Garibaldi @ Purvis Street

Finally went to try Garibaldi today for lunch. I must say it was a disappointing experience. I checked the lunch menu on the website before we went. My initial thought was that the menu didn’t look very interesting. I mean it was normal standard Italian stuff. The price was $26+++, so I thought it was still reasonable.

When we were there, the set menu they showed us was actually different from the one on the website. The website said the set menu is changed weekly every Thursday. Today is not a Thursday! And, the price was also different. The one we were shown was $32+++, and was even less interesting than the one on the website.

I decided on soup of the day, spaghetti with prawns, dessert of the day plus tea. My lunch partner had salmon, tuna steak, dessert of the day plus coffee.

The soup of the day was asparagus with scallops. It was undersalted. I couldn’t see any asparagus and the scallops were cut into tiny pieces. But at least they tasted fresh. My lunch partner said his salmon was very fresh.

I also didn’t quite like my spaghetti. It was a bit too salty and it didn’t have any other taste except being salty. The prawns were tasteless. My lunch partner’s tuna was undersalted and he suspected his dish had been sitting in the kitchen for a while, ‘cos one piece was more cooked than the other.

The dessert was sorbet with fruits. It was err…normal.

The standard of the set lunch was really just mediocre. I would have enjoyed the lunch better at Le Papillon or Wolf. The service standard was also disappointing. The staff were a bit detached and unfriendly. The worst was the staff who was serving the bread. He looked so buay-gum-wan. They even put my utensils in the wrong place. The fork and spoon for my spaghetti were put on the wrong sides. The appalling part was their table cloths and napkins. They were so crumpled and looked a bit greyish and limp. I believe they didn’t starch the table cloths. They looked as though they have been used for 10 years.

Well, this kind of standard is really embarrassing for a reputed restaurant that is rated among the top restaurants in the world.