Two months ago me and my girlfriends did a photoshoot for Canary Closet (new blogshop that sells pretty yet affordable dresses) in Singapore Botanic Gardens. By the end of the day, we were really hungry and rolled our stuff straight to Casa Verde, a cozy and laid back al fresco cafe near the Visitor Centre at the Botanic Gardens. Of course there are other dining choices such as Halia and Au Jardin but we thought our outfits were way too casual to dine in those restaurants.
It was around 5.30pm when we were there and it took us a while to get a table - not because the restaurant is full per se, but because the waiters took quite long to discuss if they could seat us (they told us they would be having a huge reservation for dinner and told us we should leave by 6pm). We agreed but still nobody seated us down until about 15 minutes later. Definitely a boo.
After we were seated, we headed to the counter to place our order. Four of us shared a Pizza Rustica ($23), Spaghetti Bolognese ($16), Carbonara ($15), and Spaghetti Marinara ($18). All of us loved the food in Casa Verde, might be caused as we were starving, but we definitely agreed that the food was not bad at all.
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| Pizza rustica: tomato salsa, smoked streaky bacon, asparagus, sunny side egg |
The Pizza Rustica consisted of bacon, asparagus, and egg in a tomato sauce. I loved the combination of bacon and asparagus, but thought there should be at least two eggs in the pizza as after slicing, each of the slices barely had enough eggs on.
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| Spaghetti marinara: shrimp, squid, crab, garlic, olive oil, parsley, marinara |
My favorite of all three pasta was the Spaghetti Marinara. This dish consisted of seafood in a marinara sauce (not sure why they did not name the dish Spaghetti Frutti di Mare instead). There are shrimp, squid, and crab in a garlic, olive oil, parsley, and marinara sauce. The sauce somewhat resembles the sauce for Singapore Chili Crab. This is a definite must order if you come for the pasta.
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| Spaghetti bolognese: minced beef ragout, tomato sauce |
My next favorite was the Spaghetti Bolognese. This might look like a typical bolognese - well it IS a typical bolognese, but with extra cheesiness in the sauce. Yum yum. Wouldn't mind eating this as my comfort food.
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| Spaghetti carbonara: bacon, garlic, cream, egg, parmesan |
The last pasta dish was the Spaghetti Carbonara. My friend who is a big fond of cream-based sauce love this dish. Nevertheless, this was slightly too creamy to my liking. After a few bite, I felt that the creaminess was too much. If I were to finish the whole plate on my own, I don't think I can do that.
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| Casa verde, which means "green house" in Italian |
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| The al fresco dining area |
Overall, we were pleased with the food at Casa Verde. Please bear in mind that if you are looking for that perfect true blue Italian pasta and pizza, Casa Verde might not satisfy your tastebud. But, if you are looking for a cozy, laid back, al fresco style restaurant to just relax and blend in with the nature, Casa Verde is definitely one of the top choices for you. The pasta and pizza tasted very homey and were delicious.
The only thing that disappointed me was their rather poor service, not only at the beginning while we were waiting for our table, but also along our meals (we had to ask several times to get our water refilled, and so on).
Will I visit Casa Verde on purpose? Maybe no. Will I return again if I am back at Botanic Gardens? Definitely yes.
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