It was the days when Huccalily was between jobs and so we met for discounted lunch at atas restaurants. The restaurant was slightly claustrophobic and as more people entered, the noise was trapped in the room. There wasn’t much of a decor to speak of, just very functional.
The specialities of this Italian restaurant by Michelle Pavanello are suckling pig and Hokkaido scallop carpaccio but since we were having the set lunch, those options weren’t available to us.
For the set lunch, the starters were clams or soup; mains, chicken or salmon; and a choice of dessert. For each dish, there wasn’t any complaint but there was also nothing memorable or unique or original.
We spent $90 for two and although the service was attentive and the portions were sufficient, we don’t think we will return for the mediocre food.
Otto Ristorante32 Maxwell Road #01-02/03 Maxwell Chambers Singapore 069115
T: +65 6227 6819
M-F 12pm – 2.30pm, M-Sat 6.30pm-10pm

Rating: 3.001/5 stars
Categories: $40-$60, Chinatown, Dates, Italian, Raffles Place, Tanjong Pagar
how can you judge a restaurant by its set lunch?
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Why cannot judge a restaurant by its set lunch? If you read New York Times and even Sunday Times, the food reviewers do go there for lunch and judge the food. Besides, many restaurants give specialties during lunch, such as Pollen, Gunther’s, Ember, Nicholas le Restaurant…
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I think Jaan has one of the best set lunches in Singapore. :)
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I went when the Norwegian chef was around but it was so-so. but heard the new chef is fantastic.
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Well it is a lunch set catering for the masses and for the time sensitive working crowd so I doubt there is anything memorable about it.
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Not true leh. The purpose of lunch is to get quick money for a short service. Instead of getting $80 in 3 hours (for dinner), you get $40 for an hour for lunch, and not really to provide for the masses. But since not many people go to restaurants for lunch, many restaurants give their specialty for lunch to draw crowd. I had very memorable set lunches before: Ember, Nicholas le Restaurant, Aoki, Gunther’s, etc, all have fantastic lunches. Besides, if the food is good, most dishes will be good. But 0 out of 6 dishes here left any impression.
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do try the pasta with foie gras and wagyu beef. sounds gimmicky but the taste is really wonderful, or you can try the uni pasta. the suckling pig is amazeball but i’ve had better haha
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Thanks for the recommendation. But don’t think we’ll return. Sometimes we give second chances and would return for a second time when we see there is a glimmer of something good in the restaurant. But for Otto, we really can’t see anything good.
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oh there’s a set lunch did not know. I have wanted to try this. But been hesitating because of the price. Looks like from your post, I should give this a skip -)
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Go to ember. Same price, amazing food.
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