Cova

selection of cova pastries

there's something about this place that just screams opulence. from the moment i stepped in, memories of the bund in shanghai cropped up into my tiny little head. it seems eerily familiar. the middle of the mall atmosphere that leaves you slightly uncomfortable, seemingly being a victim of voyeur from shoppers and little children walking around in tiny costumes and squeeky shoes. and yet, the decor and beauty of the place makes you feel like you're stuck in your own world, as though two parallel universes collided and merged in time and space.

it seems a little over the top, but thats exactly the way that you feel when you come here. cova is a newly opened establishment located in paragon mall. its on the first floor of the mall, right at the back (closer to mt elizabeth area). its an open concept restaurant, which has two parts. the restaurant, and the tea room which is enclosed in the corner. the restaurant houses a nicely stocked bar for those who fancy a mid day drink. the decor in marvelous. brightly lit yellow, old english style decor with waitstaff dressed smartly in suits. the service is impeccable, and you can tell that they've been highly trained. from the way they serve your food to the way they present the bill, the service here is a hallmark of exellence. the place has been said to be very tai tai, where housewives of rich men come to take a break from all their boutique indulgence at paragon. and thats a great way to describe it.

salmon quiche - 8.5/10

d and i decided to have lunch here. she's been begging me to come here ever since it opened. i secretly suspect that she's trying to practice her tai tai-ness. "darling, would you like some tea?" she says to me in a thick english accent. so much for med school. think they fried those pretty brains of hers. (strangely, i never noticed much difference though) we sat down and we were presented with the set menu and the ala carte menu. the set menu looked pretty interesting, and you can have either a 2 course starter and entree (plus dessert) or three course where they serve you a second entree. prices are about $30-40, which is ok relative to the ala carte menu in which each entree is already $30+. i decided to get the squid ink with scallops and prawns in white wine sauce, and d had the veal ravioli with mushroom sauce, both from the ala carte menu. i substituted linguini for the tagliolini cause i'm sure you know how much i love linguini. we also ordered the salmon quiche (which is kind of like a savoury pie) to share.

the first to arrive was the quiche. i took a casual glance at it. not bad. looks alright i guess. like any normal quiche. i took my fork and gently cut through it. the fork glided right through. the texture was delicately soft. i put it into my mouth and tasted it. it was amazingly soft and delicious. you could taste the slight cheesyness of the quiche. the salmon was blended in very well into the custard and you can taste the distinct features of it when you bit into it. this was surprisingly good.

linguini with scallops and prawns in white wine sauce - 9/10

our mains arrived together. the linguini looked very presentable. i actually totally forgot that it was white wine sauce, as i was expecting a squid ink sauce. but this turned out to be fantastic. one of the most memorable pastas i've had. i haven't had many good white wine pastas, and cova surely makes a very good one. the sauce is slightly thick, with a yummy mild salty-creamy taste to it. the taste of the seafood really came through the sauce, and it was extremely tasty. i was thoroughly impressed. the portions were a little tiny though. but it really left me wanting much more.

homemade ravioli filled with braised veal and porcini mushroom sauce - 8.5/10

the ravioli was very good too. the soft and tender veal enclaves where delicious, with a thick mushroom sauce that brought the dish to life. there was enough meat to give the ravioli a nice touch, yet not too much to overpower the pasta itself.

we had the cova pastries too. cova is supposed to be famous for their pastries. so we had to try it. i'm not much of a pastry person, but d is a huge sweet goods fan. she eats anything sweet. sugar, brown sugar, powdered sugar. it all sounds good to her. but anyway, she said the pastries were really good. they're extremely tiny though.

to be honest, i didn't really expect much from this place. being specialized in pastry, i thought they wouldn't do too well in the savoury foods department. but i think i was wrong. i was impressed by all three dishes that came out, especially the white wine pasta. that was really a winner, and something that deserves a return visit soon.

290 Orchard Road
#01-20A Paragon Shopping Centre
Tel: 6733 0777