Italian Restaurant Review: Casa Manini at 14B Kensington Park Rd, Singapore 557265

This is a super delayed post, but me and my friends checked out Italian restaurant Casa Manini near Serangoon Gardens after the circuit breaker and I thought I'll just make a note and food review about it. A family-run restaurant that only takes WhatsApp reservations, they've put out some mouth-watering posts about their pastas on their IG that warranted a visit. So we went for lunch one fine day! The place has lots of plants but they are mostly indoors, which is good since there's always the risk of getting bitten by mozzies by sitting in the green outdoors.

Here's their restaurant menu, but you can also go to their website to view it with pictures. The appetisers are not here as well. Prices are slightly higher for a restaurant of this size/location, but I think we are clearing the $2x mark for most Italian places with pasta dishes.

A bit on their wine selection which of course features Italian wine, my favourite. 

First we had the Calamari e gamberi fritti (S$18), which was tasty and light - not overly oily or chewy. It went well with the white wine I had!

Then we had the Mozzarella Truffle Bites (S$10) which is not on the current menu, but was delicious. This was probably my favourite dish. 4/5

Then between the 4 of us we had 3 pastas for fear of food coma. They are the Spaghetti aglio olio e gamberi (S$22), Spaghetti carbonara (S$20) and Spaghetti arrabbiata (S$20). All big classics with oil, cheese and tomato, since we wanted to really taste the pasta. Overall, I felt that the pastas are pretty alright, but not super mind-blowing or stellar. To me, the pasta itself seemed a bit, just a bit, overcooked, such that they felt dense. 

The hefty taste could also be from the lack of aromatic oils to lubricate the carbs, in particular the carbonara. 2/5

The Spaghetti arrabbiata (S$20) was quite tasty with the tangy tomatoes, and spice. I think this was the best one of the lot! 3.5/5

The Spaghetti aglio olio e gamberi (S$22) was in second place, because I wished the garlic and seafood flavour were more pronounced. 3/5

I guess I had high expectations which were not met in this case, having built that up in the course of seeing it on Instagram, making a reservation and paying for the rather hefty bill in the end. I wouldn't write them off completely though - the calamari, and the ambience itself was great, and I'm curious about their non-pasta dishes. I'll do an update if I do try those! For now, this place will be a so-so.

Casa Manini
14B Kensington Park Rd, Singapore 557265
Wednesdays to Sundays 12pm to 2pm, Tuesdays to Sundays 6 to 9pm
Closed on Mondays
Reservation by WhatsApp required (no other websites)