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Raffles Courtyard (of the world renowned Raffles Hotel Singapore) recently introduced its new Italian menu and we were delighted to be invited to try out this traditional Italian fare!

The style that the new dining concept invokes is one that is unpretentious, relaxed with simple, good old fashioned Italian food. The al fresco dining and relaxed atmosphere makes dining at the Raffles Courtyard an excellent choice for gathering with family or just chilling out with friends over some drinks. Nope, no pretentious ATAS ambience here

Al fresco dining at the Raffles Courtyard

Chilling out with friends at the Gazebo Bar

The new Raffles Courtyard Italian Menu

Well, besides the ambience, the star of the show has got to be the food. We were led to our seats and introduced to 4 dishes. These dishes made us realised how glorious food can be by using merely the freshest and only the freshest ingredients.

Did we use freshest twice there?

Starters
Burrata with fresh tomatoes

Mains
Tortiglioni with Porcini mushrooms and parmeggiano
Vegetable pizza with eggplant, fresh basil and mozzarella

Dessert
Ice cream: chocolate, strawberry, milk, pear flavor

Burrata with fresh tomatoes

Raffles Courtyard’s Burrata with fresh tomatoes

Yup. We were also thinking “WHAT IS BURRATA?!” It is actually a milk wrap cheese. Now you must be thinking “WHAT IS MILK WRAP CHEESE?!”

Inside the Burrata

Well, the Burrata (or milk wrap cheese) is a cheese-lover’s favourite. The taste was light, milky but you could also taste that light cheesiness in there. The different texture between the outer layer and the insides made the dish all the more interesting. A little onion spiced up the flavours while the fresh tomatoes brought out the simple freshness of the cheese. With that our tongues got tingled and ready for the mains!

Tortiglioni with Porcini mushrooms and parmeggiano

Raffles Hotel’s Tortiglioni with Porcini mushrooms and parmeggiano

The various pastas in the Italian culture actually serves many purposes. For instance, the Fusilli pasta with its spiral shape is good for “trapping” the sauce between its layers while the common spaghetti gives the “slurp” texture especially for cream based sauce.

The Tortiglioni is well picked for this dish because of the larger than penne size hole in the middle. This means that if you cut your ingredients to the correct size, they sit nicely in the Tortiglioni which in this case are the Porcini mushrooms.

The Porcini mushrooms were really fresh. (Yes, we have run out of words for fresh, cause it really was!!) The mushrooms were diced into small little bite sized cubes and with each bite, fresh, crisp, mushroomy flavours just bursts in your mouth! Together with the authentic cream sauce, this dish makes a wonderful mains for pasta lovers!

Vegetable pizza with eggplant, fresh basil and mozzarella

Vegetable pizza with eggplant, fresh basil and mozzarella Raffles Courtyard

For us, the star of the meal was definitely the pizza. Nothing like a plain old pizza fresh out of the oven. This dish did not disappoint. Although it may seem like any other pizza out there, the taste is a different story altogether.

First, the tomato base. You could really taste the fresh tomatoes (not sure how many umpteenth time we’ve used that word for this post) and know that it was still a tomato just a while back! Then, the flavour of the egg plant rises up from behind the scenes as the mozzarella gelled everything together. Simple but heavenly!

By the way, the Vegetable Pizza is a special of the week. So you don’t always see it on the menu!

Ice cream: chocolate, strawberry, milk, pear flavor

Ice cream: chocolate, strawberry, milk, pear flavor

This was a gelato, sorbet combination. For the sorbets, the flavours of the fruit was very distinctive while the gelato was rich and simply yummy. We were even served the Surgiva Mineral Water to better taste the foods we had. For those in-the-know, the Surgiva mineral water is actually used between wines during a wine tasting session. Pro huh?

The menu also comes with a hand picked premier Italian wine list. When ordered, they would be served in a traditional wine flask – miniature Terra Cotta Anforas…

Wines served in miniature Terra Cotta Anforas

These wine flasks have its roots from the 12th century Venice where hand-made earthen vessels were used to store wines and maintain them at a cool temperature.

After our sumptuous meal, we were introduced to the team behind Raffles Courtyard. Nicola Canuti, the Deputy Executive Chef was the genius behind this new authentic Italian Menu.

Chef Nicola Canuti, the Deputy Executive Chef of Raffles Courtyard , Raffles Hotel

As an Italian national, the creation of Chef Canuti stirs up feelings of times past in the days where families would gather in an outdoor setting, enjoying a simple and traditional Italian fare. We must say that well…Chef Canuti…You’ve done it!

We also took some pictures of the chefs at the open concept kitchen…

Open Concept Kitchen @ Raffles Courtyard

Proud chefs with the pizza oven – where the magic happens

Prices and Opening Hours at the Raffles Courtyard Raffles Hotel

The prices at the Raffles Courtyard is actually quite reasonable. The unique dining experience and excellent food makes the visit really worth while. Opening hours of the Raffles Courtyard is from 12pm to 10pm daily.

How to get to Raffles Hotel

Raffles Hotel is located at 1 Beach Road and it is relatively easy to get there. The nearest MRT station would be City Hall and it is just a 3 minutes walk away.

Win a Dinner for 2 at the Raffles Courtyard @ Raffles Hotel Singapore worth $200!

CONTEST NOW CLOSED

Fancy a romantic dinner for 2 at the Raffles Courtyard? Stand a chance to dine at the newly revamped Raffles Courtyard (at Raffles Hotel) with its all new Italian menu (worth $200)!

All you have to do is follow Just follow these 3 simple steps :

Step 1: Click on the buttons below and “Like” us on Facebook!

Step 2: Read our post on

Raffles Courtyard’s New Italian Menu at Raffles Hotel Singapore!

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Be creative and tell us why you should win the dinner for 2 at Raffles Hotel. The most interesting and creative answer will be chosen to be our winner!

Winners will be announced in May 2013 and contacted via email.

It is just that simple! All the best and Buon Appetito!

CONTEST NOW CLOSED

Raffles Courtyard Raffles Hotel Singapore

Enjoy your dining experience at the Raffles Courtyard!