Once you have tried good handmade pasta, it is tough to go back to the generic, more commercialised ones. I know of people who suffer from “real pasta” withdrawal symptoms after a trip to Italy.
I got slightly excited after learning about Tipo Pasta Bar. It was previously located at North Bridge Road, but moved to 28 Aliwal Street.
It is set up by The Black Hole Group which is also behind Working Title Burger Bar, Afterwit Mexican Tacqueria, The Mad Sailors British Kitchen, The Great Mischief and Stack – actually mostly around the same area. Looks like they are on a roll.
There are actually a few “Tipo” concepts around, including Tipo Strada (Royal Square Novena), Tipo Pizzeria E Trattoria (155 Waterloo Street), and Tipo Gnocchi (785 North Bridge Road).
The name Tipo came about from “Tipo 00”, a type of smooth wheat flour also known as “doppio zero” or “granero tero” which originates from Italy.
The pasta-café serves up hand-crafted pasta, at a rather affordable price of $13.90 to $15.90 for their recommended combinations.
Diners can also customise pasta dishes from $9.90 (100g) and $12.90 (150g) onwards.
Upon ordering, the server would pass a tray for us to choose the pasta type, from Paprika Caserecce, Lemon Malfade, to Beetroot & Garlic Angel Hair. These options change seasonally.
If making pasta choices seem too hair-splitting for you, then go for the standard choices of Royal Ragu ($13.90), Creamy Chicken & Mushroom ($14.90), Prawn Aglio ($14.90), Seafood Pomodoro ($15.90) or Full Vegan ($13.90).
Perhaps because I came higher on expectations, I left slightly disappointed.
For a Seafood Pomodoro, you could imagine those robust flavours of seafood and light creaminess, but this came over slightly underwhelming and perhaps too ‘healthy-tasting’.
I was generally okay with the texture and bite of the pasta, but my friend commented it was somewhat too soft.
Had to agree with that, but for the price, I wasn’t that fussy over it.
The Creamy Chicken & Mushroom ($14.90) tasted somewhat muted, as if the kitchen team wanted to go on the safe side and added less seasoning.
I am just making a wild guess – perhaps they did it to better bring out the flavours of the pasta itself, but somehow it didn’t quite work well enough.
With interesting pasta made from scratch such as Dill & Lemon Fettuccine and Saffron Fusilli, Tipo Pasta Bar does sound promising, and perhaps need some fine-tuning on their cooking processes.
Tipo Pasta Bar
28 Aliwal Street, #01-07, Singapore 199918
Tel: +65 8768 0785
Opening Hours: 11am – 10pm (Mon – Sun)
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