For the freshest authentic Italian cuisine in Singapore, you'll need to go down to Robertson Quay to the coolest fashion-concept eatery, just be sure to bring your appetite!

If there's one word that sums up real Italian cuisine, it's abbodanza. This simple word in English (abundance) doesn't capture the full range that it has in Italian, because it's about more than just large portion sizes.

It's about having an abundance of flavours, working together to create more than the sum of the parts. It's about an excess of style that is not garish or ostentatious. It's about having more than enough, but not too much. Some things can be overdone.

And when that happens, the satisfaction is lost, like a fish, just a little over cooked. But that's something you won't have to worry about at Cugini in Robertson Quay (just next to BarCelona).

Opened by two cousins from Southern Italy, Gerri Sottile and Mauro Muroni, the place is a delight just to sit in. Eating there feels like a privilege.

Bringing a love of great food and passion for fine yet simple dining to Singapore, they chose to forgo the route most high-end Italian restaurants go, and kept it real by making all their own pastas right on the premise.

Say goodbye to unevenly cooked or chunky pastas and discover why so many Italian men (and women) have a soft spot in their heart for their mama's home cooking, the abundance of love in every dish is worth standing up for!

I had the chance to try several dishes here, and the freshly made taglioni with lobster and asparagus (pictured, right) has to be my favourite.

Soft noodles just soak up the sauce, with just a hint of asparagus accenting the tender lobster. Running a close second, a dish rich enough to be savoured on special occasions is the freshly made truffle and potato ravioli with walnut butter and Parmigiano.

The list of discoveries could literally fill a whole menu (and it does!). All thanks to the abundant talents of head chef Marco Collavizza who truly deserves the stars he's earned!

Cugini Restaurant & Lounge Bar, 11 Unity Street #01-27/26, Robertson Walk, Singapore, 237995, +65 6836 9541, www.cugini.com.sg