Riccioti, Riverwalk

Out for a comedy-night night and finding a lack of decent food in The Central (seriously), we sauntered into Riccioti just next to Home Club by Riverwalk. We've had the signature Soffiato here before, and know their desserts are good! Time to try their mains.

Tuesday was Pizza night (or ladies night?) and for a second pizza it was 50% off - but without faith of finishing two pizzas and leaving room for dessert we settled for pasta instead.

Heard good things about the Linguine Al Granchio, and jesus christ, they were right! Thick creamy tomato sauce with generous portions of crab mixed into the sauce, every bite was thick, FULL of flavour, and just shouting CRABBBBB in your face. Linguine perfectly al dente, and this deceptively large portion of pasta was filling and delicious to the end.

{ Linguine Al Granchio } Linguine with crabmeat in creamy tomato sauce ($22.50)

Bunny had the Bavette Gamberi, again perfectly al dente linguine aglio olio-ed, and fresh crispy sauteed prawns. Flavourful but again being Singaporean I was wish the chilli in the aglio olio was more prominent!

I was contemplating getting another kind of pasta actually (everything on the menu sounds yum!) but really glad I got this one (the rest will have to wait for subsequent visits hehe). This was simple yet really well done. The pasta was just the right hardness, and the liberal mix of olive and chilli oil just dances on the palate. Prawns were crunchy and fresh - there were about 5 decent sized ones in there too. I loved the slices (not chopped!) garlic too.

{ Bavette Gamberi } Linguine with tiger prawns, garlic, olive oil and chilli ($19.50)

We were deliberating dessert and was staring at the dessert pizza sign for HOURS (minutes), before the nice waitress came over and gave us a breakdown of the 6 dessert pizzas available. They were new items to be listed on the menu after the Singapore food festival was over, and now there was a promotional of $10 per pizza. Deliberated we did and we decided on the Fragole.

{ Fragole } Sweet pizza with cream cheese, strawberry compote and balsamic vinegar ($15.50 but we paid $10 for Singapore Food Festival discount)

Holy fuck. What the hell, seriously.This dessert was amazing. Deep down in my heart, a faint light trickles and spazzes, renewing my faith in sweet pizzas again - this amazing combination of (A LOT OF) cream cheese, slices of strawberry and jam / compote, and balsamic vinegar - sweet, salty, sour all mix together to form a cornucopia of marvel and decadence. Simply, fantastic, and the real gem in this dish is that the pizza crust had less salt and more sugar than a normal crust (double checked with ze chef!), bringing together all that lovely dessert flavours so well.

What can I say.. this was really as amazing as had described. I was gobsmacked when it came upon our table. It looked quite deceiving - the balsamic vinegar drizzle looked as though it could be chocolate. But when you break a portion apart and give the slice a good sniff, it's a wonderful tangy sour whiff...and then you take a loving bite. The first thing that will punch you in the mouth is the utterly delightful cream cheese! As this mushes about in your mouth, the rest of it all comes together - the sweet homemade strawberry jam, the kick of vinegar, the chewy texture of the dough beneath. Wonderful!

Service here was quite sublime - and the nice Singaporean-ized chef Geno from Sicily came over for a little chat after we inquired about the pasta dough. Rest assured we shall return for more sweet and savoury pizzaz!

I do also recommend checking Comedy Masala over at Home Club! Every Tuesday from 930pm to late, only TEN DOLLARS and comes with a free drink :)

HGW Link : http://www.hungrygowhere.com/singapore/ricciotti_the_riverwalk/
Rating (out of 4) :