Fantastico Luncheon At Otto

We left the office at around 12noon today for lunch at Red Dot Traffic Building. Mr. Minowa, our boss invited us to try a new Italian restaurant that he found out recently. Though we heard about the place; Red Dot but somehow never dine there before.

Otto Ristorante located at a corner of Red Dot Building gave a very cozy and warm feeling when you entered. I have to say that the service was really good. The staff was efficient, warm, friendly and attentive. The staff really knows their stuff as it was a breeze when he took our orders.

Minowa-san who has been there twice for dinner knows exactly what to order and some recommendation was also mentioned by the staff. While waiting for our food to be served, we noticed that the whole restaurant was already filled up within fifteen minutes.


Shortly, the waiter, silver tongs in hand and a large basket of assorted breads in the other was making his way towards our table. He told us what breads were on the tray and he graciously put a slice of Sweet Onion Foccascia, a plain Foccascia and Walnut bread on my platter beside me. This was followed by the pouring of extra virgin olive oil from a vintage bottle. Being Asians, we requested for butter!! Hahahahaahah

I tasted the onion foccascia and man… it was delicious and was all ready for a few more servings. For those onion lovers, this is definitely a must TRY! The other two breads were good too but onion foccascia is definitely a winner!

We were greeted by the cool spoon of Portobello mushroom with cheese. It was indeed tasty. As Minowa-san ordered a few appetizers to share, he told the waiter to portion it for us. When the appetizer was placed in front of me, I was really happy to see the rare white asparagus with Parma ham served with cheese. My goodness gracious; that was actually two appetizers into one! It was beautifully decorated that I thought it was our first dish. Hahaahahahaha… greedy lor!

It was my second time trying the white asparagus as it was really rare and expensive. I was told by Minowa-san that it’s the season for white asparagus and they have it imported from Europe. I bet it must be expensive. The first mouth was amazing…. My eyes couldn’t close as it was so tasty, soft and AIYO…. Just simply heaven!

The Parma Ham was soft, not that salty, extremely delicious with the cheese. For that moment, I was frozen. “What was that?” “How the Hell did he do that” and “Who is the CHEF” was running through my mind! Yes, that was how seriously delicious!


Next was the “Hokkaido Scallop” Carpaccio with assorted seaweed salad and ground dry Sicilian tomato. I was blown away as it melts in my mouth and I was quietly craving for another serving…

After the fantastic appetizers, I was anxious to try their pasta which our boss ordered. He mentioned that his favorite will be the spaghetti with sea urchin, mushroom risotto and their house special squid ink Tagliolini. It sounded really exciting.

Cleverly they served our pasta on the same plate in small portions. I took a spoonful of the spaghetti with sea urchin and I murmured my silent ‘OMG’ under my breath and of course my eyes gave it away as they were opened so big! Ah K looked at me and asked “Why your eyes so BIG” and I told her that it was the most delicious pasta I have ever eaten!

I didn’t want to finish it as it was so good but on the other hand, it was too good to resist. I suddenly felt a sense of sadness when I took my last spoon! After rinsing my mouth with the cooling sparkling water, I tried the squid ink tagliolini. It was just as good though not as heavenly as the spaghetti. The taste was different; it was light and tasty though black in color.

My last spoonful of squid ink tagliolini already filled my stomach but I had to find space for the mushroom risotto. When it arrived, the presentation was simple and it smelled good. We were given a spoonful of it on our plate and I was like ‘FLYING’ at the first mouthful! It was so damn delicious! I could taste every bit of the risotto and the mushroom bits were …. Unbelievable!

The finale was somewhat the most amazing piece of art. The dessert of the day ‘Magic Box’ was really cool. The outlook of the dessert simply looked like a piece of art coated with bitter chocolate. I was taken aback as it was coated with chocolates but when I tasted it, I totally changed my mind. The bitter coated chocolate fell apart when your fork touched it and when you put them in your mouth; it was icy cold as there was an ice-cream inside the ‘box’. Fantastico!




This is one restaurant that I will definitely visit again but guess it will be for special occasion as good stuff don’t come cheap!