Buko Nero: Dinner

The second hardest part of going to Buko Nero for dinner is deciding between the mouth-watering specials. The hardest part, by far, is having to wait out that one month or so from the time of securing the reservation to actually getting to eat there.

We've been visiting Buko Nero regularly since the restaurant's early days, and the Pasinatos have never failed to impress. I remember that during one of my first visits, they served up a zany citrus-flavoured pre-meal "refresher" drink in clear test tubes, all lined up on a shiny wireframe rack that could have come straight out of a science lab!

Before dinner there on Wednesday night we asked if I could take photos, and the reply was along the lines of "as long as you only shoot the stuff on your table, and absolutely no shots of the kitchen". Well, that's perfectly fine by me!

So here goes - this is what we had for dinner on Wednesday:

Mozzarella and tomato crostino topped with parma ham. I was totally blown away by the first bite - this innocent-looking bite packs a huge juicy punch that's literally bursting with flavour. Wow.

Porcini mushroom soup, laced with white truffle oil, and one of our all-time BN favourites. J was tempted to ask for an extra take-home serving.

The Tau Kwa Tower - Buko Nero's ever-popular signature appetizer is Mom's favourite regular starter.

My starter for the night: crab meat and fresh orange salad, with lemon dressing, and laced with tobikko - a very striking combination of flavour and texture. Unfortunately, towards the last few mouthfuls the citrus flavour became a bit overpowering. I probably shouldn't have tried to scoop up the last bits of tobikko floating around in the remaining dressing.

The beef ravioli in wanton skin that I'd raved about previously was available again as a special that night, and J jumped at the chance (with just a little nudge from Tracy). Yumm-y!

Spicy crusted cod with red miso dressing, another one of the specials available that night. Aunt S. had this one, and I forgot to try a sample. Doh!

Beef tenderloin wrapped with bacon and topped with a porcini ragu. I had a hard time deciding between this and the cod above, and eventually decided on the beef, medium rare. Which turned out to be very nice indeed; it was almost as if the bacon had been grafted onto the circumference of the tenderloin, keeping all of the juicy flavour sealed within. Fabulous!

"Like a tart, but with a cake-like texture," said Tracy about the banana budino. "It's topped with banana chips. Non-alcoholic." How could I resist? It had a moderately light cake-like texture, was sinfully sweet (but banana's good for you isn't it? so it's OK :P) and the banana chips added that crunchy bite (bordering a little on the hard side). Good stuff.

This, excuse the pun, took the cake. The rich chocolate panforte with vanilla coulis was scrawled on the whiteboard as part of the set dinner menu, but that didn't stop J from ordering it. And what a pleasant surprise that turned out to be - a dense slice of intensely chocolatey cake packed with nuts, complemented nicely by the rich vanilla sauce. An absolute winner!


There's a one-month booking window from the current date, but it's often filled up quickly by regulars, parties and events. It's probably easiest just to ask when the next available slot is, book it, then adjust your schedule (and guest list) to fit.

Buko Nero
126 Tanjong Pagar Road
Singapore 088534
Tel: 6324 6225