If you read theSundaytimes a couple of weeks ago, probably you may have come across this 2-full-paged article on under 30 restaurateurs, and the owners of Patypus Test Kitchen, Nicholas Lin (26) and Lee YuanZheng (25) were among those featured. (Also on the list was Marc Wee (28) of Arbite)
Opened its door last month at Clifford Centre, the café serves fresh made pastas and soups at the heart of the Central Business District. While it's unclear how and why the café got interestingly named after an Australian native mammal, its modern and chic décor -especially the high table, literally- allows it to stand out from all its neighbours.
Pasta dishes here are priced between $10 - $12 while fresh made pastas $15.50. With the ongoing lunch promotion you can upgrade you main to a set meal inclusive of a soup and coffee of your choice for extra $3.50. To find out more, refer to their Lunch Menu.
I topped up another dollar for their Hungarian Beef Stew instead of a soup. The stewed beef was tender and flavoursome.
Whenever given the choice, I will opt for fresh pasta over its dried cousin as the former is usually better textured and like some put it, there is more bite to it.
The Squid-Ink Seafood Marinara I had here shared many resemblences with that I had at Arbite. The Tagliatelle pasta was thinner over here, hence making it easier to slurp. I was also glad that juicy shrimps and fresh scallops were used in place of clams which really saved me the trouble of having to remove the shells.
On the other hand, however, the chef might have his salt bottle cap accidentally fell off when working on my dish which I found was on the salty side.
My companion chose Chorizo Gnocchi as his main.
Many regard gnocchi as the western version of 算盘子 for the both come in silimar shapes and sizes. As the gnocchi pasta itself didn't carry much taste, one has to count on the sauce to make this dish work. The thinly sliced Spanish chorizo sausage was delectable and extra springy. While there wasn't any Italian parsely - as the menu promised- (do you see one), the rocket leaves would have tasted better if they were cooked. Raw rocket leaves on the other hand are more for salads, in my opinion.
On their service, some have expressed frustration with bad service on their visits. As for our case, they forgot to served our wild mushroom soup until we were half way through our lunch (even we forgot about it as well). Then again, as a new-born start-up, it may just take them some much needed time to 'sort things out' and get things in place. So let's wait and see if things would get better, shall we? And besides, I'm already looking forward to some of their daily specials, say Pan-seared Black Cod every Tuesday and Out-of-the-Pan’ Seafood Paella Wednesday. Another visit is definitely necessary.
For those who are interested, co-owner Nicholas Lin is also one of the authors of Bachelor's Banquet. You can get a copy of this culinary bible at the café cashier counter.
Platypus Test Kitchen
24 Raffles Place #02-02 Clifford Centre
Mon–Fri, 10am – 6pm
6533 7402
Opened its door last month at Clifford Centre, the café serves fresh made pastas and soups at the heart of the Central Business District. While it's unclear how and why the café got interestingly named after an Australian native mammal, its modern and chic décor -especially the high table, literally- allows it to stand out from all its neighbours.
Pasta dishes here are priced between $10 - $12 while fresh made pastas $15.50. With the ongoing lunch promotion you can upgrade you main to a set meal inclusive of a soup and coffee of your choice for extra $3.50. To find out more, refer to their Lunch Menu.
I topped up another dollar for their Hungarian Beef Stew instead of a soup. The stewed beef was tender and flavoursome.
Whenever given the choice, I will opt for fresh pasta over its dried cousin as the former is usually better textured and like some put it, there is more bite to it.
The Squid-Ink Seafood Marinara I had here shared many resemblences with that I had at Arbite. The Tagliatelle pasta was thinner over here, hence making it easier to slurp. I was also glad that juicy shrimps and fresh scallops were used in place of clams which really saved me the trouble of having to remove the shells.
On the other hand, however, the chef might have his salt bottle cap accidentally fell off when working on my dish which I found was on the salty side.
My companion chose Chorizo Gnocchi as his main.
Many regard gnocchi as the western version of 算盘子 for the both come in silimar shapes and sizes. As the gnocchi pasta itself didn't carry much taste, one has to count on the sauce to make this dish work. The thinly sliced Spanish chorizo sausage was delectable and extra springy. While there wasn't any Italian parsely - as the menu promised- (do you see one), the rocket leaves would have tasted better if they were cooked. Raw rocket leaves on the other hand are more for salads, in my opinion.
On their service, some have expressed frustration with bad service on their visits. As for our case, they forgot to served our wild mushroom soup until we were half way through our lunch (even we forgot about it as well). Then again, as a new-born start-up, it may just take them some much needed time to 'sort things out' and get things in place. So let's wait and see if things would get better, shall we? And besides, I'm already looking forward to some of their daily specials, say Pan-seared Black Cod every Tuesday and Out-of-the-Pan’ Seafood Paella Wednesday. Another visit is definitely necessary.
For those who are interested, co-owner Nicholas Lin is also one of the authors of Bachelor's Banquet. You can get a copy of this culinary bible at the café cashier counter.
Platypus Test Kitchen
24 Raffles Place #02-02 Clifford Centre
Mon–Fri, 10am – 6pm
6533 7402