BRUNCH Pizza for your Sunday BRUNCH? Italian Cuisine, wood-fired Brunch Pizza - with cheese that simply melts in your mouth & the delightful crisp of a perfectly made thin-crust pizza. Simply irresistible!!

The restaurant is actually located in an area that's quite inaccessible unless you drive but surprisingly, it is always packed with a good dinner crowd especially, even on weekdays. Despite the location, their pricing is on par with restaurants in the town area. But the food is nice and they carry decent collection of wine. The owner is very hospitable, goes around chatting up the diners to make sure they are pleased with the food and service. All in all, the place gives you a cosy feel almost as if you are having dinner at home. However, be prepared to spend $$$.

Read the full review at http://thehungrybunnie.blogspot.com I think, this is the north\'s answer to the west\'s Valentino\'s (it\'s probably not as authentic as Valentino\'s, which is run by actual Italians, but Rubato\'s probably the best the north has for Italian food). If you\'re dining over the weekends or during the peak meal hours, be sure to make reservations to avoid disappointment, because the restaurant\'s so small. Also, a word of caution to those driving there, parking is a pain, so be sure to go early to avoid the crowd. Or car-pool. A weird thing we noticed about the menu though, is that the mains cost about the same as the starters, as well as the desserts! So the mains are comparatively cheap but the starters and desserts are seemingly expensive. I suppose, if you order only mains, it\'ll be considered a cheap meal. But if you order starters and dessert, then it\'ll be considered an expensive meal. We had: 1) Carpaccio di Manzo con Olio Extravergine di Oliva ($20.80) - beef carpaccio drizzled with extra-virgin olive oil, rocket salad, parmesan shavings: admittedly generic, but still one of the better ones we\'ve eaten. There was a clarity of flavours that was so refreshing 2) Capesante Avvolto in Prosciutto di Parma con Una Salsa Grappa ($22.80): sea scallops wrapped in Parma ham drizzled with Grappa sauce, and interspersed with dollops of salsa - LOVED this 3) Oven-Baked Chicken ($20.80) with rosemary: possibly the only downer of the meal, especially in light of the outstanding other dishes. The mashed potatoes were tasteless and the chicken thigh was miserably teensy. That said, the chicken was seasoned well and reasonably juicy and moist 4) Risotto alla Polpa di Granchio, Paprica dolce e Pomodorini ($22.80): risotto with crabmeat, sweet paprika and cherry tomatoes was commendable. It was a big portion, but it wasn\'t cloying one bit. The textures of the crabmeat seemed of the frozen variety but the flavours seemed fresh. Also, there were bits of shell in the crabmeat.

I always seem to gravitate towards Italian cuisine for it\'s hearty fare and substantial carbo fix, and it was to Rubato that my family decided to have a simple birthday dinner for my daughter.The resturant is nestled in a row of shophouses in the Clover Way/Jalan Pemimpin private residential and industrial area.So it does feel kind of strange as you drive past flatted factories and warehouses before arriving at the resturant. The restaurant had a cosy, modern feel with both indoor and outdoor dining areas.We chose to sit indoors because of the heat and the haze.However, the comfort of being indoors did not make up for the patchy service. They were kind enough to let us be seated though we arrived early before opening time.It took a while for them to serve us water and bread even when it was past the opening time.When we wanted some soup because one of our family members was starting to experience gastric pains, they said they could not serve as the chef had not arrived!Surely, the soup is already made and heating up in the kitchen and the junior chef or kitchen assistant could easily dish it up!They then offered bread to start and the soup also came shortly after.I think they saw the logic that they do not need the chef for that bowl of soup! I do not have a picture of the Soup with Organic Field Mushrooms but it smelt good with truffle oil.Unfortunately, the aftertaste was slightly bitter, and needed some getting used to.The Charcoal Grilled Squid was slightly overdone and thus a bit chewy but the smoky taste and freshness of the squid made up for it.Ummm, the Spaghetti Vongole was lovely with very fresh and juicy clams.The gravy was also thick and tasted of the sea but not overpowering.I found the Gnocchi too cheesy and heavy but my daughter liked it.The cream sauce on the Spaghetti Carbonara was too thick and they were very generous with the bacon which made the smell and taste of the pork overpowering.Rubato will get its wait staff serve the Birthday boy/girl a dessert on the house with the birthday song. My daughter waited 2 hours for her birthday treat to be served but was well reward by a flavourful panna cotta with a generous serving of caramel syrup.Spending: Approximately SGD 25