iO Italian Osteria (iO IO) has got to be the most exciting restaurant I have ever visited in Singapore. In fact, writing this piece, I was extremely torn. I don’t want to share iO IO. Although it is already relatively popular, I want to return again and again with ease to score a table. But iO IO is unlike any other Italian eateries I have come across in Singapore.
From the moment I stepped into the restaurant, I knew I was going to return. The first thing that hit me, both the staff in the kitchen and front-end are mostly Italians. Italian servers are hilarious! They look good, extremely friendly and can be counted on for good recommendations. The restaurant may be in a “corner” of the second level of Hillview Rise 2 but the space was huge!!! The open-concept restaurant was absolutely buzzing too! To not blog about this place will be a crime. So people, just read my blog and NOT visit, ok? I don’t want to encounter trouble finding a table here. Thanks!!!
O.k. enough exclamation marks for the day, here’s what the food’s like. We began with some alcohol. My friend got a glass of white, I got the recommended Coconut Blueberry Rum cocktail. Devoid of sugar but strong in coconut, this was no different from a Pina Colada minus the coconut milk and pineapple. Nothing to shout about but the food was of a different story.
This Baked Porchetta Pork Belly wrapped around Wild Fennel ($16) has got to be the single most popular dish at iO IO. The crackling was sooooo crispy and most parts of the pork was juicy. Paired with the mustard, so good. By the way, I really like the gold cutleries!
The Stuffed Traditional Roman Schiacciata ($15) is another huge hit at iO IO for a good reason. The crispy flatbreads arrived piping hot on a wooden chopping board (yes! You know about my obsession with hot bread!) stuffed with mozzarella cheese and truffle. To die for! The cheese will be all melt-y and ooze shamelessly out of the bread. I urge you to throw your diet out this window and embrace every single carb and fat in this.
We shared a single pasta: Calamarata with wild mixed Mushrooms and Braised Beef sauce ($30) because I have never tried a squid-shaped pasta before. This pasta surprised me immensely because it did not taste like any other pasta I had in Singapore. The pasta was unmistakably al-dente to the point of almost un-cooked and the portion was not big. The beef sauce was also heavily peppered! I wasn’t a fan of this pasta – I think it could be because it wasn’t comforting. I like my cream-based pasta. When I return to iO IO, I am totally up for trying another pasta.
Confession: one of the reasons why I really really like iO IO is the dessert display SHELVES! There were two huge glass chillers containing more than six shelves of desserts. CRAZY OR WHAT?!?!? Standing in front of the glass chillers, choosing our desserts, was the most difficult decision I had to make of the weekend!!! Look at them. You tell me how to choose?!
In the end, I picked the Choco Millefoglie (Chocolate mille-feuille) ($14) and Pastiera: Baked Ricotta Cheese with Walnut and Orange ($14).
The Pastiera: Baked Ricotta Cheese with Walnut and Orange was positively dreamy! Dare I say, the best cheesecake I ever had. Expecting a densed ricotta cheesy filling, instead the filling was impressively light with subtle orange flavours. Very nice. Plus the homemade crumbly short crust pie shell embodied a shortbread biscuit-like flavor and texture. so good!
On the other hand, The Choco Millefoglie or Chocolate mille-feuille belonged to Thick Town. The chocolate filling was thick and paste-like. Chocolate overload came over in no time. Instead of the flakey layers of pastries I have come to expect from the French ones, this was tons of thick dark chocolate sandwiched by some pastry layers. Actually there was so much chocolate I do not even remember the pastry layers… This knocked my friend and I out very quickly.
Despite its flaws, I am eager to return to iO IO for it’s totally fun vibes. Plus on this visit, I have accomplished nowhere close to the half the menu. Game on.
hillV2
4 Hillview Rise, #02-01, Singapore 667979
Tel: 6710 7510
Opens: Daily, 10am – 10pm
ThatEconomist still eats 