Valentino's Pasta Stop in Hougang, Singapore

Even though we haven't been to Valentino's in a number of years, it has always been one of the better restaurants around town. Still, it's not cheap. So when we heard that he opened up a hawker stall at the Ci Yuan Community Centre (51 Hougang Avenue 9), we knew that we had to go check it out one day. This evening, we happened to be just five minutes away.

It was hard to find this stall at first, as there wasn't really any Valentino signage anywhere (it was just called "The Pasta Stop"). Even when we got to stall 27, it didn't look right. The menu featured things like pepper steak, fish and chips, and garlic bread; basically, things that you would expect at a Hainanese "Western Food" stall. Indeed, I never would have thought this place to be from Valentino's if I hadn't read about it beforehand.

But once we the food arrived, it was unmistakably Valentino's, especially with his use of whole garlic cloves in the aglio olio. Most importantly, everything was executed perfectly, with firm pasta and just the right amount of cream and salt to dress the noodles. The ingredients weren't anything great, but it was dirt cheap. I really hope that he and Ah Bong's are the start of more affordably-priced (yet properly cooked) pasta around here.