Verve Bar & Bistro

The erstwhile Turquoise Room is now back as Verve.

Fresh and cool in white-washed walls, black trimmings and hue of iceberg blue, the bistro indents like a refreshing piece of mint. I liked the clean casual ambience amidst Gillman Village's remote lush. No pressure contained.

Any chef's passion can be derived from their menus. Verve's single-page does not spare you from scrutiny. The table sheet poured columns of details, many of which are Italian inclinations (yippee!) no short of pasta, pizza and gelato.

No short of bread on the house as well, italiano style. A pair of foccacia rectangles (per diner) is served on these nifty long plates that reach out to either ends of the table. Breadwise, some de-densing would be good.

Verve's signature Pasta Semplici ($24) is a no-meat playoff. Some roasted garlic, sundried tomatoes, pinenuts and shaved parmesan tossed in virgin olive oil & linguine becomes the chef's vegetasty configuration. Now who needs meat?

I went for Slipper Lobster & Cherry Tomato Linguine ($28), a gourmet pasta promising white wine and slipper lobster broth. Both fluid inclusions were too subtle in taste. Only the deshelled slipper lobster chunks behaved less forlorn.

What hit me most was their attempt on homemade pasta. It is no doubt a positive trend seeing kitchens step out of Barilla/San Remo supplies to devote to pasta making. Out-of-the-packet pastas have been so fervoursly globalized and vibrantly evolved that it is nowhere out of sight today. One who is capable of producing a reliable dough by hand would deserve extra affirmation. But Verve's uncomfortably thick, undercooked ribbons had plentiful of room for improvisation.

Not surprisingly, we decided to round off italianly with Tiramisu ($10). Strong bitterness entrenched in the sponge and decent when paired with its firm cream. There was also a Pistachio & Green Almond gelato i wanted but was too popular to be available. Luck wasn't on my side.

...So it gives me a perfectly valid reason to return, i don't think i would miss out on their pizzas either. We'll be back.

Verve Bar & Bistro

Blk 7 Lock Road

Gillman Village

6473 3655