LINO Pizza & Pasta Bar @ Shaw Centre

LINO Pizza & Pasta Bar has the best burrata I've eaten in Singapore. But then again, the only other burrata I've had is the buffalo mozzarella from Saizeriya...so yeah. Not much of a basis of comparison there.

They have a mix-and-match 3-course set lunch on weekdays, during their lunch service hours of 11.30AM to 3PM. It's priced $25 before GST and service charge, but you do have to top up additional costs for certain dishes - including the glorious Burrata, which comes at an $8 top-up 😳

• Cheese: Creamy af and ever-so-delicately flavoured.
• Sundried tomatoes: So savoury and tangy and delicious.
• Slice of fresh tomato: Idk where they import their tomatoes from but as someone who GAGGED from tasting a raw tomato as a child, I quite enjoy their sweet, fresh and subtle tasting tomato slices?? It's like super juicy and so cleansing on the palate!
• Pesto: Bursting with flavour and a perfect herby contrast to the creamy cheese and tango sundried tomatoes.
• Pine nuts: Nicely toasted for a deep, nutty taste and some variety in the texture

The bread, y'all. It's SO. GOOD. I'm not a hugeeee fan of plain, unflavoured bread but these slices are so tasty, I could eat them on their own. And the texture is crazy - super crunchy crust, fluffy as heck within. A wonderful base and vessel for the perfect mouthful each time: a little bit of everything, slathered on.

The other appetiser we got was the Caesar Salad. It was refreshing and nicely tossed in dressing, not drowning in dressing like many other places serve it. This was definitely a case where there's actually so much 料 (ingredients) that there aren't enough lettuce leaves going around - and I ain't complaining! Love the snowy mountain of cheese as well. My only gripe would be that the menu said "Japanese soft-boiled egg", but as you can see, the egg was very much hard-boiled.

I love a hard-boiled yolk on caesar salad as the crumbly solid yolk goes great with the other components, but I was a little disappointed to not see flowing runny yolk as the menu had me believe.

This was my main. Basically...I had this meal in late December 2021 (yes I'm so efficient about documenting it, ikr) and I think it's no longer on the LINO menu 'cause they're quite seasonal with their dishes. Which is great, because it gives repeat customers like myself something new to look forward to each time! But I think it's a Ragu Penne or some other type of rich meat and tomato-base sauce.

In any case, super duper delicious. And once again, I love that they are heavy-handed with the cheese topping.

This was my boyfriend's main, Seafood Aglio Olio, which is still very much on the menu. I'm truly not an aglio olio fan (don't @ me...) so I wouldn't be able to comment on this, but the seafood was fresh and plentiful.

We also got a Mixed Meat Pizza ($28) that is just loaded all the way up with carnivorous goodness. Got a tad heavy actually, and I wished I had ordered something with some veggies like mushrooms or spinach instead. Maybe next time!

For the dessert option in our DIY set meal, we went with the Bread & Butter Pudding. Sadly it's not on their menu anymore either, but I do hope they bring it back :(

Keep in mind that I wouldn't normally order bread and butter pudding elsewhere, as my other experiences have either been terrible (soggy bread soaked in overly watery and pretty much flavourless fluid, it was as if I'm eating bread that had been sitting in the sink after someone washed other their glass of milk)(so sorry for that visual) or slightly below average at best.

LINO's one, however? Hoo boy. SO soft and flavourful, but in a gentle whisper kind of way, and not straight-up yelling. It's like custardy and vanilla-y and all-round amazing. I really do hope it makes a comeback so that I could experience it again for myself once more. It is that good.

Our other pick was the Basque Burnt Cheesecake, which - you guessed it! - is also no longer on the menu. But it was sold out on the day, so yeah...I've had it 2 other times and the first time was incredible - gooey liquidy centre and wonderful balanced sweet cheese flavours throughout.

The second time, many months later, it was solid as a rock and seemed like it was taken out of a chiller after sitting in there for ages, and had also drastically reduced in size. So yeah, maybe it wasn't necessarily a bad thing that I couldn't order it again.

Instead, we went with the Tiramisu. Don't worry, this still remains on the current LINO menu lol.

It was nice and soaked with coffee, and the cream was lovely. I didn't like that the cake portion was dry as hell though, but that's just me being overly critical. I know it's not realistic to expect them to make 'em fresh instead of taken from a chiller.

On a related note, the best tiramisu I've had in Singapore hands down is from L'Atelier at Clarke Quay Central. It's a place I'd walked past a tonne when I was in secondary school + poly and it was a frequent hangout spot for my friends and I, but I never walked in and bought something 'cause I'd assumed it'd be out of my student budget? It always caught my attention though, and tiramisu is probably my #1 fave dessert.

My boyfriend bought it for me as a birthday surprise, and it was on the level of deliciousness that makes you wanna cry when you take each bite. The kind where you 舍不得 (can't bear to) finish, but at the same time you CAN'T STOP wolfing it down and blessing your taste buds lol. Ya ya very dramatic lah but it's the best tiramisu I've ever had!! So far........

It's really nice until can kee siao sia, no joke.

Okay back to LINO. Some random notes:

• Highly, HIGHLY recommended to make reservations 'cause the queues get pretty insane. Especially during peak hours, good luck to you man.
  
  
• Water is chargeable at $0.50 per glass, I can't remember if it's refillable oops. But in any case, bring your own water bottle if you're a cheapo HAHA.

• Dabao boxes are also chargeable at $0.50 per box. I think it's those cardboard kind, so not the kind you can wash and reuse. So, if you foresee yourself not being able to finish and also don't wish to waste food, can bring your own dabao boxes to be SUPER cheapo lmao (don't judge ok...that's literally what I do 'cause I'm a slut for leftovers lol and can't bear to walk away from food I paid for).
  

Eat until gonna explode liao...

#nobodyasked but my dress is from Shopee and it's like, freaking cheap. I bought it wayyy back in 2018 and it was only...

$3.91???? Omg, madness.

Here's a better view of it (dunno why his hand must put on my big ass food baby...now i look EXTRA preggo). The quality is truly nothing to shout about. Zero elasticity, very thin and sheer outer layer. And the print is also quite auntie and gaudy IMO, but I think it still looks quite okay when you see from far HAHA. Like, don't go and pay attention then it looks quite passable lol

In case y'all are interested, the price is now $8.90-$9.91 (depending on size and colour). Link here: Bohemian Fresh Floral Print Sleeveless Sexy Maxi Dress

It definitely needs a belt, otherwise the shapelessness is rather unflatteringly. But that's just me lah, you do you. Live your best life.

Oh ya just FYI, I bought it in 2018 but it does not mean the dress has survived frequent wears over the past 3+ years hahaha. I only started wearing it in 2021 'cause I felt that it didn't really fit that nicely on my body shape before that. So I'd say I've only worn in like, maximum 6 times overall lol. But no tears or noticeable worn-out-ness to report yet, so yeah.

Ermmmm idk why I went on a long ass tangent about my Shopee dress on this LINO review. But anyway, here are the deets:

Address: 1 Scotts Road, #03-23/24 Shaw Centre, Singapore 228208
(<10-min walk from Orchard MRT station, take the underground path to Shaw Lido there)
Opening hours: Lunch: 11.30AM-3PM, daily | Dinner: 6PM-9.30PM on Sun - Thur & 6PM-10PM on Fri, Sat, and eve of P.H.)

Telephone: 6235 4653 / 8940 3873

LINO Pizza & Pasta Bar website (got the online menu here. I won't paste the PDF link 'cause it'll probably change again in a couple months lol)

Chope reservation for LINO Pizza & Pasta Bar