Trailing Gouger Street - Passatempo and A Taste of Spice

In the mood for a bit of pizza and pasta its back to Gouger Street in search of some Italiano grub. Passatempo served up some very average pizza - no tricks - nothing fancy here. The pizza was not thin crust and was not baked to perfection either. I would have preffered it a bit thinner and crispier although the toppings - I opted for a marinara weren'nt spectacular, but not bad either.


The lamb parmigano was not as tasty as I have had in other restaurants back home in Bangalore. It lacked a bit of punch, the cheese and the lamb sort of just sitting there together, neither of them making the dish stand out and complement each other as the connotations of the menu suggested. On the whole the meal was passe` - average Americanised Italian cuisine.

I tried my luck further down Gouger Street, at A Taste of Spice an Asian restaurant speciailising in Malay and Indonesian food after a persisting weeklong craving for Laksa got the better of me. The warmly, spiced, coconut broth filled with the goodness of aromatic tumeric spices, fresh pieces of prawn, squid, silken tofu, chicken and noodles was exactly as I envisoned it. The only thing it lacked was the quail eggs I was dreaming about. Although it was a hot day, one of the last bursts of the heatwave, I gave into my desire for the Indonesian dish and devoured it thoroughly satisfied. Our side order of ikan billis (crisp, deep fried anchovies) and chicken satay sticks made for delightful accompaniments.