Tuesday, 29 April 2014 at 16:26 with ≡
I've eaten here at least three times, and the food has been consistently good throughout, which is yay. The restaurant itself has a lovely ambience, family-friendly yet not too kiddy. Upon realising that your table intends to share all the food items, they will bring side plates for you. Ice water is served free flow.
This time we visited the Star Vista outlet. The last time we were at Riverwalk, we didn't order any salads but since then my dad has undergone a radical mindshift with regards to salads, haha. So we went with the Ricciotti salad, which is recommended on their menu, and consists of mixed greens, grilled bell peppers, crispy bacon bits and shaved parmesan cheese. We decided on the basil pesto dressing, which was a great decision (!!) haha.
The salad is decently sized for something that costs $13.5, and was sufficient as a starter for the four of us. The dressing was slightly heavy, but the freshness of the veggies more than made up for it. Besides, I really like pesto. My favourite part of the salad would be the bacon bits because they are so tiny yet crispy, it's like a hidden gem when I get a piece accompanying my veg. Yum salad.
Moving on to main course, we had a pasta, pizza and grilled chicken to share. For our family of four, this was sufficient for us and I actually felt really full.
We ordered Spaghetti Marinara, which was recommended as well. However, this was the most lacklustre dish we've tried here so far. There was nothing special about it, it's just a plain ol tomato based spaghetti. It's not like the seafood was super fresh to make it worth it, because the clams were pretty tiny and the prawns were the defrosted kind :( It had a lovely tomato flavour yes, but I wouldn't order it again.
On the other hand, the Linguine Al Granchio we ordered the last two times we were here (though not this time cos we thought we should try something new), certainly lived up to its recommendation. The creamy tomato based pasta with crabmeat was delicious. Despite being a creamy base, it was not too thick such that it becomes 腻 (sickening) after a couple of mouthfuls. I would happily gobble it up myself if not for the fact that my family always shares..
Next up was the pizza! I can live to eat thin-crusted pizza with mushrooms forever. Their Pizzotto pizza was again, a recommended item on the list. And again, a wonderful choice hehe.
The pizza comes with a lovely not too thin (like Skinny Pizza) and not too thick (like Pizza Hut's pan pizza) crust that is just the right amount of chaotah (burntness) underneath. Topped with fresh mushrooms, crispy strips of bacon and an egg, it makes for a good combination. The mushrooms were the highlight of the pizza, giving it a delicious grilled/roasted mushroom-y flavour.
The whole grilled chicken (Pollo Alla Diavola whatever that means??) with their signature marinade cost 29.50 for the 1.5kg as opposed to 19.5 for the 750g, so my dad said why not? And ordered the whole thing. Which led to us being really full, but no regrets there.
The chicken was stated to be boneless, and it arrived as such with the exception of the wings, of course. That made it really easy to eat, just cut and eat easy peasy stuff. It comes in a huge platter with mashed potatos and salad greens. YT loves the potatos because they mash the skin into it, giving it a more earthy flavour. Yum.
The chicken itself was roasted to perfection with a crispy, slightly charred skin. The chicken breast was moist and yummy, which is great because as we all know too dry chicken breast tastes like sawdust and is totally unappetizing. The chicken comes with a slightly translucent brown sauce which was optional for me. The original flavour is good enough.
By then we were really full, so no dessert this time round. Their desserts don't come on the menu so you have to look for the selection at the counter. Their tiramisu looked yummy but our tummies were too full so /: Maybe next time!
The last time round, we ordered the blackforest as well as the cheesecake. Personally I thought the blackforest wasn't worth it, quite boring and too much whipped cream. The cheesecake was not bad, not too heavy but not the fluffy kind either. But they came with the set lunch options, so I guess not much to complain there. You pay for what you get.
Speaking of set lunch, we went on Sunday this time so there was no promotions with any cards either, but weekdays have a set lunch special where you order a main course, dessert and a drink for around 20++ depending on the main you order. It's worth it if you're having a business lunch, or just a quiet lunch with your significant other. Not the kind of price for students, haha but I noticed a one for one pizza/pasta offer on weekdays at the Star Vista outlet. That would probably make for an under-20 meal, but you gotta check first.
Ricciotti has three outlets, and I've been to the Riverwalk one and Star Vista one. Food quality is consistent and service is good. Not overbearing, but friendly (:
Ricciotti Salad $13.5
Spaghetti Marinara $23.5
Linguine Al Granchio $22.5
Pizzotto Pizza 12'' $23.5. 9'' $16Spaghetti Marinara $23.5
Linguine Al Granchio $22.5
Pollo Alla Diavola 1.5kg $29.5, 750g $19.5
Opens daily, 9.30am - 11pm
20 Upper Circular Road
B1-49/50 The Riverwalk
Singapore 058416
Tel: (65) 6533 9060
Other outlets are at China Square Central and The Star Vista
Other outlets are at China Square Central and The Star Vista
