The husband and I headed down to Tiong Bahru for our monthly stocking-up spree at Foodie Market Place and went around looking for somewhere to have lunch as usual. It was about 1.30pm on a Saturday and we were happy to see that Ah Bong’s Italian was still open (we came by too late the last time) which was perfect as we were craving for pasta and mac & cheese.
Ah Bong’s Italian is located in the same premise as Two Face which is a coffeeshop by day and a casual chic pizzeria & taproom by night. It only opens for 4+ hours per day so if you want to give it a try, you have to come early…
because the mac & cheese and creme brulee which I wanted to try were sold out by the time we were there 🙁 Well, better luck next time.
Not wanting to give it a second miss, we went ahead with whatever was available. And here were the chefs in action.
The Carbonara ($6) wasn’t as creamy and wet as some other carbonaras I had elsewhere and despite that, it had a very robust flavour of cream and parmesan cheese that went really well with the saltiness of the bacon and the earthy flavour of the mushrooms. It was a simple looking pasta served on an old school style plate but the taste was superior than some restaurant standard ones. Highly recommended!
I was also pleasantly surprised by Ah Bong’s Aglio Olio ($6) which was equally good. It was a different version from the usual aglio olio that we’re familiar with. This, had pesto, zucchini and pine nuts. Overall, it wasn’t extremely oily and though it was redolent of garlic, that pungent flavour wasn’t overpowering. In fact, all the flavours in this dish were perfectly balanced.
Overall, we enjoyed our spaghetti and would definitely return (early) next time to try out their other items on the menu. It’s unpretentious good food at affordable prices. And the lady who served us (I presumed she was Chef Chris’ mum) was extremely warm and friendly and even told us we could call to reserve dishes next time if we were going to be late. Service was really quick. It didn’t take long for our food to be served. Our only gripe was that the portion was small so we might have to get 3 pastas to share between the two of us next time. Can’t wait to be back.
Ah Bong’s Italian
56 Eng Hoon Street
#01-46
Singapore 160056
Tel: 9650 6194
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/abitalian
Opening hours:
10.00am to 2.30pm (Mon-Sat)
Closed on Sundays