What does a graffiti-laden-facade 1 man kitchen bring to the student suburb Carlton? Authentic pizzas and minimalistic pastas! Housed in a shop opposite the Lincoln Square skate park, Kaprica sits quietly in its spot only to be revealed by buzz of patrons buy pulling stringy mozzarella apart and twirling their pastas. Needless to say, I was one of them.
That day we ordered a couple of pastas to go around the table and a pizza to share. To start was a serve of garlic and chill prawns topped with parsley. Unlike most prawns that come out in a cream based sauce, these were panfried an topped with crispy bits of garlic and chilli that was a mix of salty fragrant goodness!
With the bread that came as a starter, I mopped up the tasty oil that has been infused with the flavours of garlic and chilli. Quite a joy it was!
Next up was a pork sausage, with fennel and chilli pizza. The pastry at Kaprica is thin, light and fluffy. Every bite into the pizza was not greeted by a hard crust but a crisp one and when you tear it apart, you know it has been made just right. Despite it being a fairly large pizza, I could have easily ate the whole thing by myself :P!
The toppings on the pizza was not over the top. Instead it capitalised on quality produce like homemade sausages and fresh herbs. Kaprica’s home made sausages were absolutely more-ish. Have it paired with the little bits of pungent onions and chilli sprinkled on the top and the pizza experience became even better !! Also, I do not know how Kaprica does its tomato base but it was highly commendable. It struck the right balance between its acidity and sweetness.
Next was a mushroom fettuccine in a cream based sauce XL’s friend’s choice.
Its approach was simple, slices of plump swiss mushrooms, silky pasta, lashings of cream and a generous grating of parmesan. Despite looking rather heavy, the pasta as a whole was really yummy and light. Even more so when shared amongst the table. It was a bit of a surprise win this one!
Gnocchi Napolitana was XL’s order.
Fluffy little pillows that were cooked just spot on. Neither was it mushy on the outside or doughy on the inside. I quite enjoyed the flavours on the plate but is not quite sure whether I could eat the whole plate by myself. Sure, the over all flavours were quite traditional and basic but the tomato sauce-cheese combination just did not seem substantially interesting enough for me down it solo!
Fettuccini alle Vongole was Mei and Hendra’s choice for the table.
The briny flavours of the clam brings a whiff of the sea to plate. Imagining the little pieces of fleshy clams paired with a sweet white wine sauce and freshly chopped parsley almost made this dish the winner of the night. But twirling my fork through the noodles, I soon found a systematic error. The food in Kaprica needed more salt. Perhaps my taste buds have been polluted by the heavily flavoured food I have had in the last few days but a tad more salt would be very nice!
Simple, traditional and satisfying are three words I would use to describe the food at Kaprica. There is no try hard, sugar-coated dishes but instead, honest dishes that keeps the meal simple. But do not worry, the handwritten menu at Kaprica changes depending on what’s in season so it remains simple but never boring :)! Simply sublime. This was another great introduction by XL’s friend KK.
WenY
