La Cantina In Venezia @ Changi Village Hotel

Located at Changi Village Hotel at Netheravon Road. The hotel looked spanking new amidst the laidback charms of Changi Village. On the day of our visit, the hotel car park was full. Waiting for a lot, proved futile and in the end, alternative parking outside of the hotel was the only solution.

We got the outdoor seatings, and the wind was blowing extremely strong that night. It felt almost, like a mini typhoon. Almost.

menu

It offers nice view of the sea and the golf course.

golf course view

hotel pool

sea view

While awaiting for the rest of the group to arrive, we were served with warm bread with olive oil balsamic vinegar dip.

olive oil balsamic vinegar

bread

We ordered carpaccio (beef) for starters. Do have the service staff repeat your orders, because the carpaccio order nearly turned into a cappucino instead! A friend ordered mushroom cream soup, as she doesn't take beef. For mains, we had lobster pasta (special of the day), crabmeat pasta (linguine al granchio), risotto porcini (mushrom risotto) and scallopine al vino bianco (pan-fried pork loin in white wine sauce).

mushroom soup

carpaccio

carpaccio close-up

The mushroom cream soup was really creamy. The mushroom taste was rather subtle though. The beef carpaccio was light and enjoyable. 

lobster linguine

risotto porcini

linguine al granchio

scallopine al vino bianco

The main courses, sadly, were rather disappointing with probably one exception, crabmeat pasta. The mushroom risotto does smell and look better than it taste! The rice was hard, and lacked flavor. The lobster pasta while enjoyable, was a little too salty. And, the person who took our order said the price of this special of the day was about $35+. Imagine our shock when the bill came up to ~$44+ (excluding service charge) for this dish! 

The scallopine dish was a letdown as well. The overcooked pork loin was sour and tough when cooked with the white wine sauce. Not sure if this is the intended outcome. The accompanying vegetables (carrots and zucchini) and potatoes tasted better than the meat. Can you imagine? It's like the sidekicks did their job, but the main cast just didn't rise to the occassion. Overall, the scallopine was heavy handed in salt seasoning as well. 

The only saving grace was the linguine al granchio which has robust flavors, and was up to expectation. Blame it on the weather or strong wind, but as the pasta was cooled down at a much faster rate, and hence, the dish became quite 'heavy' (jelak) after a short while.

Ambience was good, but do choose your food wisely. Expect to pay about  $40-$50 per pax without drinks.