Picolino (Balestier)

Their signature. The taste is quite different from Lino's version, because the dough is different. Still very good, needs a bit more of the basil sauce

Very quiet place tho, there's only 3 tables during a weekday lunch

The scarmoza pizza was quite mild, thankfully we added the salami for more umami and saltiness

Their crust is damn special. It's almost a little pastry like, super crispy even in the middle, but the external ring is too chewy and not blistered much

They have a 1 for 1 pizza until end of may as part of Les Amis group's event

Before my final post, a quick shout out to the folks from Burpple and Picolino for generously hosting us for the #eatup!

At $30, the duck leg risoni is the single most expensive item on Picolina's menu. It featured red wine risoni pasta in burnt butter topped with a duck leg confit, hazelnut, balsamic and grated pecorino cheese.

There is nothing much to fault about the duck leg confit. The skin was crisp and the meat tender and well marinated (albeit a little dry).

The risoni pasta though was a little disappointing. Risoni pasta is a rice grained shaped pasta. It may have gotten a little soggy whilst we were busy taking photos and tasted rather starchy. The red wine reduction was rather bitter probably due to a slightly tannic wine being used and its combination with burnt butter and balsamic just didn't work for me as the three strong and distinctive flavours just seem to counteract each other.

Cacio e pepe is a traditional Italian pasta and literally means "cheese and pepper". It will therefore come as no surprise that the dish contains grated pecorino romano cheese and black pepper, together with spaghetti, or traditionally tonnarelli.

Some may consider cacio e pepe to be a "dry" version of carbonara when they are two distinct dishes with different ingredients and taste profiles. The traditional carbonara is richer and more creamy due to the use of eggs and guanciale. Cacio e pepe has a distinct flavour because of the sharp pecorino cheese flavour is more pronounced and the heavier use of pepper.

Picolino's take on this dish is a little non-traditional. It uses mafaldine, a ribbon type pasta and tops the pasta with a fried egg and hamburg steak. The dish kinda works for me as the egg yolk adds an additional layer of richness to the pasta and I ain't saying no to adding a protein to an otherwise meatless dish!

Gnocchi is one of those dishes that you either love or hate.

I am one of the former as the mashed potato stuffing gives the pasta a delicious buttery texture. Picolino serves theirs with bacon cream (yum), baby spinach (no thanks), sundried tomatoes (sweeeet) and red pepper flakes (♨️).

I quite enjoy it but it wasn't that great for the waistline the next day!

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!