These Places Serve The Most Delicious Aglio Olio In Singapore
Noodles, garlic, chilli, and oil: aglio olio is simplicity at its finest, yet so easy to get wrong. Here’s where you’ll find the best plates of aglio olio in Singapore.
Originating from southern Italy, aglio olio comes together by cooking finely sliced garlic in olive oil, then tossing it with pasta. Spaghetti is most common choice of noodles, and more often than not, chilli flakes are added.
When done right, aglio olio lets all the ingredients shine. The pasta is al dente. The garlic enticingly fragrant. The sauce turns velvety, and the chilli brings just enough heat. The spareness, however, means bad techniques have nowhere to hide. Too long in the pot, and the pasta becomes limp. Overcooked, the garlic ends up acrid. And a heavy hand with chilli renders the dish almost inedible.
Thankfully, these places have a deft hand with aglio olio, serving classic renditions to varieties decked out with seafood and meat. A number of them are hawker stalls, too, which means diners can enjoy the dish at affordable prices. Discover where to get the best aglio olio in Singapore below.
(Hero and feature images credits: Serhii Shleihel / iStock / Getty Images; Luka Italian – Dining / PIZZA / BAR / Facebook)
Where to find the best aglio olio in Singapore
This story first appeared in Lifestyle Asia Singapore
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01
Burrata Joy & Gustavo Lapasta
A casual dining concept by Michelin-rated Italian restaurant Garibaldi, this eatery combines home cooking with the idea of adding burrata to everything. Their aglio olio, however, is just as noteworthy. It comes as a sauce option, to which you add your choice of pasta – there are eight varieties – then either have it plain or laden with the popular prawns and broccoli. Of course, you can top it with a burrata.
(Image credit: Burrata Joy & Gustavo Lapasta / Facebook)
Chef Choo Signature is the eponymous stall of Choo Siew Leong, a former hotel chef who started his own hawker business at Golden Mile Food Centre. Manning the stall with his wife, Choo cooks a restaurant-worthy version of spaghetti aglio olio, which is al dente and flavourful. At S$6.50, it’s also a steal.
(Image credit: @anthonyong0309 / Instagram)
Part of Bukit Timah Food Centre, Go Pasta serves lovely aglio olio at hawker stall prices. The basic costs S$6, to which you can add seafood, bacon, mushroom, chicken chop, or prawns. It’s no frills here, but the pasta has an al dente bite, and is coated by a silky, garlicky, and spicy sauce.
(Image credit: Go Pasta / Facebook)
04
Pietro Ristorante Italiano
Residents in the northeast can look to Pietro for their aglio olio fix. The Seletar Hills Italian restaurant cooks two kinds of spaghetti aglio olio: a seafood version filled with squid, prawn, and clams, and another with assorted mushrooms. Pietro also does an aglio olio pizza topped with mushrooms and a sunny side-up egg.
(Image credit: Pietro Ristorante Italiano / Facebook)
Postiano Risto was born out of the owners’ love for Italy and their desire to bring Halal-certified Italian food to diners. One dish is their seafood aglio olio linguine – a departure from most places that use spaghetti – which is tossed with sun-dried tomatoes and garlic, then topped with prawns, scallop, mussels, and squids. If you like the heat, they will gladly spice it up.
(Image credit: Postiano Risto / Facebook)
Luka is a mashup of Japanese and Italian flavours, exemplified by their renditions of spaghetti aglio olio. The Tanjong Pagar outlet serves a shirasu (white bait) version with bottarga garlic, colatura (the Italian equivalent of fish sauce), oba leaf, and yuzu, or another one with aka ebi (Argentine red shrimp). At their the Cross Street Exchange location, the two aglio olio highlight snow crab and tobiko (flying fish roe), or baby scallop and shirasu. Sakura shrimp and smoked seabass varieties also feature in their lunch menus.
Book Luka Tanjong Pagar here.
Book Luka Cross Street Exchange here.
(Image credit: Luka Italian – Dining / PIZZA / BAR / Facebook)
