The grand question after an evening of Kite-Flying at Marina Barrage: "So, where shall we go for dinner??"
We were intending to go to Satay by the Bay since it was the nearest to Marina Barrage. However, after seeing the long queues all around Gardens by the Bay due to Christmas Wonderland, we detoured and ventured to Makansutra Gluttons Bay. That's where we found the newly opened Italian hawker stall called 'Saporita'!
Apparently, Saporita is related to Squisito, a Halal-Certified Italian restaurant at 28 Bali Lane. Saporita serves authentic Italian specialities like Truffle Cheesewheel Pasta, Margherita Pizza, Steak & Lasagne but in a hawker-style and at a more affordable price Italian Hawker price ?
P.S. Check Out This Muslim-Friendly Guide To Marina Bay!
Credit: Farhana Ayu
We immediately dived into their top recommendations: the Truffle Cheesewheel Pasta at $14 and Steak Tagliata at $16. Wow! Seeing the chef cook up the Truffle pasta in a $700 Cheesewheel was an eye-opener for me as I've never seen pasta being cooked & mixed in a Giant Bowl of Cheesewheel like that before! It just doesn't get more authentic than this. At the end of the mix, the Pasta is topped off with more Cheese & Truffle. I took a bit and it's seriously one of the most Truffliciously Intense & Cheesy Pasta ever!
I was told the recommended way to enjoy the pasta is to first taste the cheese before mixing it with the topped truffle. You can then decide whether to mix all the cheese in or separate it. P.S. Did you know that Saporita's menu allows you to create your own Pasta & Pizza? Feel free to add on any meat, seafood or vegetable into your pasta or pizza order!
Credit: Farhana Ayu
P.S. You have to try the Steak Tagliata as well. What is Tagliata? Tagliata is the traditional way of serving steaks in Northern Italy! The steak is grilled, sliced and served with a simple salad of Arugula, Tomato and Vinaigrette dressing. Ok, thank you, Google!! ? I highly recommend having your steak to be cooked either Medium or Medium Well as the meat will get tougher the longer it cooks. Personally, I think Medium is the best way to go. At this level of doneness, you can taste the juiciness of the marinated steak. To make the steak more enjoyable, I had it together with the Truffle Cheesewheel Pasta and it was ‘buonissimo’ - extremely good! Do not underestimate the simple green bed of Wild Rocket Arugula and Tomatoes, cause they use quality ingredients that complement well with the steak.
Credit: Farhana Ayu
I also couldn't resist trying out the pizza. It looked so ‘appetitoso’ – tempting! So here it is the Margherita Pizza topped with Turkey Bacon!
You can choose to have a 9-inch or 12-inch base. We chose the 9-inch base ($10) with turkey bacon and the taste was akin to having Pizza in an Italian Restaurant...At an unbelievable hawker price! Absolutely ‘spettacolare’ – spectacular! You have to go for it!
Saporita holds true to its name. It brings you the Full Flavours of Italy, no gimmicks at all with its Italian menu in a hawker setting.
Credit: Farhana Ayu
Actually, there was some hesitation to dine at Makansutra Gluttons Bay as we assumed that the place may be too crowded, hard to find seats, and hot with not many food choices. But I was so wrong! There were quite a variety of Muslim-owned stalls, plenty of seating area and well-sheltered with fans as well. It was such a comfortable dining atmosphere that I found myself ordering more and more food to try. Plus more to dabao some food home for next day breakfast! ?
After indulging in Italian Hawker food, the feeding frenzy in me kicked and I tried ended up trying out food from other stalls. I ordered my after-meal dessert of Tahu Begedel (Taupok) - $5, from Syifa’ Satay and also Ice Kacang from the Drinks stall. The Tahu Begedel was perfectly fried. It was crisp with a good amount of potato fillings in it and served with 2 types of sauces to give it more of a spicy kick. It’s a new item in their menu and I say it’s a Must-Try!!
Credit: Farhana Ayu
What also caught is their Kentang Ball. At just $5, this giant ball of mashed potato with beansprouts is wrapped with a thick outer layer of Crispy Omelette and is meant to be eaten with soup. I dabao-ed it for next day's breakfast and it was savoury, good and filling!!
Hawker dining at Makansutra Gluttons Bay was made more pleasant with the friendly stallholders and absolutely lip-smacking food from the different Muslim-owned stalls which are definitely worth exploring at Esplanade.
Join Tribes by HHWT!
Tribes is a platform where like-minded individuals can share photos, videos, and articles about travel, food, and other topics with people with similar interests. Tribes will be ready by the end of this year, but we'd like to invite you to join Tribes ahead of our launch!
There are 5 main 'tribes', namely food, travel, recipes, fashion, and technology. By joining Tribes and uploading photos, videos, and stories, you'll also have the opportunity to enjoy attractive vouchers, be invited to media previews, collaborate with brands, and even have the chance to travel abroad in future.
If you'd like to join our community, please fill up this form:
After you fill out the form, our team will engage with you via WhatsApp and you may also start contributing in the form of stories, photos or videos in this link:
https://bit.ly/TRIBESContentSubmission
Thank you and we can't wait to have you onboard the HHWT community! ?