Francoforte Spaghetti Bar

Having read the rave reviews of many a blogger, xielijuu and i were pumped to try out Franco's. On multiple of our IS Donburi runs, we had studied the menu and promised ourselves that we would come try it out one day. When dinner plans on Roe street were abruptly changed, our opportunity arose and as luck would have it, we immediately found a table at the center of the Spaghetti Bar.

Our army of 3 trooped in and made our order of 4 small servings of pasta with military precision. Why oh why did we not pay attention to dinewhitme 's advice of starting off with the antipasto and ending it with the tiramisu. WE WERE GREEDY. Guilty as charged. We were keen to try a bit of everything on the menu.

On the way in, we had noticed that many tables had yet to be served. We remained undeterred, but every time the wait staff walked by with bowls of pasta, my heart died a little. After 30 minutes of hell, our pasta was served.

Unfortunately these were the only photos i was able to take before we began inhaling the pasta. 

We had the Guanciale Carbonara - Cured pigs cheek, parmasan and pecorino cheese which came with pasta instead of penne. While many had adored this dish, i found myself underwhelmed. I found the sauce too watery and bland. The saving grace was the cured pigs cheek that was intensely salty and gave punch to an otherwise bordering tasteless dish.

The Porco Rosso - Italian tomato sugo and traditional pork sausage. I wish there were a stronger tomato flavor to this dish. i honestly was underwhelmed. I was thankful for the salt and pepper shakers provided on the table, which would be put to good use. 

Kale Pesto - Kale and lemon pesto with pine nuts, pecorino cheese and cacciatore sausage. Now this one was not that bad. With a bit more olive oil and garlic, i could be persuaded. However, our very own xielijuu is capable of a more flavorful version than this. Do leave a comment if you are interested in his recipe, im sure he can be persuaded to share.

Squid in Vino - Baby squid, chickpeas and white wine. Now this was the crowdpleaser. For all the negative comments i had about the other 3 dishes, this one made up for. Heck i would go back for this one. Generous amounts of baby squid and chickpeas every forkful, this dish was well seasoned and delightful. Definitely a winner.


Perhaps it had been a long night and the staff were under high stress and overwhelmed. But the waitstaff were completely lovely and friendly, the prices extremely reasonable and every single strand of pasta served was cooked perfectly al dente. Which brings me to another point, wouldnt you expect a place specializing in pasta to make their own pasta??

Either way, comment down below and tell me what you think.

Claryfairyy