Lino, Binjai Park

I first heard of Lino (7 Binjai Park, tel : +65 6463 7800) back when they opened sometime late last year. For some reasons I had the impression that it was a restaurant by Lino Sauro of Gattopardo. My interest in them was low until recently that I've realized that I had been mistaken. This restaurant was another venture by the Les Amis Group.

Capri Trattoria is but a 7-11 away from here.

I thought that their Brussels sprouts might have been part of contorni rather than antipasti but what do I know. These were nice though. There's bacon, pine nuts and raisins.

Also munched on meatballs while we were waiting. These were flavoured with fennel seeds. I thought there was an Asian quality to how they tasted.

Garganelli was awesome. The texture of the pasta was great and the sauce tasted like a lobster bisque. With cheese. To top on that, the accompanying chunks of lobster meat were firm and sweet.

Lino's mushroomy barley risotto was delicious. Great pairing with the cheese and olive oil. Couldn't understand those fried mushrooms though. I thought they did nothing to make the dish better.

We got ourselves a sea bream. The fish was stuffed with lemons and herbs to impart their flavours into the meat. The fish had been deboned. Burnt lemon was very sour. Salsa verde paired nicely with the fish. Liked this.

Cannoli was okay. Nothing I'd come back for again. I'm still waiting to stumble upon one of those that would. Those roasted cherries on the side were pretty sour.  

It seemed appropriate that there was a doppio espresso to end this satisfying lunch.