Casa Vostra Review: New Italian Restaurant In City Hall With Chio Interiors, Handmade Pastas And More

Casa Vostra is a new Italian restaurant at Raffles City

Casa Vostra, which recently opened at Raffles City, is headed by Chef Antonio, who is also behind La Bottega Enoteca. In case you didn’t know, La Bottega Enoteca is known as Singapore’s top pizzeria in 2024! This is Casa Vostra’s first brick-and-mortar restaurant, with their previous concept being a pop-up at Ann Siang Hill. Here, you can expect the same well-loved menu featuring their slow-fermented Newpolitan pizzas and handmade pasta made from scratch!

Food at Casa Vostra

Before we dive into their offerings, let’s talk about what makes Casa Vostra’s pizzas so special. We were told that the scioglievole mouthfeel, which means melt-in-your-mouth in Italian, does the trick! The pizzas here are grouped into three flavour categories: Newpolitan Red, Newpolitan White, and Doublecrunch. The pizzas in the Newpolitan Red series use a tomato-based sauce, which is made from high quality Italian San Marzano tomatoes that are known to have a balance of sweet and tangy flavours. 

If you are not a fan of tomato base, they have the Newpolitan White, which swaps the tomato sauce for cheese. On the more innovative side of things, they also have the Doublecrunch, consisting of a variety of fillings sandwiched between two pieces of pizza dough. Just think of it as a hybrid between a pizza and a sandwich.

Before we dug into the highly anticipated pizzas, we started with the Frittatina Lasagne ($8++), a deep-fried lasagna with beef filling. When the starter arrived at our tables, we were slightly taken aback by its size, which was no bigger than the size of a palm. 

When we cut into the crispy exterior and pulled apart the layers of lasagna, we were greeted by the beef and pancetta cheese filling, which in its simplicity, was quite enjoyable. But for the price paid, the portion was measly, and we’d be hesitant to order this during any subsequent visits. 

We had to see if the pizzas were the real deal, so we settled for two of the restaurant’s signatures: the Gamberi ($28++), and Tartufo e Funghi ($28++). The former is part of Casa Vostra’s Newpolitan Red, while the latter is part of the Newpolitan White series.

The Gamberi was topped with fresh Argentinian prawns, which were both juicy and sweet, and genuinely one of the best prawns I’ve tasted. Unfortunately, I had a bone to pick with the sauce. Considering how high in quality the tomatoes are, I was expecting a rich flavour, but it was instead on the blander side.

The saving grace was definitely the restaurant’s signature pizza crust, which gave it an amazing smoky flavour and impeccable texture. It was exactly how I expected it to be—soft, chewy, easy to tear apart, and crispy in the crust.

The Tartufo e Funghi was topped with fresh black truffle, mushrooms, and drizzled in a copious amount of truffle oil. Unlike the Gamberi, this had me on a chokehold with the rich and earthy flavours. The base is made up of a combination of two Italian cheeses: Fior di latte, a milder cheese, and Taleggio, a tangier cheese.

Being a fan of truffle, I enjoyed this quite a lot. My colleague, who was not such a huge fan of truffle, had found it a tad too pungent. I would advise you to go for this only if you can appreciate the aromatic, strong truffle flavour.  

And finally, we tried a pizza I’d never thought of trying—the Acciughe ($20++). I say this as anchovy pizza was a first for me! This pizza was topped with slivers of anchovies, which might strike the average Singaporean as unconventional. But in Italy, it is commonly enjoyed by many locals for its piquant, umami flavour. 

The anchovies had a melt-in-your-mouth texture which I appreciated. In terms of flavour, it leaned briny, which became a tad too much when paired with the cheese. 

Although the refreshing tang of the olives and roasted yellow tomatoes did a decent job at cutting through the briny flavours, the anchovies would have fared better with say, a tomato sauce instead. 

Moving on to the pasta, we ordered the Crab Tagliatelle ($26++), another of Casa Vostra’s signature. This dish came with a generous amount of tender crab flesh, tomato confit, and a sauce made using olive oil, garlic, and butter. The sauce was simple but it really tied the dish together while allowing the star of the dish, the crab, to shine through. 

The choice of tagliatelle for our pasta was spot on. It was thick and flat, giving it a nice bite. Plus, it absorbed all of the sauce well. It was also cooked to a perfect al dente, which gave it a delightfully springy texture. Overall, the dish was neither complicated nor boasted tons of layers in terms of flavour, but its simplicity made up for a deliciously comforting dish. 

Ambience at Casa Vostra 

Casa Vostra has a semi-open kitchen concept, granting us the privilege of seeing how some of the food was prepared. We were especially amazed to see the pizzas tossed into the large wood-fired oven. Also, we got to see Chef Antonio in action, as he diligently and quickly worked on the fresh pasta dough. It was also nice that the space was well-lit with lots of vibrant colours, making for a pretty space to dine and wine with loved ones.

The verdict

Although the pizzas were not exactly my cup of tea, I attribute this opinion more to the toppings compared to the actual pizza base and dough. I still really enjoyed the pizza crust and could see why the restaurant is known for this!

Casa Vostra has a large indoor seating capacity, but they see quite a busy crowd during lunch hour so be sure to arrive in advance if you want to avoid the queue. Additionally, they do have a small outdoor seating area. For easy access, the restaurant is located at Raffles City Shopping Centre, which is connected to City Hall MRT Station.

Address: 252 North Bridge Road, #01-49/50/51, Raffles City Shopping Centre, Singapore 179103
Opening hours: Daily 11:30am to 10pm
Website
Casa Vostra is not a halal-certified eatery. 

Photos taken by Paula Formantes.
This was a media tasting at Casa Vostra.