There is no lack of Italian restaurants at any corners of Singapore. There was one at Waterloo Centre, Waterloo Times time previously, and now we have Follia to take over it. But it isn’t at the same spot. Instead they took one of the unit occupied previously by The Betterfield which is now located at The Treasury.
Interiorly is simply deck with functional but uniform tables and chairs in rows, making it conveniently to join any tables when needed. On the wall are some pleasing pastel colours.
A commonly seen dish in Italian Restaurant is the Burrata with Parma Ham ($38). The Parma Ham and Burrata were decent, sat on large slices of local tomato and a bed of Arugula. Nothing surprises.
Breaded Calamari ($9) is also another usual dish spotted at Italian restaurant. We like the tightly coated flavouful and yet light and thin batter that was on the squid. But the squid was a little too chewy though.
When diners order Mains, it comes with either Salad or Soup and a drink. The salad and soup were decent. Salad was with coleslaw dressing while soup of that day was Pea Soup, not overly creamy which we prefer. A pity it was pea which we don’t fancy.
I have a soft spot for Ravioli as such I can’t help but order the Beef Ragu and Black Truffle Ravioli ($23). The pasta on the ravioli was al dente. And the beef ragu was tasty with lightly truffle scent. The creamy sauce complemented the ravioli perfectly. The greens cut through the creaminess. Personally, I would prefer the beef ragu filling to be a little more.
Seafood Risotto ($26) was in a rich Basil Tomato Sauce and a medley of seafood selection such as prawns, mussels and clams. The version by Follia was the rice was in more tomato sauce. Overall flavour was mainly tomato flavour without the dimension of seafood fragrance. Great if you are a tomato sauce lover. Hence it wasn’t for me.
We didn’t enjoy the Pollo Piccante ($18) mainly due to the addition of Broccoli. Though the crust was thin but lacking of the chewy bread-like texture. It consist of biscuit texture instead. And again, the tomato sauce based was far too much. The saving grace was the deep-fried chicken pieces which elevated the taste and of course the amount of cheese was generous.
The Tiramisu ($5) does has a good sense of espresso but a pity lacking of alcoholic fragrance. It seems that they uses commercially available Lady fingers for the sponge. Afterall, for the price, at $5, I thought it was extremely value for money. However, overall, the Tiramisu was too sweet for me. In addition, personally, I felt they could save the marshmallow, oreo cookies crumble and canned mandarin orange.
Dark Chocolate Marquise ($15) consist of both dark chocolate and coffee, somewhat like Mocha. The dark chocolate lack of the bitterness as such it slanted towards the taste of milk chocolate. Overall it was far too sweet for my liking.
NAHMJ Verdict
I would skip the Pizza and the dessert at Follia and focus only on the Pasta and Starters.
Follia
Tel: +65 9799 3661
Website: http://www.follia.asia/
FB: https://www.facebook.com/folliasg/?fref=ts
Opening Hours
Daily 1100 to 2200
Getting There
By MRT:
- Circle line – Bras Basah station (nearest MRT station)
- North-South or East-West line – City Hall
- East-West line – Bugis
- North-east or North-South line – Dhoby Ghaut
By Bus:
- Manulife Centre along Bras Basah Road 131, 147, 166, 857
- Hotel Rendezvous along Bras Basah Road 7, 14, 14e, 16, 36, 77, 106, 111, 124, 128, 162, 162M, 167, 171, 174, 174e, 175, 190, 502, 518, 518A, 700, 700A
- Midlink Plaza along Middle Road 56, 980
- Opposite Midlink Plaza along Middle Road 56
Rating: 6.5/10