Forlino, One Fullerton

To get to Forlino (1 Fullerton Road, #02-06 One Fullerton, tel: 6536 9965), one would have to find the entrance of the security office at the ground floor of One Fullerton located next to Starbucks. From there, you would have to get to the second floor via an escalator, cross a bridge to the next building to sniff out another entrance to a semi opulent looking flight of steps into a short but convoluted Baroque passageway that could be riddled with secret entrances along the walls. I'm just making the last part up about the secret passageways, but the kitchen door was really one of those that looked like the wall.

We were here to take advantage of the 1 for 1 promotion that UOB has with the restaurant. By that, I have subconsciously lowered expectations. In the end, it was pretty much mixed feelings for this Traditional Menu at $88++ here because, some of the food was good enough to interest me back for a la carte while others were just borderline passable. Their food had certain elements of a homely comfort, but didn't quite feel in place as well in the ambience of the restaurant. But hey, that's just me.


The amuse bouche was a Russian salad. Honestly, I didn't walk into an Italian restaurant and expect an amuse bouche of that. It felt to me like it was something contrived in the last minutes out of sheer desperation. It was really just a potato salad with zucchini bits, tasted exactly the way it looks unless you smeared the little dash of balsamic vinegar with it. Spectacularly unimpressive at the very least.


The home cured meat platter really quite enjoyable for me, featuring a couple of salami types, pancetta, Parma ham and a slice of Mortadella in vinegar and bits of fried shallots. Basically, your gamut of thinly sliced salty meat to get your appetite whetted. I wished there was more of it to go around and that I hadn't finished that foccacia so quickly.


The portions of the traditional Piemonte ravioli was to me, abysmally small. That'll be because also, the actual packets of veal themselves were made quite petit since they had more of them that some of the prima platti in fancy restaurants. Personally, I thought that they were one of the better raviolis I've ever had and again, I wished that there was more to go around. These were well stuffed with tender bits of meat and laying in a rich savory broth. I should really have asked for more bread. With similarity to Il Lido, this first plate was probably the best out of the meal.


Novelty aside, "Mama Forlino" lamb chops didn't quite do it for me. Firstly, I'm not overly enthusiastic over fried stuff, especially breaded ones. The meat in the lamb was actually quite puny despite appearances as the breaded crust with the cheesy fillings underneath was actually substantial. And to reduce the significance of the lamb in this dish, the meat had little flavor. It was very nicely cooked, being tender and all at a medium well, but I really ate lamb for the aroma of the meat. I supposed that I would appreciate these things grilled better. I liked the carrot and the little polenta cake (steaming hot stuff) on the side reminded me of a less greasy pan fried radish cake from Crystal Jade.


Decent hazelnut mousse thing for dessert and the brittles were a nice touch for texture. It definitely wasn't mind blowing on that note.

Would I come back again? I really don't know considering that they were a little pricey if not for the card discounts. Service was impeccable, but that's not all to it is it?