LINO Pasta Bar – $22++ Set Lunch

LINO Pasta Bar is a member of the Les Amis Group of restaurants. This casual Italian restaurant in Shaw Centre is one of the first restaurants we dined at in Singapore’s Phase 2 COVID re-opening.

Listed on the Les Amis website are 21 brands under its portfolio in Singapore. I suppose we can guess where is LINO Pasta Bar’s target market by looking at the position that it occupies in the list. With 3-Michelin Star Les Amis at position one and NamNam in #21, LINO Pasta Bar occupies position #19. We expected a simple, affordable Italian diner and that was what we got. Do not confuse them with LINO in Binjai Park which is a mid-tier Italian restaurant which is listed at position 10. The top Italian brand in the Les Amis hierachy is La Strada (#6).

LINO Pasta Bar Menu

Here are pictures of the LINO Pasta Bar Menu and wine list. The a la carte pasta items range from $15 to $19.50 each and bottles of Italian wine cost around $50. There is also a $22++ set lunch and a $32++ Mad About Pasta tasting menu. We decided to try the former.

$22++ Set Lunch

The $22 set lunch is a three course meal. There are four choices in each of the courses.

Appetiser

The choices of appetiser were – Italian pork sausage with braised lentils, Caesar salad, Deep-fried calamari and Parma ham with melon. Here are the pictures of each of them ranked from best to least liked.

The classic Italian appetiser of Parma ham and melon (picture above) was the clear favourite at our lunch. The ham was nice and flavourful, the melon was sweet and the portion was substantial. What was there to not like? In some restaurants this dish alone would cost the price of the set lunch. The other appetizer that was well-liked was the Caesar salad with poached egg and anchovy dressing (picture below).

We were not too crazy about the other two appetisers. The Italian sausage (above picture) looked and tasted like luncheon meat. The best part of that dish was the braised lentils. The least liked dish was the calamari which looked shrivelled and were tough.

Main Courses

The main courses were generally good. Unlike the appetizers, the overall standard of the different pasta dishes was high and the level of enjoyment really depends on personal preferences.

The two pasta dishes that received the most praise were the Spaghetti alio olio with prawns, squid and bird’s eye chilli which attracts a $3 supplement (picture above) and the Mentaiko chitarra with soft boiled egg and seaweed. I would recommend picking either of these two and pair it with the Parma ham to make a great pasta lunch.

Desserts

The size of the desserts were small in comparison with the main courses. They are all safe choices – tiramisu, cheese cake, chocolate gelato and bread butter pudding. We are happy to try any of them on future visits.

The two best looking desserts were the gelato (picture above) and the bread pudding. Although it is not stated on the menu, the set lunch also came with either a glass of Moscato wine or coffee. Which made the $22++ LINO Pasta Bar set lunch pretty good value for money.

Ratings:
Food: 4
Service: 3
Value: 4
Atmosphere: 3
Overall Rating: 4 TOPs 

LINO Pasta Bar
1 Scotts Rd, Shaw Centre, #03-23
Singapore 228208

Nearby MRT Station: Orchard

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The Ordinary Patrons | Real Dining Experience of Ordinary People
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