Lucca's Trattoria

While they were generous with the mushrooms, the risotto tasted a tad too uncooked to our liking. Suggest to give this a miss!

Lucca's Trattoria has moved from its original spot at Robertson Quay to it's new location in Tiong Bahru (near the Tiong Bahru Market) and the new location is far more spacious now! Furthermore, the outdoor dining area is sheltered so for those of you who choose to dine outdoors, you no longer need to be worried about whether you will lose your table in the event of a downpour. 😁

We decided to try their carbonara and we were rather disappointed at the standard, however. First and foremost, we felt that the pasta used was really thick and too doughy - we suspected that they used spaghettoni although we think spaghetti would have been just right. The pasta also tasted pretty strange because it was rather firm and yet it was a little too thick at the same time, which didn't make the dish too enjoyable. While the gravy was pretty cheesy and decent, we thought that the serving was a little stingy and the restaurant could offer us more gravy to coat the pasta with.

Lucca's Trattoria uses bacon strips that were 50% meat and 50% fats, and we absolutely loved the fats although some of us may find the bacon a little too gelat after a while given that they are pretty fatty. Nonetheless, we don't think the dish was worth the $26++ that we paid and we would be better off trying their other pastas or pizzas instead. 😰

Decided on the carbonara because it came with a chef’s hat! Chef’s recommendation shouldn’t go wrong right? But well.. it really wasn’t the best choice. I’d say, stick to the pizza selections at Lucca’s! The pizzas fared way better than their pastas in my opinion. The spaghetti were a tad thicker than usual - not too sure what’s the pasta type here. Given it’s thickness, it could do with a longer cook time. It was not exactly al-dente. A tad too thick and not as chewy as we would love it to be. While the cream was great, the bacon slices were in a 50-50 ratio of meat and fats. It’s great at the first few bites but it does get cloying and exceptionally filling after some time. I’ve definitely tasted better carbonara elsewhere and unfortunately the rendition here doesn’t provide the same satisfaction as the others did.

Prawn linguine in seafood sauce, topped with argula leaves. Simply seafood-y joy for those who love seafood-based pasta and of course, prawns. I’m not a fan of tomato based pasta sauce but this actually turned out to taste way better than the carbonara (with the chef’s signature hat!)

Discovered this gem of an Italian restaurant called Lucca Trattoria and it’s located at Robertson Walk. Prices here are on the more affordable end matches up to the quality of food. The Frutti Di Mare (seafood) pizza was excellent, seafood was fresh and crust was on point. Also just the right size for 2 pax. Will be back!

For desserts at Lucca's Trattoria, we are sure to get their gelatos as they are $6 ++ for a single flavour, which is still markedly cheaper than at other gelato speciality stalls like Venchi. If you would like to mix two flavors in the cup, then it would be $8++!

Our favourite is the hazelnut flavour, which contains a very strong nutty taste with a slight hint of caramel. It really resembles a Ferrero Rocher in ice cream form! The ice cream serving is really big and it is definitely larger than the size of a single-scoop at most ice cream shops. The gelato itself is also really smooth, although you might want to eat it quickly as it melts really fast like most gelatos!

At the end of the day, our favourite part about dining at Lucca's is the atmosphere in the restaurant, which gives off a cozy and homely feel especially since the staff are always warm and friendly, plus the restaurant usually isn't packed to brim.