Kabe no Ana was established in Japan in 1953, introducing wafu (Japanese-style) pasta to the world. It reminds me of my first introduction to Japanese-style pasta at Yomenya Goemen (CityLink).
Kabe no Ana’s first and only outlet in Singapore is located at the basement of NEX Shopping Centre in Serangoon. It is a little hidden, so finding it was like discovering a hidden treasure.
Kabe no Ana does an excellent job of blending Japanese and European styles into the design of the restaurant. The wooden partitions and wooden tables and chairs are definitely Japanese, but the stained glass lamps are very European.
The central wall is covered with wooden photograph frames depicting coloured mouth-watering dishes that Kabe no Ana has created and black and white photographs of older restaurants.
I am not one to normally order side dishes, but this Salmon Acqua Pazza looked so tempting, I just couldn’t help but order it. A thick slab of salmon, four big mussels and clams are cooked with anchovies, cherry tomatoes and black olives in Kabe no Ana’s special white wine sauce. The seafood has absorbed the flavours from all the accompaniments and they taste absolutely amazing.
Kabe no Ana boasted that they invented the mentaiko pasta in 1967. Although I have no way of verifying that piece of information, I decided to order a plate of Mentaiko Carbonara to see how good their mentaiko pasta is. Al dente spaghetti is cooked with bacon and spicy cod roe carbonara sauce, topped with an onsen egg. I like that the carbonara sauce is not shockingly creamy and the spicy cod roe is only slightly spicy.
I was recommended Kabe no Ana’s homemade Tiramisu for dessert. I think the tiramisu tastes great on its own, the chocolate ice-cream and chocolate syrup are quite redundant. I love the smoothness of the mascarpone cheese and the light coffee flavour. It’s so good, I almost wanted to lick the plate.
Kabe no Ana
Address: 23 Serangoon Central, NEX #B1-80 (within Shokotsu Ten Japanese Food Street), Singapore 556083
Telephone: 66348024