“Italian Small Plates”
Tucked back in a cosy corner amidst the busy streets of chinatown, &SONS provides a convivially pleasant enclave in which patrons can hold banter over a couple of drinks and even better bar food.
Placing utmost importance on the quality of their food, &SONS brings to us stellar Italian cuisine. &SONS’ creative yet distinctive a la carte menu is perfect for sharing, with their vast selection of fresh homemade pasta and an assortment of homemade bread and salami peppered into the vibrant menu of Italian small plates.
They even have their own salami chiller to cure the meats! You can tell &SONS is really serious about serving good homemade Italian fare.
Eggplant Parmigiana. Delectable with a heavy tomato base, tasting a lot like lagsana, topped off with parmesan cheese.
Inspired by Venice’s bacari (a type of wine bar that is uniquely and only available in Venice), where small plates and snacks are served free for people to snack on with their wines and cocktails, &SONS presents their own version – the Ciccheti Buffet which is available every Tuesday to Thursday. It offers signatures such as the Eggplant Parmigiana and Arancini.
All customers can enjoy the buffet, so long as they order any alcoholic beverages from &SONS. Apart from the ciccheti buffet, their other Happy Hour promotions include $8++ cocktails from 5pm to 8pm (reduced from $12/ $16++ each), and they also have live music every Tuesday.
I particularly enjoyed the Arancini, where huge truffle slices on top of the crisp rice balls brought out the flavour and aroma of the dish, and went very well with the smoother, dense textures of the fried rice balls.
We started off with &SONS’s homemade Garlic & Herb Focaccia ($5), a definite favourite of mine. The bread was fluffy and soft, yet dense enough to give you a sense of fulfilling satisfaction. Personally, good bread can win me over anytime.
Here at &SONS, the fragrant wafting aroma of their focaccia bread topped with a garlicky bite, complete with a crisp outer layer, managed to top the tables hands down.
Salame Dolce & Piccante ($8). Featuring in-house cured salami made form the most premium cuts, &SONS salami is of a refined texture and taste. Bordering on the salty side, I appreciated the meticulous efforts their chefs took to prepare the salami by hand, and was duly impressed.
Proscuitto di Parma & Melon ($13). A refreshing twist to the age old traditional proscuitto di Parma dish, &SONS revives this dish with a refreshing round of melon balls, offering a sweeter, light bite to the otherwise salty ham slices.
Their Proscuitto ham however, was a grade above the rest. Thinly sliced, we could taste their tedious efforts in curing the meat and choosing the utmost premium cuts, showing that they take definite pride in their food.
Burrata, Zucchini & Basil Pesto ($20). A generous portion of rich burrata cheese with refined creamy textures topped which was the main star of the whole dish. Complimented by slightly roasted zucchinis, it was an enjoyable dish. Well, and we couldn’t get enough of the fine and creamy consistency of the burrata cheese.
The Pappardelle, Duck Ragù ($14). Made with in-house, freshly prepared homemade pasta, the Pappardelle was a hearty delight. They were generous with the portions of duck meat in the small plate, and topped with parmesan cheese and thick, creamy tomato based sauce, it proved its worth as one of the favourites at &SONS.
Thankfully for its small serving size though, as the dish could come off a little heavy and rich with ample amounts of carbohydrates.
Their special house favourite, the Spaghetti with Sea Urchin Carbonara ($16), was rich in both textures and flavours. Luxuriously exquisite, the saltier, slightly charred sea urchin compliments the carbonara base of the spaghetti well enough for a satisfying meal (although tasting nothing like its creamier, japanese counterpart).
Definitely on the rich side, I would certainly advise against polishing it all off by yourself, even if you’re a huge carbonara fan.
Part of their charcoal grill, the Kurobuta Pork Neck with Balsamic Mushrooms ($16) was a satisfying dish, and easy on the palate. Slightly charred on the outer corners, &SONS still manages to preserve the natural tenderness of the kurobuta pork. When paired with the softer textures of the sweet and sour balsamic mushrooms, it proved to be a delectable dish by itself.
Foie Gras, Pumpkin Cream & Roasted Onions ($19). With the softer, creamy textures of the foie gras, &SONS managed to pair it well with a crisp, sweet cracker like topping which i particularly loved.
It was a good combination, together with the sweet wine-soaked onions and pumpkin puree. It could be a little heavy on the palate as well, and sharing is recommended. But if you’re a definite fan of foie gras, don’t be hesitant to polish off the whole plate like we did as well!
Roasted Figs Cheese Cake ($12)
Finishing off with dessert, we tried &SONS’ special signature desserts. The Roasted Fig Cheesecake was warm and oddly comforting, like a soothing, sweet end to your heavy meal. The warm roasted figs atop the salted caramel cheesecake added a subtle jam-like sweetness to the dense cheesecake mix. It was still a tad too sweet for me, though not overwhelming, but sweet-toothed dessert hunters will love it.
Tiramisu ($12). Their Tiramisu, I wasn’t that big a fan of, although the others were practically raving about its creamy, thick consistency paired with juicy, liquer-soaked cherries. I found it a little too dense and heavy, and would have preferred something lighter to end off the meal
Overall however, &SONS has proved to be a pleasant dining experience, and I would recommend it for a chill night out with friends, or even an after-work casual dining experience to de-stress.
The Italian Ciccheti Buffet promo from Tues – Thurs night is especially worth it, with free quality small plates served as long as you buy an alcoholic beverage.
After all, what can go wrong with good food and drinks?
Expected Damage: $20 -$40 ++ per pax
&SONS: #01-19 China Square Central, 20 Cross Street, Singapore 048422 | Tel: +65 6221 3937 | Website
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&SONS is available on the The Entertainer App, which offers 1-for-1 main courses when you dine at &SONS as well as many other restaurants!
