Luka’s website says “It’s going to be awesome” and… it was!
It’s not often these days that I walk out of a restaurant being completely satisfied with the food and the price tag.
The prices at Luka are so reasonable, I’m hoping they continue to maintain that even as they persist with the fabulous quality of the food.
Take the Smoked Egg, Wagyu, Uni ($12 for 2 pieces) – tell me where can you get a starter of wagyu and uni for just $6/piece? The uni, paired perfectly with the smoky aburi wagyu which wrapped itself lovingly round that silky onsen egg. Flavour Bomb – boom!
Another prized delicacy is bottarga (mullet roe) and at Luka, it’s whipped into a creamy frenzy and comes with a pretzel. Despite the absence of any porcine bits, there was a smoky flavor of bacon in the Whipped Bottarga Cream & Pretzel ($10). And the pretzel came all warm and doughy and sesame-encrusted and really was a perfect spoon for that salty, light bottarga cream.
I’ve never had sardines as carpaccio before, so I was curious to try it. Billed as the Carpaccio of the Day ($14) – well, sardine is a very strong smelling fish, so if you’re iffy about such things, all the fennel in the world that they had piled upon the fish will not help. Otherwise, it’s as fresh as it gets.
Some people like the mushy minced Japanese style of tuna negitoro, some people prefer a chunkier texture when it comes to tartare. I didn’t mind Luka’s baby-food version of the Tuna Negitoro, Crab Meat, Ikura Tartare ($15) at all. The spring onions and bright orange ikura baubles just lifted the dish.
On to the Trippa ($16) – luckily I was with a couple of adventurous eaters, because on my own, I wouldn’t have ordered tripe. Described as a beef “honeycomb” stew, I could get into the technicalities of which part of the cow’s stomach this came from, but I’ll spare myself and you. Instead, I am happy to report that the robust, spicy stew quashed any misgivings I might have had about eating offal, and I enjoyed the dish! It helped that the tripe was cooked till tender, so no unnecessary prolonged masticating was needed 😊.
Next, we had the Polpo Salsiccia ($20) – Octopus, Sausage and Ragu with garganelli, which is like a penne but with perpendicular ridges instead of the parallel lines that run down a tube of penne. I liked the fact that there was a strong chilli heat to the dish, it made me think of chorizo sausages. This isn’t a dish that makes the octopus shine though, the addition appeared rather negligible. And the sauce seemed to be in the same flavour realm as the Trippa so maybe skip one if you order the other.
My favourite style of pasta with one of my fave luxe ingredients, I was a happy bub swimming in the salty depths of the Uni Aglio Olio ($26). Wish we hadn’t ordered everything to share though, I barely had 2 bites!
I must say the pasta in both the pasta dishes was cooked to al dente perfection. Just that right amount of bite.
And to round it all off, some steak. Not just any, but wagyu from Iwate. And at $25/100grams, it was a steal! They didn’t ask us how we wanted it done, but it was done just right. Bordering towards the medium-rare, each piece was robust, and people afraid of a cardiac arrest, you might not want to read this, but you could really feel the oily, fatty flavour in your mouth! So a dish best shared among friends (or enemies, depending on your intentions!).
We were too satisfied for dessert, hence that will be the mission for next time. I am already looking forward to visiting Luka again!
Luka:
Address: 18 Tanjong Pagar Road Singapore 088441
Contact: hello@ristoranteluka.com or 62213988
Opening Hours: 12pm-12am, closed Sun