il Lido Cafeteria, Singapore Italian Restaurant, Suntec City

May 14, 2010 | 12 Comments

Ham and mushroom pizza

I have a dilemma, and yes it’s about food. You see, when I was compiling my Best Singapore Italian Restaurant list, I was wondering if I should include the new il lido cafeteria at Suntec City into that blog post.

Our dinner was good and affordable. but does it really warrant a spot in my top 10 Italian Restaurants list?

Judging from the no-frills decoration, to the reasonable pricing of the menu, one will probably not guess that il lido cafe is managed by the Italian fine dining restaurant if not for the name. All along, I have been intrigued by il lido cafe ever since I heard that they opened at Suntec City.

Thin crust pizza with tomato, mozzarella, ham and mushrooms, the Ham & Mushroom ($13.90) was a good way to start our dinner. Okay first of all, here’s the disclaimer: what you see in the picture is not the right way to have a pizza. It was done intentionally that way to show you that it’s not appropriate to use a fork and knife to eat pizza.

How to eat pizza

1) Never, I repeat, never use a fork and knife to eat pizza.

2) Use your hand and tear off a slice of pizza from the edge, and put additional condiments like cheese, chili flakes if necessary.

3) Roll it up, nibble from the crust, put the whole slice into your mouth; whatever ways that you prefer and EAT IT!

i know you are sitting there going, “Right. What’s so different about about your eating method?” You will be surprised, but there are so many people who eat pizza using a fork and knife! Pizza tastes the best when you eat it from your bare hands, and lick off the lingering taste on your fingers.

Spaghetti frutti di mare

It was a close fight between the Seafood Vongole and Spaghetti frutti di mare ($13.50) and we went for the latter. I don’t know about you, but whenever someone mentioned seafood pasta, a picture of the luxurious seafood with al dente spaghetti will come into my mind.

Tomato base > Cream base

When it comes to pasta, I always prefer to have tomato rather than cream base (with the exception to Carbonara). All of us thoroughly enjoyed the seafood spaghetti, or maybe we were just hungry. But anyway, the spaghetti was gone in a flash!

Chicken Parmigiana

I have to admit, I am a very visual guy. When I saw the photo of the Chicken Parmigiana ($13.50) on the menu, it was like love at first sight. Fine, I exaggerated, but clearly, I was attracted/enticed/seduced by appearance. It looked good, but unfortunately it didn’t taste as good. The fried breaded chicken breast was too dry, and there wasn’t enough Parmesan cheese to go along.

Panna Cotta

How can an Italian restaurant not have Tiramisu?

We were devastated when the waitress told us that the Tiramisu was sold out, but at least there’s the excellent Panna Cotta ($7.50) to keep us occupied.

* * *

I always have problems when I’m at Suntec during dinner time. Even though there are many restaurants at Suntec City, somehow none of them appeals to me. Even though I didn’t put it into my Best Singapore Italian Restaurant list, I could see myself coming back to il lido cafe. The food here isn’t like amazing, but from the items that we ordered, the pizza and pasta were competent, and for the price, there’s really nothing to complain about.

Which restaurants at Suntec City do you usually eat at?

Restaurant Review
il lido Cafeteria
3 Temasek Boulevard
#B1-012 Suntec City Mall
Tel: +65 6883 2341

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Category: # Restaurant Review, * Central Singapore, Dining Guide Singapore, Food Photography, Singapore Food Blog
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Comments

12 Responses to “il Lido Cafeteria, Singapore Italian Restaurant, Suntec City”

  1. Angeline
    May 14th, 2010 @ 10:54 am

    Is il lido Cafeteria really that good? I always walked past it and it looks deserted. I know they have a 1-for-1 promotion for UOB card but I never had the intention to try it out. I’m also not sure why. haha :P

  2. Sandy
    May 14th, 2010 @ 11:11 am

    When i was in italy, they still use knife and fork for pizza. But the knife definitely different from what we have in Pizza Hut. And tiramisu is not so popular as here. :)

  3. linjie
    May 14th, 2010 @ 1:30 pm

    The pizza seems good with the thin crust. As least you won’t feel full just after eating the pizza and can try more variety

  4. SC
    May 14th, 2010 @ 1:38 pm

    Panna Cotta!!! It looks so delicious in the photo which you captured. All the berries are screaming out to me.

    Brad, you definitely love to make your readers drool and hungry, don’t you??? True to your tagline, “I find joy in making people hungry.” :)

    I agree with you, tomato > cream base when it comes to my choice of pasta sauce :)

  5. Life for Beginners
    May 14th, 2010 @ 2:09 pm

    Pizza tastes even better when you’re licking the sauce off a loved one’s fingers… ;)

  6. the lacquer spoon
    May 14th, 2010 @ 3:33 pm

    Love the Roman-style pizza. The ultra thin dough looks s-o-o crispy! Utterly delish!!

  7. hahazZ
    May 14th, 2010 @ 10:39 pm

    i have just went from full to hungry again. thanks ah….. (and i am not reading it from google reader!)

  8. mike
    May 14th, 2010 @ 11:52 pm

    pizza is the most perfect food invented, and it should be eaten with only ur hand.. i agree:)

  9. ladyironchef - Singapore Food Blog
    May 16th, 2010 @ 3:23 am

    angeline: when we went at 7+ it was quite deserted too, but the crowd started to come in and soon it was almost full house! i won’t say it’s like fantastic, but for the price it’s a pretty good deal!

    Sandy: wow lucky you! which part of Italy did you went to?

    linjie: Yeah it’s true in that sense that thin crust pizza wont fill you up so quickly! thats why all girls seem to adore them! haha but personally i prefer thick crust, but i probably can just finish like 2 slices

    SC: aww.. thanks serene! yeah it’s my job to make all of you hungry! well very soon it will be your winter break and you can try out all the great food that we have here! : )

    LFB: I can imagine you licking off devil’s fingers! lol! sounds so wrong dude

    lacquer spoon: hee yeah it’s absolutely delicious! we were so hungry that both the pizza and pasta was gone very quickly

    hahaz: YAY! thanks : ))

    mike: only with hands my friend, only with hands!

  10. Kian
    May 21st, 2010 @ 11:24 am

    What’s wrong with eating pizza with knife and fork? There is no rules for eating pizzas. I for one think it rather sensual to feel the crust resist a knife when sliced. Once separated a fork is perfect for conveying the delicious crust points slowly into one’s mouth. You can then savor every bit of the dough and sauce without staining your delicate fingers. THERE!

  11. Attilio
    August 12th, 2010 @ 4:07 pm

    Hi, nice blog.
    I’m an Italian.
    There is nothing wrong with eating pizza using fork and knife. Most Italians do this. It is actually quite rare to eat pizza with your hands: some Italians might even consider it rude, if done in an elegant pizzeria. On the other hand, eating pizza with your hands it (almost) mandatory if the pizza is a “pizzetta” bought from a “tavola calda” or “bar”.

  12. ladyironchef - Singapore Food Blog
    August 14th, 2010 @ 11:31 am

    kian: hello there’s really nothing wrong with eating pizza with knife and fork. But personally i feel that pizza tastes so much better when you licked it off your fingers! heh but your way of eating it sounds very delicious too

    attilio: wow! i didn’t know that, thanks for sharing with us! In restaurants you guys hardly use hand to eat it? But i still think it tastes nicer when i have it with my hand! haha

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