We celebrated our third year anniversary yesterday with dinner at Gattopardo Italian Grill & Pizza Bar, at The Legends, Fort Canning.

We walked up the long steps from the carpark to the colonial building that now houses a boutique hotel. We paused for a moment at the top, at the same spot where we said our vows to each other 3 years ago. For me, the pause was really to catch my breath from all that climbing, but of course, to also let that sweet moment return to mind.

While the façade of The Legends remains pretty much the same as what I remembered, the insides have been changed. Upon entering, you will see some friendly greeters of Gattopardo ready to usher in their next patron, an open-concept lounge in the middle of the hall, and at the far right, a discreet entrance to the lobby of the new hotel.

We were swept in gracefully into Gattopardo. The restaurant’s décor is simple and unassuming, quite Italian in that sense. The place is cosy; seating capacity is perhaps around 70-80 pax.

We found ourselves seated at a corner round table, with a view of the large wine cellar and a long bar counter, which boasted an array of seafood, regularly flown in from the Mediterranean sea and Japan. You can pick a fish from the bar and have it done whichever way you like: grilled, baked, steamed, raw…

Our head waiter was heavily Italian-accented, but very helpful and knowledgeable in terms of food recommendation. For starters, we went with his choice of cherry tomato salad with ricotta cheese, and we ordered ravioli with watercress and asparagus to share. The salad was refreshing and bursting with flavour from the cheese. My fave was the ravioli - its light watercress cream sauce went down well with the cheese in the ravioli. Due to its small serving, however, we were left in want, and looking forward to the main course, which was salt-baked seabass.

(We could either have it grilled or salt-baked, but chose the latter since we had never tried salt-baked.) The fish turned out to be quite a huge portion for just two of us, and was one of the sweetest I’ve ever tried.

We ended seriously high on fish.

We declined dessert as we were simply too full. Then, surprise surprise, our nice waiter brought us a light cheesecake on a plate with the chocolate words: ‘Happy Anniversary’. (The hubby had mentioned the occasion to them while making the reservation.) So we happily stuffed our faces with it. Well, at least it wasn’t too heavy.

On account of the thoughtful service and food quality, we decided we’ll be paying them a visit again. At our next anniversary perhaps, or even earlier.