Address: 20 Cross Street Exchange, #01-36, Singapore 048441

OR 18 Tanjong Pagar Road, Singapore, 088441

Cuisine: Italian

Nearest MRT for Cross Street outlet: Telok Ayer (Downtown line) / Chinatown (Downtown/ Northeast line) MRT station

Luka Italian – Dining / Pizza / Bar at Cross Street officially opened on 24th February 2019 while the other outlet was opened in 2017. The restaurant is known for their affordable food, wine and delightful service. The restaurant exudes a cosy and stylish vibe for a relaxed evening with friends. They have two outlets – at Tanjong Pagar and Cross Street Exchange. Even with the COVID-19 outbreak, many people were still seen dining out and the crowd at Luka on a Saturday night was full. We had wanted to visit the Tanjong Pagar outlet at first but it was fully booked.

This is my third consecutive week having Italian cuisine. Since my friend wanted to try it, so I went ahead with the idea. The names of the dishes are in Japanese because of the chef’s origins, but he still manages to cook up a storm with authentic Italian fare in the kitchen.

LuKa’s signature dishes include appetizer Luka Housemade Wagyu Bresaola ($12), side dish 62-Degree Egg with Wagyu & Uni ($10), Plin Agnolotti ravioli ($18), and Prosciutto e Rucola Burrata pizza ($23).

For starters, we had a beer. Surprisingly, they offer beer from Czech Republic – Pisner Urquell on tap, which I had tried it while visiting the country. With the price for a pint of Urquell in Singapore, I could easily buy 4-5 beers in Czech. Anyway, I decided to go for the London Pale Ale while another friend ordered the Blue Moon.

The interior of the restaurant was dimly lit and there was also a bar area facing the sidewalk. As we had made our reservation late, we were allocated seats at the bar area, which was air-conditioned. We could have gotten the al fresco dining seats, but we preferred to eat indoors.

Being a typical Italian restaurant, there was pizza and pasta on the menu, as well as some grilled meat for the main course. For the appetisers, it ranged from $7 – $35 which can be quite steep and at other restaurants, the equivalent of the price of a main course.

We ordered Ikasumi (squid ink pasta – $24), Mentaiko & Ikura (salmon roe pasta – $24) and Proscuitto e Rucola Burrata Pizza (Parma ham pizza – $32) to be shared among the three of us.

The Ikasumi pasta arrived with a sprinkle of parsley to give a contrast of the black ink. The pasta was delicious and the squid was not overcooked. As usual, eating this pasta left a black stain on our teeth and mouth.

Next up, the Mentaiko & Ikura pasta. It consists of salmon roe, mentaiko cream and mascapone cheese to give it the creamy base. The first few mouthfuls were tasty, but when the pasta got cold, the sauce was a bit too concentrated for my liking. I was also disappointed that there was no ingredient in this pasta, except for the salmon roe which you bit into and it released a minute flavour of omega oils in your mouth. It would have been better if they could add in bits of salmon.

Lastly, the Proscuitto e Rucola Burrata Pizza arrived. Since it was wood oven-baked, it took a slightly longer time. The crust was slightly charred from the baking process. There was a generous serving of parma ham, mozzarella cheese, burrata cheese (which is expensive as it’s made from fresh cow milk), arugula and cherry tomatoes. The parma ham had evenly thin slices, as we witnessed the chef slicing it using a manual machine. While the ingredients were fresh, the pizza was small for its price and the crust became chewy after a while. The crust at the sides was too thick and could have been evenly spread out during the kneading process. I still prefer my pizza from Pepperoni or Supply & Demand.

After dinner, we proceeded to Wine Connection nearby for some drinks. Even though Luka also has a good selection of wine, but we felt that the seating arrangement was uncomfortable and not conducive for chatting. While the menu had several signature food items, some of the items were priced on the steep side. Other than the high quality food at this restaurant, the service staff were prompt and refilled our glasses of water frequently. However, I would still stick with my perennial Italian favourite restaurants next time.