Kandahar Street and the Arab Street area have a mix of ethnic eateries, and another has recently opened
By Cheryl Chia
The Arab Street area has become quite international in recent years with many restaurants popping up, especially along Kandahar Street and its vicinity.
Cicheti [chi-keh-tee] is one of the new additions to the area, named after the signature snacks served in a Venetian bacari or wine bar. Cicheti serves both large platters as well as smaller ones (to order more variety) for communal dining.
Caring is Sharing
It’s more fun coming here with a couple of friends to really get the whole picture and variety at Cicheti. Upon entering, you’ll spot a wood-fired oven with fresh pizzas rising within.
All the pizza dough, pastas and breads here are made in-house.
We liked the Diavola pizza ($19), a tomato base thin-crusted pizza with mozzarella and parmesan cheese topped with salame, chilli, garlic and basil leaves.
Also try the classic Italian pizza, the Quattro Formaggi ($19), with mozzarella, provolone, gorgonzola and grana cheese.
The pastas are also not to be missed at Cicheti’s. For a unique spin on the ragu (meat sauce) pasta, Cicheti does a Pappardelle Ragu ($23) featuring fresh papparddelle pasta with a slow-braised lamb shoulder ragout, porcini mushrooms and garnished with pecorino cheese.
We much preferred their Tagliatelle Carne ($23) with homemade tagliatelle tossed with beef meatballs slow-cooked in a sauce of semi-dried tomatoes, chilli and roasted garlic.
If you prefer the Italian zuppa (soup), try the Cioppino ($27), a seafood stew simmered in a savoury broth of fish, prawn, squid and clams.
Light bites are refreshing to the palate at Cicheti. The Duo Caprese ($11) is a spin on the insalata caprese with fresh tomatoes and fried mozzarella cheese with homemade semi-dried tomatoes on Capri-style bread.
The Gamberi Grassi ($11) – translated to mean “fat prawns” – is served in a smoky herbed butter sauce.
Pretty Desserts
The desserts at Cicheti are picture-worthy, complete with garnishing of edible flowers. Their off-the-menu Semifreddo is creamy and filled with orange peel, biscotti and topped with strawberries and raspberries.
We would recommend the Salted Chocolate Dessert ($12.50), a salted chocolate molten cake with a side of vanilla gelato and drizzled with caramel sauce. This was so good, we wished for a bit more molten centre to spoon up.
They also do a Crema Bruciata ($12.50), a chilled crème brulee with candied bacon, but we felt that it was a bit of an acquired taste. Cicheti also has a range of Italian sodas to wash everything down.
Cicheti, 52 Kandahar Street, Singapore 198901, Tel: 6292 5012
ADVERTISEMENTS