$25.90 Pasta From An HDB Flat? ‘You Get What You Pay For!’ Says Co-Owner Of Home Biz Dirty Pasta
Run by an ex-fine-dining chef and his wife, the Bukit Batok home biz serves restaurant-style pasta and burgers from their HDB kitchen window.
There’s no hip shopfront at Dirty Pasta. Instead, customers pick up their orders of restaurant-style pasta and quirky doughnut burgers through the kitchen window of a first-floor Bukit Batok HDB flat.
Behind the stove is former fine-dining chef Clement Goh, 33, who runs the home-based biz with his wife, Shaf, 30. Their menu stars hearty pasta dishes topped with everything from tiger prawns to Australian striploin, with prices starting at $14.90 and going all the way up to $25.90.
Clement handles the cooking full-time, while Shaf, who works at a local fashion brand, oversees the branding. They have two daughters, aged six months and two.
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From fine-dining kitchens to HDB home biz
After almost a decade in restaurant kitchens, including Michelin-starred establishments, Clement quit the industry at 26 due to burnout.
He spent nearly four years in corporate food sales before finding his way back to the stove — this time, at his parents’ HDB flat.
Dirty Pasta started when Clement, who cooked pasta for his family almost every night, decided with Shaf to try selling his dishes on Grab.
What began as a side hustle has since become a full-time business. Most orders come through Grab, while nearby customers collect their food from the kitchen window.
Why Dirty Pasta?
“We like layering different tastes and notes into our pastas instead of keeping them too conventional,” Shaf says of the cheeky business name.
Worked at Michelin-starred restaurants, including La Dame de Pic
Clement started cooking professionally at around 18, first at Carl’s Jr., before moving on to restaurants including Izy Dining & Bar.
Around 2018, he joined the now-defunct one-Michelin-starred The Kitchen at Bacchanalia as chef de partie.
He later became head chef at three Club Street establishments, including Nutmeg & Clove and Chinese-American restaurant Zui Hong Lou.
But he missed hands-on cooking, having spent much of his time as head chef developing menus and training staff.
Hoping to get back behind the stove, he joined French chef Anne-Sophie Pic’s now-defunct one-Michelin-starred La Dame de Pic at Raffles Hotel.
“I was burnt out”
The move proved gruelling. Clement says he sometimes worked up to 20 hours a day for relatively little pay.
“I was burnt out,” he recalls.
After just a few months, he quit restaurant kitchens and moved into corporate food sales.
Ironically, after the change in career, he missed cooking again.
“I was talking to chefs and business owners as a corporate sales executive, and I missed cooking nice meals for people,” he says. “I like seeing people smile eating my meals.”
That eventually led him to start Dirty Pasta.
$25.90 for pasta from an HDB flat? “You get what you pay for!”
While Dirty Pasta’s menu starts at $14.90 for an aglio olio, some dishes cost up to $25.90 — prices that have raised eyebrows online, via comments from some netizens.
On 8days.sg’s TikTok account, one netizen @hmmm commented, “Almost $20 per dish… and I can’t even eat in the comfort of a restaurant. Need bring home eat… Then by the time reach home already cold…”
Another netizen @yogurtbabysmell commented, "U must be kidding me with that price. Without rental."
“But you get what you pay for!” Shaf insists, referring to the higher quality ingredients they use.
The couple admit they could earn more by using cheaper ingredients, but Clement isn’t keen on cutting corners.
“I would rather keep the quality of the ingredients than cut corners just to bring prices down,” he says.
Dirty Pasta’s menu includes Tiger Prawn Aglio Olio ($18.90), Whole Leg Duck Tomato Rigatoni ($25.90) and Beef Ragu Pipe Rigate ($18.90), made with slow-cooked Angus beef ragu, spicy tomato sauce and cheese.
Angus Beef Striploin Au Smoked Butter Spaghetti ($25.90)
One of the pricier offerings, this features medium-rare Australian grain-fed beef striploin atop buttery spaghetti.
The couple even factor in how the meat continues cooking during delivery.
“We drizzle it with resting jus, allowing the residual heat inside the takeaway box to slow cook the meat during delivery!” Shaf explains.
That Dirty ‘Clucker’ Donut Burger ($18.90)
For something more unusual, there’s a burger that swaps regular buns for glazed doughnuts.
The sweet-savoury creation is stuffed with fried chicken, cheddar and jalapeños, then slathered with hot honey and chipotle mayo.
“It’s meant to be fun and a little unexpected and honestly, it’s really addictive to eat,” Shaf says.
Mum helps pass orders through HDB window
For now, the kitchen window of Clement’s parents’ Bukit Batok flat doubles as Dirty Pasta’s takeaway counter.
Shaf’s recently retired mum also helps hand orders to customers.
The couple hope to eventually open a physical shop and hire staff to ease their workload.
“My carpal tunnel and back pain has come back because of the volume of orders,” Clement admits.
Still, he says running Dirty Pasta has been more fulfilling than his previous jobs, especially as it allows him to spend more time with his two young daughters.
“I feel more fulfilled now because I get to build something of my own and see my girls all the time,” he says. “They’re both daddy’s girls, so they mean the world to me.”
Dirty Pasta is at 220 Bukit Batok East Ave 3, #01-194, S650220. Open Thur–Fri and Sun–Tue 10am–2pm & 4.30pm–9pm; Wed 4.30pm–9pm. More info via Instagram.
Photos: Dirty Pasta
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