade tiramisu.



We ordered two set lunches ($15.90+ each) which came with a starter of either a salad or soup of the day, choice of the pasta or pizza of the day as the main, and a drink. The complimentary foccacia was so good and fragrant with the olive oil and balsamic vinegar dip that Sis ate my share of it!


The soup of the day was the cream of potato and leek. I liked it as it's thick and not too creamy. The tiny chunks of potato gave a good bite and texture to the wholesome soup. One thing that bothered me was that the waiter asked "Would you like black pepper in it?" immediately after serving the soup even though we had not even taste it yet!



The colourful salad was a pleasure for the eyes but ordinary tasting for the mouth.


The pasta of the day was tuna pasta in a spicy tomato sauce. This was wonderful! The smell made my mouth water even before the waiter set it down on our table. Perfectly al dente spaghetti was tossed with tuna chunks in homemade tomato sauce. The degree of spiciness was perfect too as it's hot enough to excite the taste buds but not fiery enough to leave me gulping water.



The pizza of the day was the garden pizza. Mixed greens are topped on a tomato based thin crust pizza. It didn't sound very exciting but all of us enjoyed it! Whatever the style, the crust is undeniably a major factor in good pizza. This rendition is one of the best pizza crust I've ever eaten--perfectly balanced with an outstanding slightly chewy texture and a crispy nature. One word of warning though: Forget using the fork and knife as it's very difficult to cut through the crust. Tuck in with your hands!



Now now, it's the highlight of the entire meal. I was so looking forward to the tiramisu ($12.90+) as previous reviews have rated it as one of the best (and even the best) tiramisu in Singapore. But it fell short of my expectations. Not that it wasn't nice, it was just not mind blowing enough to knock my socks off. I prefer tiramisu with a more generous splash of alcohol but this leaned towards the sweet side with a distinct espresso taste. This was not an issue as I understand that there are people who prefer it this way. However, I have a bone to pick with the bottom layer of lady fingers. It was definitely over soaked as the sponge was too soggy and limpy. See the pool of liquid at the base? That's how wet it was. I did raise this issue with the owner but she said that their version is the wetter type. But it was TOO wet (in the extreme) to me.


Overall, this is a very good value restaurant with more hits than misses. Service was great and portions were generous enough to feed the 3 of us happily. My disappointment with the dessert was more than made up for by the delicious thin crust pizza. Oh, I just found the perfect excuse to come back here again! The only way to finding out whether the tiramisu is a slight inconsistency on their chef's part or it's truly the way it's served is to order it again on my next visit!

Labels: Italian

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