Pastamania - Chefs' Creations 4: Beef Ragu Alla Toscana

So Pastamania is again releasing their promotion for their Chefs' Creations!
This is a chance for their chefs to come up with some inventive pasta creations to delight us.
But would their creations be any good??

I remember that they had some nice items that eventually became permanent items on the menu such as their Beef Pastrami Pasta and Seafood Tom Yum so I guess some might be quite good right?
Let's hope this round yields some delicious results.

They have 3 pasta dishes (Beef Ragu Alla Toscana, Gamberetti Alla Siciliana and Pasta Al Pesto Genovese) and 2 different pizzas (Pizza Alle Olive In Crosta and Pizza Con Spinaci).
All sounds interesting but any good?

Beef Ragu Alla Toscana ($14.90)

I decided to try the Beef Ragu Alla Toscana because I was in the mood for some meat (as usual).

A 'ragu' is basically an Italian beef stew which means a nice rich hearty stock and creamy finish and definitely some tender morsels of beef that is simply gonna melt in your mouth. So was that the case with the Beef Ragu Alla Toscana?

I'm afraid not.

The beef was in bite-sized pieces so all the more I was expecting it to be extra tender since it would have been easier to cook to succulent perfection. But somehow, they managed to not do that at all.
The beef was a little on the tough side (perhaps the wrong cut of beef???) and wasn't very tasty at all.
In fact, it seemed like the beef was cooked separately and then mixed in with the stock and pasta when cooked instead of stewed like a traditional 'ragu'.

The creamy ragu had some beef flavour but was not really that fantastic to be honest.
And the choice of pasta won't make much of a difference here. I had linguini just for the record.
It comes with a slice of garlic spread baguette which was rock-hard. Not freshly toasted like the bread you'd get if you ordered the Garlic Bread on the side.

The description is "Chunks of tender Italian-style beef stew pasta with crispy bread on the side".
So far the bread has been on the side and that's it.

Combo A Upgrade (Garlic Bread, Clam Chowder and Drink)

For $5.70, you can add-up some extras like Garlic Bread, some soup and a drink so you can have a full meal to go with your pasta as usual. This option is available all the time and not just this promo btw.

As you can see from the picture above, the Garlic bread looks SO MUCH BETTER than the slice they serve with the pasta. It's freshly toasted (as it should be) and a delight compared to the slice of cardboard they served with my Beef Ragu Pasta.

The Clam Chowder however was not very nice. Bland and boring is the best way to put it.
I know I sound really mean but I'm just speaking the truth. I think even the Clam Chowder from Long John Silver's is better than this one. Yes. That's right. A fast food restaurant.

Adam's Verdict:
Beef Ragu Alla Toscana 1/5 -- Garlic Bread 3.5/5 -- Clam Chowder 1/5

For the exorbitant price of $14.90, you'd expect to have at least a decent dish of pasta served to you.
So many cheaper and tastier pasta dishes are available on the menu that would be more worth your money and trouble.

I'm not sure if it was the dish that sucked or just so happens that this particular outlet cooked it badly.
And I'm not sure about the rest of the dishes in this special promo contest but I'm sorry - the Beef Ragu Alla Toscana will not be getting my vote.

Pastamania

Downtown East
#02-125 1 Pasir Ris Close

Tel: 6275 555
www.pastamania.com.sg

Operating Hours:
10.00am til 10.30pm Daily