Rubato - Italian Kitchen & Bar @ 12 Greenwood Ave

I remembered being here before, and I was right! But that was a long time ago with Cherlyn. Back then, she was my wine buddy. Now 2021, am here again with the wine gang on a Friday night.

back here, after 7 years

In 2021, still seated at alfresco area. Deja-vu. Reservation was definitely necessary on Friday evenings. The place was a tad chaotic, with a few people waiting at its door, for the hostess to be avail. Staff are friendly but they have pre-assigned tasks.

It was a short 15 minutes wait, before we were assigned a table. This is a place with sparkling or still, so sparkling it shall be.

Ferrarelle 750ml @$3.90++

World's US Finest Oysters @$57.60++

Let's start with fresh oysters, and can't say no to that! We got a dozen to share amongst the 5 of us. That worked out to be $4.80++ per piece. Plump, briny and creamy.

closer look

Terre Gaie Prosecco DOC @$66++

We had Prosecco with the fresh oysters. The house curated Prosecco bottle price is reasonable.

cheers!

Lovely start. Ivan recommended the "Gift from the Angels" (cold angel hair pasta with scallops and truffle oil) and when asked if would like to top it with uni (sea urchin), the answer was yes. We do atas that night.

Cold Angel Hair Pasta @$88++

It was really good. Perfect harmony and so tasty. Would we care for more? Why, yes! And, we ordered one more when Bernice arrived. Am opined to think that this is one of those things to eat before we die, if one could afford it.

Come to think of it, we started with seafood so let's move on to meat. We gonna have chicken and tenderloin to satisfy the meatatarian in us.

The chicken was nice and pleasant, and the sauce was a tad spicy. Not sure what's in there, but pretty good combo with the cauliflower.

Chicken alla Diavola @$28.60++

Tenderloin @$44.60++

The doneness of the steak was incorrect initially, and we informed the staff. Service recovery was fast, and a new plate was brought for us without a fuss.

Tenderloin - medium rare

Time flies when you're having fun, and soon, it was time for dessert. "How about some gelato or sorbet?"

chocolate and pistachio gelato, mango sorbet

My favourite was the pistachio gelato. But it melted too fast! Keke, no worries 'coz am gonna have an affagato all by myself. Yay!

Affogato with vanilla ice-cream @$9.90++

But that's not all, there's more! The chocolate fondant took quite a while to arrive, and we got a complimentary pistachio gelato. Wow, that's a nice gesture. It warmed our hearts.

Chocolate Fondant @$14.90++

"Do you think it'd flow?"

Lovely meet up with Elle, Hoong Ann, B and Ivan. Thank you Ivan for arranging the dinner! 

RUBATO - Italian Kitchen & Bar

Address: 12 Greenwood Ave, Singapore 289204

Website: https://www.rubato.com.sg/

Contact: 6252 3200

Business Hours:

Daily: 10am–2am

Humpback @ Bukit Pasoh

Drinking place and oysters! That's what I'd call Humpback. Operated by the young, the vibe was casual and the expected bar pricing. Tapas-sized, so order up. Drinks at Happy Hour (till 8pm) was around $15. Not exactly happy with that, but oh well.

White Negroni @$14 (HH)

bar counter

On Mondays, they have oysters whole-day Happy Hour. That means, $2 to $3 per shell. WoOohOoo! But first of all, do get their bread and dip. It was really yummy. The bread was thick and served warm. And a glorious spread of that spicy dip. Yasss! Bread without the dip is $7 and served with olive oil and some cut butter.

Bread & Dip @$12

If you're in a group of 5 or 6, you might be ordering most of the food on the menu, like what we did. Let's see which are the plates that we liked the most. The octopus was well-executed and everyone can have one or two slices each. Chewy yet tender, that was the texture that we were looking for. Well seasoned and charred just enough to have that smokey hint.

Octopus @$26

And of course, one must have their greens. There were 4 options listed under 'Garden' section of the menu, but I think we got one that's not exactly in the menu. They have ice-lettuce so we had that.

Salad @$16

Iberico Pork with cauliflower @$28

Of course, not forgetting the oysters. We had the Hama Hama, Blue Pool, Sea Cow and Eld Inlet. Cae was right. Kind of hard to tell which flavour was which. But it was all enjoyable. Some just had more of that briny juice in its shell but probably 'coz some shells had more depth while some was shallow.

oysters galore @$39 (HH)

For other shellfish, there's razor clams as well. These were served cold and rather small portions, in my opinion. Would trade these anytime for the oysters. On hindsight, the two servings of razor clams, could get us another round of 3 oysters per pax.

Razor Clams @$16

If you're hankering for some deep fried stuff, there's mac & cheese balls. One serving is 5 pieces. Could they do additional if you have a group of 6? The answer was a resounding no.

Mac & Cheese Balls @$15

close-up view

Best and most expensive dish of the night? The lobster roll! Served in a well-buttered soft bread roll, topped with firm sweet lobster meat and a side of fries. The seasoning on the fries were a bit erratic but the lobster roll itself was good. Yummy!

Lobster Roll @$45

Since it was a girls' night out, we couldn't leave without dessert! Hahaa! Actually, by now, one would be full from all the food. We had about 10 plates (excluding the oysters) shared amongst the 6 of us.

The salted caramel mousse that came with the churros was overly salty. Was that to compensate on the sweet churros? Gosh. If you had tried it, do let me know what you think of it. Maybe, it was a one-off thing?

Panna Cotta @$11

Churros @$10

Since there were some hits and misses, Purple Taste recommends the freshly shucked oysters (during happy hour for happier pricing), the bread & dip (so that you won't go home feeling hungry), the octopus, a plate of salad, the delicious lobster roll (when you feel like pampering your date and yourself) and a drink. For the teetotaller, there's hot tea or apple juice.

Expect to spend about $80 per pax (with one drink).

Thank you Cae, Mya, Bel, Tiara and Jen for the girls' night out!

Ps: The chairs are all pretty high and could be cumbersome for the vertically challenged like me