Pasta.
What are the first few words that come to your mind when you hear that word?
"Comfort food", " Delicious", "Lip-smacking good" and "Rich" are just some of the phrases.
Pasta is all of that and more, simple in essence but difficult to master.
So I had the privilege to be invited to this pasta-tasting event organized by Nuffnang and PizzaHut at this cozy Pizza Hut outlet in Suntec City, at which Pizza Hut would unveil two of their latest flavours to twenty fortunate food bloggers, just a single day before they would be available to the public.
Arriving at the venue at 6.30 pm, we were ushered into the restaurant, where I was surprised to find that 16 of the 20 bloggers present were women ( a full 80 percent !) So it does seem that, much more than other dishes, pasta seems to be a woman's dish.
*Starters*
Back to the event- at 6.50p.m. , little time was wasted and the starters were immediately brought out- the Tofu salad which consisted of numerous cubes of fishcake, not tofu as mentioned, accompanied with fresh greens- certainly a most refreshing start to the meal.
Rating:7/10
Next up was the usual plate of which was absolutely delicious.
Rating:8/10
*Main Course*
Finally, at 7.15 pm, the the much awaited Parchment Pastas were served. 2 pastas were to be served, both very different in character and style.
First up was the Char-grilled Chicken Parchment, which, as the name suggests, came contained in a tightly wrapped parchment held together by a single peg. The presentation style was pretty unique- Think about it- How often do you see pasta wrapped up like this? Not only is it refreshingly innovative, this method of cooking/serving the pasta also enhances the flavours by keeping them well-contained. Unwrapping the parchment is also a unique experience- almost like opening a wrapped present to catch a glimpse of the treasure within.
Upon carefully opening the parchment, a fragrant garlicky aroma wafted out, immediately whetting my appetite . I inspected the dish. It looked most appealing, consisting of a cream-based pasta infused with generous amounts of char-grilled chicken, turkey bacon, fresh button mushrooms, garlic and capsicums.
Char-grilled Chicken Parchment -$11.90 - smooth and flavourful !Taking the first bite, I was overwhelmed with the delicious flavours of the cream base, as well as the garlic, capsicum and other ingredients which blended harmoniously together. The noodles were smooth and certainly well-cooked- not too soggy or hard, while the slices of grilled chicken were delightfully tender. This dish certainly hits the umami spot- it is appetizing and flavourful without being too rich or salty.
Rating : 8/10
Spicy Seafood Parchment -$12.90 - spicy and appetizing !The next dish to be served was the much anticipated Spicy Seafood Parchment which consists of linguine in a spicy tomato sauce sauce served with fresh mussels, prawns and squids. The dish came served with several slices of chili padi added to it which would certainly up a notch where spiciness was concerned.
Upon opening the parchment with great enthusiasm, I realized that the aroma wafting from it was noticeably fainter than that of the Char-grilled Chicken Parchment, most likely due to the absence of garlic. .
Upon taking the first bite, the sour, spicy and slightly sweet flavours leapt out at me. The dish was loud, exciting and attention-grabbing.. I found the level of spiciness to be quite-moderate, and not overly spicy, as the dish is probably catered to the average customer. The spicy tomato-based sauce went perfectly with the mussels and linguine in a most appetizing manner. However something seemed to be missing- the seafood flavours present seemed to be rather mild, not quite as strong as I would have liked it to be. Instead the tomato-base was overwhelming- appetizing nonetheless, but would have been more tasty with a greater seafood flavour.
This dish would certainly find favour with more more adventurous palates, as compared to the Char-grilled Chicken Parchment, more suitable for those who prefer cream-based pastas.
Rating: 7.5/10
*Desserts*
After two most fulfilling pasta dishes, it was time for dessert. Slices of oreo cheesecake and banana chocolate mousse were served, being fonder of cheesecake I naturally preferred the oreo cheesecake. The only problem was that, by this point of time, most people were already too full to fully enjoy the desserts.
Rating: 7.5/10
Time passed rather quickly and at 8.15 we gathered for a final group photo, ending a most enjoyable night of feasting.
Many thanks to Nuffnang and Pizza Hut for organizing this event !
What are you waiting for ? Get down to pizza hut to savour these mouth-watering creations !
*Afterthoughts*
Although I felt that the event was generally well-organized and enjoyable, I have several suggestions for possible improvement.
- Reduce the serving size of the pasta. The serving portion seemed to be the usual serving size which was too much as there were 2 different servings to be served. In the end this led to a fair amount of wastage. The serving size should be reduced to 60-70% of the normal portion and this makes it more unlikely that one would be too full to consume much of the second pasta.
- Serve the Spicy Seafood Parchment first. Being spicy and more appetizing than the other pasta, this dish would help to whet one's appetite. I don't think that serving the cream-based pasta is such a good idea as cream-based pastas tend to make one feel full more quickly, reducing one's appetite for the next dish.
