Somma Restaurant review: Chef Mirko Febbrile’s fine dining homage to his hometown of Puglia

Somma Restaurant brings fine dining finesse to New Bahru, delivering an intentional dining experience inspired by the landscapes and agriculture of Southern Italy.

I found something incredibly poetic about my dining experience at Somma Restaurant. Housed within New Bahru, Somma’s space served as the Nan Chiau Girls High School library in its previous life. The restaurant seems to have absorbed the library’s spirit, combining dining with education and discovery. It’s even embodied in how Somma celebrates cucina povera (a style of zero-waste cooking), an age-old tradition passed along as kitchen wisdom. My visit came with delightful bites and a surprising amount of learning I hadn’t anticipated. Let me start from the beginning…

Somma Restaurant Singapore Review: Details at a glance

Must-tries: Seasonal course menu; cheese experience
Price: Course menus start from $178 per person; $52 for the cheese experience
Opening hours: Thursday to Friday, 6pm to 10.30pm; Saturday, 12pm to 3pm & 6pm to 10.30pm
Address: Somma Restaurant, #04-02, New Bahru, 46 Kim Yam Road, Singapore 239351

A warm welcome

My Somma experience started at Bar Somma, where I enjoyed a welcome drink of lemon and cucumber, and a spirited conversation with bar manager, Mel Chavez. The citrusy drink was the perfect way to open up the palate and build the anticipation I had for my lunch on that sunny Saturday.

Once we were called up, our host invited us to open the doors. I was warmly greeted by Somma’s kitchen team, all lined up in a row. They also welcomed me with a selection of snacks to start the meal. This season’s highlight ingredients were corn, made into a clear umami broth, and artichokes, slow-cooked and fried before being finished with aged lardo and peppers.

Both bites were delicious, and I enjoyed a little education from the team, who excitedly told me about each ingredient and the chosen preparation methods. In the spirit of cucina povera, I learned that every bit of the corn – from its kernels to the husk and silk – was used in the broth I drank, which was clean but full of surprising, punchy umami flavour.

After my quick bites, I was shown to my seat, armed with a glass of wine for the course menu ahead.

A little bit of Puglia in every bite

Through each course, I’m introduced to the various idiosyncrasies of Puglia. The way the city moves, how the land feeds the people, and its coastal traditions. I also get a unique introduction to chef Mirko and his family, sampling the Coratina olive oil made with the family’s last harvest.

A bread and butter course is a must in Italian dining, stepped up with that elevated Somma touch. A fried zucchini flower sits in a pool of whipped ricotta, reminiscent of Puglian comfort meals where vegetables are enjoyed with fresh cheese and good olive oil. And like any good Italian dish, scarpetta the sauce with its high-hydration sourdough made with semola, carob, and burnt wheat. I usually resist finishing the bread at a meal, but the crisp crust and bouncy crumb of Somma’s bread had me diving back for more. Couple that with the buttery goodness of the sauce and I couldn’t help but finish it.

The summers in Puglia are marked by an abundance of stone fruit, lunches with raw fish dressed simply in oil, and families mass-prepping passata to enjoy for the rest of the year. The Meridian course features them all! Velvety yellowfin tuna sits on fresh nectarines, accompanied by a savoury tomato sorbet. Everything was bright and refreshing, ideal summer flavours in every bite. I especially enjoyed the sorbet, which tasted like an incredibly balanced cold tomato soup.

Cooked slowly over embers, the milk-fed lamb was a surprise. I found that the rack did not have any gamey flavour and was seasoned simply. Thanks to the slow rendering, the fat on the bones becomes incredibly crisp while the meat stays tender. You’re also welcome to forgo your utensils here, and dine like you would at home. Feel free to enjoy it with your hands, getting every bit of juicy goodness off the bones. And yes, they do provide towels so you can clean up afterwards.

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Not your average pastas

After my many visits to Bar Somma for its happy hour carbonara, I was eager to get a taste of what Somma’s restaurant had to offer. The two pasta courses have their very own introductions, warming you up for what’s to come.

The Rural Cooking course is inspired by ancestral cooking methods. The team rolls out a cart with a clay-wrapped eggplant, cracking the parcel open at my table to show me how beautifully baked it was. It’s then incorporated into the dish with lardo and red chimichurri. Despite its seemingly simplistic appearance, this course bursts with flavour. I particularly enjoyed the stew-like consistency of the sauce – it was incredibly comforting.

Somma’s signature pasta dish is the Plains course, celebrating resilient vegetables and the abundance of seafood. You could consider this the restaurant’s magnum opus. Over 20 kilos of carrots are stewed for three to four days. The result? A single litre of concentrated sauce. I was given a small taste, and it was truly unlike anything I’ve ever tasted before. It’s molasses-like in consistency and flavour, incredibly sweet and slightly peppery. Combine that with the al dente chew of spaghettone made with ancient Khorasan wheat, and you get the spirit of Somma in a bite. I found the pasta slightly too cloying for me after a while, but enjoyed every bit of it nonetheless.

A must-try cheese experience

As we ended the savoury parts of the meal, the staff led me to the wine cellar for an additional cheese experience. Collaborating with cheese farms across Italy, Somma experiments with cow, sheep, and buffalo cheeses. The wheels are aged in-house and flavoured with various ingredients that would normally be discarded after use. I got to taste four of them, accompanied by different drinks (non-alcoholic options available!).

This experience is definitely one for cheese lovers looking for something more unique in terms of flavour profile. My favourite was the Pecorino Val d’Orcia made with sheep’s milk, and aged with red carrots, figs, tomato preserves, and chamomile for its sweet-salty taste. The Bluefalo buffalo cheese is a blue cheese variant, less pungent than regular blue cheese. It wasn’t to my taste, but I savoured the accompanying cold brew and calamansi juice.

The best part about this experience is that you can book a session without a reservation at Somma! So if you’d like to have a go at the cheeses only, feel free to make your reservation.

Is Somma worth trying?

With all the buzz surrounding Somma, I’d say this is an experience you should try at least once. However, I think it’s important to temper expectations when coming in.

I didn’t leave full – a benchmark diners often use to determine whether a meal is worth its price. However, I felt a great sense of satisfaction as I left. I even walked out with a bottle of olive oil made by chef Mirko’s family, a tasty memento to commemorate the meal.

Prices can be a little steep for a six- or eight-course meal, but it’s about more than just the dishes that land on your table. The value in Somma’s experience is the thoughtful and often time-consuming processes behind each dish. Chef Mirko has done something beautiful here, celebrating his heritage in a way that elevates the cucina povera philosophy without taking away from its humble roots. You won’t get classic fare here, but something authentically Italian every step of the way.

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