I always trouble finding family-friendly but not family restaurants for occasion meals. A couple of choices were thrown out as they don't do Saturday lunches. Finally we settled on Casa Tartufo. Frankly speaking I was half crossing my fingers hoping the meal would be memorable enough for KW's birthday.
Case Tartufo has been around since 2010 but moved to Scarlet Hotel from Forum Gallery a couple of years back. A wise move, given their previous location at a mall didn't exactly fit their profile. We visited the family-run restaurant with our family for KW's birthday and had a lovely experience, thanks to the friendly service and hearty food. The restaurant specializes in truffle-d dishes but it pays to note, their dishes are elevated with a thoughtful touch of truffles, and they don't use truffles for the sake of using truffles. Ahhh, truffles are my spirit animal (or fungi) so truffle anything is half the battle won.
We were ravenous by the time the bread basket was served (we usually have early lunches) and ravaged the bread basket like a pack of hungry wolves. The focaccia was simply delightful - warm, fragrant and fluffy, perfect with a dip of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I had 4 pieces in under 3 minutes. No shame, no regrets.
We shared two appetizers - creamy burrata drizzled with black truffles. I've never had burrata with truffles and would definitely get on board with this rendition.
The scallops were small but powerful mini bursts of flavor. Everything on this dish was spot on.
With my in-laws, a birthday celebration usually calls for steak. Bar Roque, Bistecca, ...there are very few things more endearing than a hunky slab of steak served family style. At Casa Tartufo, we had the Fiorentine, which was uber tender and beefy. Ahhhmygawwwd! So good... We did the cow proud, by wiping it clean and washing it down with a bottle of Barolo.
The steak was served with sautéed green beans and we ordered another side of sautéed spinach to get our green quotient up.
Knowing we had quite a bit of to go through, we ordered one other main their signature truffle pasta - Tajarin. We came for truffle and we ate truffle. Every strand of homemade egg noodles was longingly coated with rich black truffle sauce - and yet it wasn't over the top.
Beef, carbs, mushrooms. You can't get any better than this.
For desserts, I knew for sure I wanted to try their tiramisu. It wasn't groundbreaking but still a delightful dessert.
Accompanied with a scoop of smooth icicle-free gelato, their fig tart was a beautiful slice to be had. Sweet, buttery and incredibly homely.
The restaurant surprised us with a lemon cheesecake when they realized we were celebrating KW's birthday. It was a wee bit too tart for KW, but perfect for me! What can I say, I'm a sucker for a pucker.
Although Casa Tartufo wasn't our first or second choice, I'm glad we spent this lovely occasion at this stately yet homely restaurant. They have a beautiful private room, I can only imagine how lovely it must been to hold a small party there. Buon appetite!
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