Welcome to Novena.

Several #burpplers who have tried Picolino or their sister restaurant, Lino, were raving about their Burrata Pizza at the start of our #eatup.

At the end of meal, it was not hard to understand why. The pizza is layered with garlic parsley chimichurri with a huge ball of burrata cheese as its centerpiece. It is then finished with cherry tomato pesto and capsicum.

The rich, creamy and buttery flavour of the burrata cheese was definitely the standout. You definitely can't go wrong when it is paired with the herbaceous chimichurri and sweet yet tangy tomato pesto.

For those who would like to skip the carb, Picolino also serves their Burrata cheese as a starter!

There is much heated debate over whether you should have pineapple over pizza. I'm not sure what's the origins of this debate but it was definitely no cause of concern for us #burpplers when the good folks from Picolino served us their Longanisa Hawaiian Pizza at the recent #eatup.

I did resort to Google to find out what is a Longanisa sausage but was none the wiser. It is a type of Spanish sausage but I don't understand how it is different from the chorizo or the English bangers. It appears though to usually refer to a cured sausage.

Besides the longanisa sausage, the pizza was topped with baby spinach, pineapple & apple chutney. You don't usually have baby spinach or apple chutney over pizza so the combination of these 4 ingredients made for an interesting but tasty combination of flavours. My only qualm though, as with the rest of their pizzas, was that the sausages were cut too thinly. Though there was a decent amount spread throughout the pizza, you could barely taste it through the cheese, pineapple and apply chutney. I will say that if you aren't a fan of Hawaiian pizzas, this may change your mind a little.

Being a big fan of Middle Eastern food, I was pleasantly surprised to find that Picolino has a lamb merguez pizza on their menu which features lamb sausage with baba ganoush, cucumber tzatziki and mint.

For those who are worried about the gamey flavours of the lamb sausage, the deep earthy taste of the baba ganoush and the refreshing garlicky cucumber tzatziki compliments it really well.

As with the duck rilette pizza, my only qualm was that relatively small pieces of lamb sausage was used which meant that they turned out slightly dry and you could barely taste them.

For mains, the good folks at Picolino served us with an array of pizza and pasta dishes.

Their pizzas were enjoyable in general as the crust was soft and fluffy without being soggy, thick or heavy. Their duck rilette pizza featured shredded duck confit with orange jam and balsamic glaze. The combination of duck confit with pockets of sweet tangy orange jam and piquant tarty balsamic was harmonious. My only qualm was that they shredded the duck confit a little too fine which meant that it turned out dry after spending time in the oven when I was kinda expecting a moist, fatty and creamy duck rilette.

For the suakus like me, sprats are from the same sub-species as sardines and are often labelled as such. They are high in omega-3 oil content and have a smooth creamy flavour.

Picolino serves them deep fried with a side of charred tomato and capers dip. The dip was lovely with a deep smokey and subtle sweet sour flavour. As for the sprats, they kinda reminded me of Japanese smelts (or shishamo) without the roe.

It may be a one off but I wasn't a big fan of this dish as the batter was kinda burnt and tasted rough and bitter but it was (partially) saved by the dip.

Picolino is one of the newer additions to the Les Amis group of restaurants. Like their sister restaurant Lino, Picolino serves casual Italian fare but with an Asian twist.

The good folks from Picolino hosted us for a #burpple #eatup a couple of months ago and we really enjoyed their food.

I am not a fan of sweet potato but I would make an exception for Picolino's sweet potato fries. The outside was crisp and the inside moist and sweet. It also comes with a tangy sriracha honey dip which was strangely addictive.

‼️Free Food‼️

Finally got the chance to try TIPO STRADA!

Thanks to the free $25 voucher that @theblackholegroup is giving out!

Got myself a duck carbonara with radiatori pasta, and a housemade cold brew tea! Love their very special pasta! There were 3 different pasta choices that you can choose from for my day of visit!

To redeem this free $25 voucher, head to this link:
https://theblackhole.eber.co/r/OXE6QM

Use this code “OXE6QM” and get additional free 50 points when you sign up which can be redeemed for more vouchers!

The $25 vouchers can be used at many other restaurants such as popular Tipo Pasta too!

Last date to use is 3 Dec 2023, so act fast!

BBQ Seoul Shokudo is a Korean Style BBQ dining place that sells a variety of Beef and Chicken!

Got the Chicken Breast Set, which was one of the cheaper item on their extensive menu! $8.90++ for a set, which includes free flow sides like kimchi and corn and radish!

Other than grilling, they also have other non-BBQ items like stews, ramen and rice dishes that is able to satisfy your Korean food cravings!

This is certainly closer to balestier than novena! Was glad to have been recommended this ramen, with gao gao thick delicious soup! Anniversary special $10+ $2 egg + 3 gyoza and green tea set. I couldn’t take most of the chashu cos I don’t take fatty meat but what I could eat was delicious! The gyoza was also pretty amazing, one of the few times when fried gyoza surprised me by being tender and soft! And what a pretty ceramic cup! Really wonder what these flecks are… is it collagen? Someone enlighten me!

BariUma 273 novena gardens

This is certainly closer to balestier than novena! Was glad to have been recommended this ramen, with gao gao thick delicious soup! Anniversary special $10+ $2 egg + 3 gyoza and green tea set. I couldn’t take most of the chashu cos I don’t take fatty meat but what I could eat was delicious! The gyoza was also pretty amazing, one of the few times when fried gyoza surprised me by being tender and soft! And what a pretty ceramic cup!

BariUma 273 novena gardens

This is certainly closer to balestier than novena! Was glad to have been recommended this ramen, with gao gao thick delicious soup! Anniversary special $10+ $2 egg + 3 gyoza and green tea set. I couldn’t take most of the chashu cos I don’t take fatty meat but what I could eat was delicious! The gyoza was also pretty amazing, one of the few times when fried gyoza surprised me by being tender and soft! And what a pretty ceramic cup!

BariUma 273 novena gardens

This is certainly closer to balestier than novena! Was glad to have been recommended this ramen, with gao gao thick delicious soup! Anniversary special $10+ $2 egg + 3 gyoza and green tea set. I couldn’t take most of the chashu cos I don’t take fatty meat but what I could eat was delicious! The gyoza was also pretty amazing, one of the few times when fried gyoza surprised me by being tender and soft! And what a pretty ceramic cup!

BariUma 273 novena gardens