Food Review: Pete’s Place at Grand Hyatt Singapore | A taste of Italy at Orchard Road

Posted on July 17, 2016 by theRantingPanda in Food

As part of the Weekender Foodmania Awards 2016, this is the second of our three-part series on restaurants nominated in each of the categories of this year’s awards – American, Italian and Steak. On the Italian food category, which saw Pete’s Place (at Grand Hyatt Singapore), Osteria Mozza (at Marina Bay Sands) and District 10 coming up top with public voting. Here’s what we have to say of the 3 restaurants.

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The Place One of the many concepts housed in the Grand Hyatt Singapore, Pete’s Place is located just down a flight of stairs from the main entrance of the hotel. The experience at Pete’s Place begins the moment you stepped into the restaurant. The old rustic vibe completed with brick walls, wooden finishes and wood-fired ovens, you have been seemingly transported to Italy just by a walking down the stairways.

The Food Expect authentic Italian fare here, no surprises as Pete’s Place sticks to dishing out hearty traditional meals all well plated in the finest of dinnerwares. Affordable set dinners (at S$41), with free flow salad, pizza or pasta of your choice and dessert of the day, are available daily here as well. We managed to try some of the soon-to-be-available Italian dishes which the new chef at Pete’s Place has prepared.

This Eggplant Parmigiana (Price to be determined) is a must once it gets on the menu. Just for this, I will return again to savour this. Basically, a parmigiana will have deep-fried slices of eggplants layered with cheese and tomato sauce and this is then baked at high temperatures creating a lasagne-texture dish. For the love of melted cheese and eggplant, this is the must-try here.

While the eggplant was a joy, the Fritto Misto (S$26) was not a favourite for me. Basically a starter of fried seafood, including Calamari, Hokkaido Scallops, Tiger Prawns and some whitebait, didn’t feel the dish had anything to impress the diners.

Another new item here at Pete’s Place is the Risotto de Funghi & Prawns (Price to be determined), and another one you should definitely try. Well executed, strong mushrooms undertones, and you can actually sample this through an existing item on the menu now – Risotto Funghi (S$29).

Not really an antipasti, not truly a pizza, this Burrata Pizza (Price to be determined) combines the tomato-base dough with a spread of burrata to complete the simple, yet appetizing pizza. The burrata comes from the new chef’s hometown in Italy, and we heard he is still planning to overhaul the menu with more of the fresh ingredients imported from Italy.

Had thought that the Cacciucco alla Livornese (S$34) would be a hearty dish, but I was let down by the pungent tomato stew which overpowered the seafood – a mixture of sustainable market fish selection of the day, scallop, king prawns, mussels, squids and white baits.

To conclude the meal, we kept to the Italian classic dessert. The Tiramisu (S$12) sprung no surprises and it shouldn’t; just what we would love a Tiramisu to be.

Rants Not the most consistent of restaurants, there were hits and misses as much as I love the interior and ambience of the restaurant.

Will I return again? For the reasonably priced dinner set, yes. Furthermore, this is one of the rare good Italian restaurant well located in Orchard Road.

Make your reservation instantly at Pete’s Place here.

TheRantingPanda says:
Taste bud: 3.5/5
Hole in the pocket: 3.5/5
Ambience: 4/5
Overall Experience: 4/5

Pete’s Place
10 Scotts Road
Lobby Basement
Grand Hyatt Singapore
Singapore 228211
Tel: +65 6839 5623

Opening Hours:
Monday to Sunday: 12 to 2.30pm, 6 to 10.30pm

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Osteria Mozza

The more refined wing of the Mozza restaurants at Marina Bay Sands, Osteria Mozza serves up some of the best Italian fare in the country we have ever savoured. Go for the Antipasti and Pastas here, which we found the most gratifying, and yes, pair them with a bottle of fine Italian wine with recommendations from the restaurant’s sommelier. Loving the vibes here, as Osteria doesn’t take itself too seriously with their selection of pop music, and that open concept restaurants where you can enjoy some people watching – while sipping that red wine of yours.

Osteria Mozza
2 Bayfront Avenue
B1-42-46, Galleria Level
The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands
Singapore 018956
Tel: +65 6688 8868

Opening Hours:
Monday to Sunday: 5 to 11pm

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District 10

With a chain of 4 restaurants today in Singapore, each of District 10 restaurant seek to deliver a different side of Europe to their diners. Spanish at Star Vista, English at Clarke Quay, and Italian at UE Square, all complete with the same extensive drinks menu. Alas, the meal at District 10 UE Square was slightly run-of-the-mill, although these serve to be good bar bites to go with your alcohol of the day.

Make your reservation instantly at District 10 UE Square here.