HazelDiary

Ciao@ is the newest kid on the block along Haji Lane has been operating for a month plus. The Italian restaurant offers a unique dining experience in that it is a restaurant and bar. Ciao@ offers Italian home-cooked food, cocktails and wines. Entertainment activities such as screening of live sports matches are available at the bar area.

And special highlight on their menu. It is interesting in a way that you flip the menu, you get to engage in a game of Battleship with fellow diners while waiting for the foods to be served.

I was invited for the first tasting session with the fellow foodies last week. Here are the breakdown dishes that we tried that night:-

Starter

Focaccia Al Rosmarino S$15.00

Whenever dining in to an Italian restaurant, the first that I always had is the Italian bread. The focaccia here were topped with fresh rosemary and garlic goes pretty well with the olive oil.

Italian Finger Food

Fritto Del Piceno S$16.00

The platter includes the mixed fried of Marche region, cheeses, vegetables and chef’s surprise.

Appetiser

Calamari S$18.00

Pan-fried calamari with pine nuts, cherry tomato and olive taggiasche was well-received among the foodies. The calamari was fresh and chewy. I enjoyed the pairing with the crunchy and juicy bites from the sides.

Main Course

Ravoli Di Ricotta S$22.00

Handmade pasta stuffed with spinach and ricotta cheese, served in fresh tomato sauce. If only the saltiness level can be reduced, it would be good to have it all by yourself.

Sughe D’ Magre S$23.00

Linguine with tuna, anchovies and green olive tomato sauce was kinda disappointing for me. The tuna taste was overwhelming that I can’t taste much of the tomato sauce in it.

Pizza

Pizzawich S$15.00

Pizzawich is an interesting way to present a cross between a pizza and sandwich. It is great for sharing portion.

Focaccia Al Rosmarino S$15.00

Famous Italian plain pizza topped with fresh rosemary and garlic

4 Stagioni S$20.00 (On the right side of the above photo).Mozzarella, tomato sauce, cooked ham, artichoke, black olive and mushroom

Tartufina S$24.00

Mozzarella with truffle paste

Second Course

Stinco Di Maiale Alla Birra S438.00

Pork knuckle in beer sauce, served with mash potato and white cabbage. Succulent taste of the pork knuckle and I enjoyed having it with a dip of the sauce and mash potatoes. This calls for a celebration dish.

Bistecca Di Polipo S$32.00

Grilled Octopus Steak with sautéed spinach was too much for one.

Dessert

Zia Luisa’s Tiramisu S$12.00

Chef’s Sister Recipe with layers of velvety mascarpone cheese and finger biscuits drenched in coffee. It gives a kind of homely feel tiramisu dessert.

Panna Cotta S$9.00

Ciao@ Gelato S$6.00

The gelato is made-in-house and if you are up to challenge, give it a try a scoop of pistachio ice-cream accompanied with mascarpone cheese. It has the love-hate relationship for it.

Ciao@ Promotions

Every Wednesday night is Ladies’ Night at Ciao@. It is available from 7:30PM – 10:30PM. Ladies get to enjoy free flow of canapés such as truffle fries and Italian finger foods with any purchase of alcoholic beverages. With every purchase of a wine bottle, the ladies will get 20% off too.

Other than that, buy one bucket of 5 Menabrea beers (Italy’s original birra) and get one Margherita Pizza for FOC. It is available every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. The deal goes at just S$55.00/net.

Overall the dishes here are hit or miss for me. Chef Domenico is the man behind all these dishes and he was friendly to explain each dishes to us. If you are looking for a chill-out place with pizzas, this would be an option for you. I would prefer to have pork knuckle with a glass of cold beer / a glass of red wine after a hard day of work.

Ciao@

8 Haji Lane

#01-01 Singapore 189201

Front Entrance: 8 Haji Lane

Back Entrance: 39 Arab Street

Operating Hours:

Tuesday – Thursday 5:00PM – 1:00AM |

Friday- Saturday 5:00PM – 2:00AM |

Sunday 11:30AM – 10:00PM

(Closed on Monday)

Tel: +6 6296 9688 / 9726 3688

Website: http://www.ciaosg.com

Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/ciaosg

[This is an invited tasting session.]