Readers of this blog will likely know about my passionate love and interest in pasta, and Italian cuisine in general. Therefore when I heard the King of Carbon…
Readers of this blog will likely know about my passionate love and interest in pasta, and Italian cuisine in general. Therefore when I heard the King of Carbonara's here in town to open a new outlet of Casa Vostra at Tampines Mall, I was immediately interested. However, while I missed his appearance, I was very kindly invited by the PR to try the outlet's new dishes. It was an immediate yes and I made the trek all the way to Tampines Mall with a friend who's been to their Raffles City outlet (yes the one with the long queue!). I myself have not tried the food there because the lines were too prohibitive, so I'm glad there's a branch at Tampines. That said, there was still a bit of a queue when I arrived at 7.10pm, but nothing too bad. The restaurant's really cosy and vibey with the interior, and no food smell on clothes!
Here's the Tampines Mall menu I got from the Casa Vostra website as of July 2026, since I visited that for the review.
The pizza menu's quite extensive but they have a team just churning out fresh pizzas made with in their huge 450 degree oven at the entrance! Their dough is cold-fermented for 36 hours with 100% Italian molino casillo flour. It wasn't exactly like sourdough but I appreciate the slight but light sour element.
And here's their pasta menu. The carbonara's an outlet exclusive that is only available for a limited time! I would go asap to get that.
Here's the spread of what we tried! One starter, the deep-fried Scarmorza cheese, which wasn't that good for me so I excluded it from this review cos it was likely due to personal preference. We also had 2 pastas, a pizza (they did half-half only for the tasting so we don't get too full, so don't go ordering it) and a dessert to share.
First up was this Agnolotti al Branzino e Gamberi (S$27++), a Tampines outlet exclusive. This was interesting because it is pasta filled with sea bass, topped with chopped Argentinian prawns, fried capers and San Marzano tomato DOP with fresh parsley and EVOO. We both quite enjoyed the seafoody element of it but for me, the texture of the seabass inside the pasta was a bit too soft. But the prawns were very juicy and flavoursome and the dish was light and not too gelat. 3/5
What I was really there for was the Luciano's Carbonara ($21++), which they did using rigatoni that night, like at their Raffles City branch even though the menu said Spaghetti (outlet exclusive). I would have preferred the latter, but maybe it was so popular they ran out! Regardless, the pasta shape is secondary to the carbonara sauce, which as you can see is glistening. Real carbonara sauce does not have cream, but is made by emulsifying the fats from the guanciale (pork cheek) with the starch from the pasta water, and the egg yolks and cheese are added for extra creaminess. It is tricky to cook because you need to not overcook the yolks (or it becomes like scrambled egg). To me it is one of the hardest dish, and here it was done well. While I would have liked a bit more cheese, the sauce was actually quite light but creamy and glistening all at once. The guanciale bits were extra salty while the rest of the pasta wasn't, which then added a nice counterpoint. If they were more generous with the cheese I would give it a higher or even perfect score! Still, this is a MUST-ORDER if you are there. 4/5
The pizzas were fantastic too. We tried both the outlet exclusives. The crust was light, not as sour as Yeast Side's, but had a lively slightly sour note that made it addictive to eat. The smoked mayo btw on both pizzas was the MVP of the night. It was sooo smokey but creamy and they really created a perceptible difference in the pizza's taste.
First up, the Margherita Affumicata (S$19++) was made with San Marzano tomato DOP, fiordilatte di agerola, fresh basil, parmigiano reggiano, smoked provola and housemade smoked mayo. This was very classic and fresh and the smoked mayo stood out the most here. Simple ingredients done right. Would recommend! 4/5
Next we had the Prosciutto e Nduja (S$24++) which had prosciutto cotto, smoked provola, Calabrian chilli sausage, housemade smoked mayo and fried sage. I asked them to take out the pickled onions as I am not a fan and they kindly obliged! I appreciated that. This one was interesting - I think the exclusion of the pickled onions might have left the pizza a little bit undressed or lacking because the flavours were too light for me, including the cooked ham. The amount of white sauce on it was much less than the Margherita's. The tiny dots of Calabrian chilli sausage was not obvious at all and I had to purposely get it on my tongue for a hint of spice to be made known. So the smoked mayo was the most apparent thing here again. For a supposedly flavoured pizza, I think the portions of the toppings could tweaked to be more balanced. The dough was still the best part though! 3/5.
We ended the meal with the Coppa alla Stracciatella (S$14++) which is also a Tampines exclusive. It had stracciatella gelato, chocolate shards, chocolate sauce and whipped cream. I wished they did not include the whipped cream, which felt a bit "cheap" tasting but I liked the chocolate shards (they weren't too sweet and worked well with the gelato). I felt like a tiramisu could be better than this though, highly skippable. 3/5.
There are hits and misses at Casa Vostra Tampines Mall, but I reckon the hits are quite stellar and now that you've read this entry you know what to order (the carbonara, and the margherita pizza). The vibes of the place and the prices though were really fair and presents a good option for families and dates to access Italian fare in the heartlands. So would still recommend!
🙅 Thank you, next
🤷 Try if you are in the area ✔️
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Casa Vostra - Tampines Mall
4 Tampines Central 5, #01-33A Tampines Mall, Singapore 529510
Open daily 11.30am to 10pm, walk-ins only
Website
Thank you Casa Vostra for the invite!
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