The first time we were at Florian, it was a rush as we were just having a quick pit stop before dashing off to an event nearby (in Raffles City). But, we liked Florian's food so much that we decided to come back again for a leisurely lunch to appreciate their food better.
The restaurant / bar is pretty spacious and open with a casual, relaxed feel. It's a shared space with Naumi Hotel lobby.
Extracted just the pizza and pasta menu here, so you get a feel of the prices and range of dishes.
Co-owner chef Marcello hails from the city of Lecce in Italy's southeastern Puglia province. Marcello mentioned his mum's recipes often which have a big influence on his dishes.
Chef Marcello went through the different items that made up this sharing platter of cheeses, mushrooms, fish, ham, meat balls, etc. But, I couldn't follow 😂 What's important is, I understood that Marcello takes pride in the authenticity of his dishes. Hence, he uses produce from Puglia, his home as much as possible.
Take this Nonna Meatball made with Marcello's mum's recipe.
It's a mix of ground beef and pork, blended with three types of cheese and spiked with Romano pepper which Marcello imports from Italy. Marcello goes to great ends to ensure the authenticity of his dishes.
King Prawn Pasta $29+
I liked this dish the moment I saw the big meaty prawns shelled which means I don't have to use my fingers. The sauce blew me away with its umami and spicy taste. It's like Singapore dry prawn mee but held together with olive oil, garlic and aromatic herbs which felt more layered and refined.
The well sauced spaghetti was done Italian al dente, needless to say.
This was the dish that made me make a second trip to Florian for more spaghetti 😄
Friarielli with Oyster $26+
A umami blast spaghetti dish with al dente pasta dressed with a savoury umami sauce and studded with ultra umami oyster confit. Smothered with preserved broccoli rabe (friarielli) with its salty, nutty, bitter flavour for that homely southern Italian taste.
I like my spaghetti minimalist with full blown flavours rather than loaded with things (I mean stomach filling ingredients 😂 ), so I enjoyed this simple but flavourful friarielli with oyster spaghetti.
Colatura di Alici $22+.
Another my type of homely but full flavoured minimalist spaghetti, this time laced with umami saturated aged anchovy essence imported from Italy. Topped with aromatic sautéed chopped garlic and parsley.
Florian is the place for southern Italian home cooking.
Espresso Cup $9+
Custardy egg pudding with savoury umami ikura (pickled salmon roe).
Crostini Tartufo Porcini $19+
Toasted rustic Italian baguette slices topped with porcini mushroom dressed with truffle cream and fresh truffle shavings.
Written by Tony Boey on 26 Dec 2021
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