Borgata Trattoria Osteria

Borgata Trattoria Osteria is a relatively new entrant to the Clarke Quay F&B scene and offers simple and fairly unpretentious Italian fare at less than bank-breaking prices. Helmed by ex-chef Andre Badiali from the now-defunct Borgo at Sixth Avenue, Borgata is one of the more decent places that I would return to for a meal if I'm in the area. For now, it's only open from dinner onwards (6pm), but there may be plans to start serving lunch as well in the near future.

I had the sweet company of Elaine, most affectionately called Ms Sugar for her smiles and gleeful liveliness, for the night at Borgata. It was a good thing I made a reservation earlier as we were given the best indoor seats in the house, with comfortable plush seats very much akin to the ones from Relax Bistro at 313 @ Somerset. It's definitely a comfortable and peaceful setting for a relaxed weekday dinner.

Complimentary Bread Basket


The bread wasn't the warmest when it arrived, and had a pretty tough outer crust. Nevertheless, it was soft and fluffy in the middle.

Calamari Fritti


We shared a warm starter of Calamari Fritters and I enjoyed it quite a bit. No doubt there was a slight overdose on the batter, but at least it was light and the dish as a whole wasn't oily at all. Squids were prepared well enough and were not overdone. While helping each other to the fritters, Ms Sugar decided to get Mickey to say "Hi" to me, cute eh ;)

Spaghetti Al Cartoccio


Having had one of the most delicious seafood pastas at Cugini recently (post coming up next!), I was still craving for more and so decided to choose the Spaghetti Al Cartoccio. This is seafood spaghetti baked and wrapped in foil, and it turned out to be very good indeed. Not only was the spaghetti sauce rich with that hint of herbs and spices, but it was also full of ingredients - mussels, squids, a couple of prawns, one larger tiger prawn and even a crayfish. Be careful with the chilli flakes that you can request for though, as it's very potent and may make the dish too numbing for the senses. Still, very delicious pasta dish and certainly worth the price.

Pesce del Giorno


Ms Sugar's Catch of the Day came in the form of a whole red snapper with a plateful of garden goodies as a side. It was simple enough without being overly impressive. The both of us made a promise that we would be back here for Borgata's pizzas :)

Service
Excellent.

Price
$18 for the calamari fritters
$22 for the spaghetti al cartoccio
$26 for the catch of the day

* Prices subject to the usual 7% GST and 10% service charge.

Place
Blk 3C River Valley Road #01-02 The Cannery, Clarke Quay.

Pictures taken with the Canon EOS 500D.