Affordable Italian Food in Singapore: Lino Pizza & Pasta Bar

Affordable Italian food in Singapore at Lino Pizza & Pasta Bar was one of our last dining experience before the recent restrictions in Singapore. This small Italian cafe in Shaw Centre is a no-frills restaurant which we have made repeat visits for decent Italian food at reasonable prices.

Lino Pizza & Pasta Bar is one of the many restaurant brands in the Les Amis Group. There are several Italian restaurant brands in the group. The top Italian brand in the Les Amis hierachy is La Strada. LINO Pizza & Pasta Bar and Peperoni are their more affordable Italian restaurants in Singapore. Sandwiched between the two ends is LINO in Binjai Park which is a mid-tier Italian restaurant.

Affordable Italian Food in Singapore : $22++ Set Lunch Menu

Lunch time is probably the best time to dine at Lino Pizza & Pasta Bar. The three course set lunch is our go-to choice when it comes to getting a nice lunch in Orchard Road at a reasonable budget. Here are pictures of the Lino set lunch menu as well as some portions of the a la carte menu. Do note that the pizza in the a la carte menu are 12 inch whereas the set lunch pizza are smaller – 9 inch.

The Starters

For starters we selected the Parma ham with melon and the Caesar salad. The ham and melon is a classic Italian starter. The contrast between the salty ham and sweet melon brings together a combination of taste that we enjoy. By comparison, the salad was less exciting.

Pizza & Pasta Mains

There is no expensive Fiorentina steak or fancy Italian cusine at this simple restaurant along Orchard Road. Lino has remained one of the more reliable places for affordable Italian food in Singapore by focusing on the two humble Italian dishes – pizzas and pasta. What we had that day was a mixed mushroom pizza and mentaiko chitarra with seaweed. One thing both dishes had in common was the enjoyable texture of the main components – the pizza dough and the pasta respectively.

In the case of the pizza, the crust had a chewy centre with a slightly crispy surface. As for the chittarra pasta, I understand from Wikipedia that is a type of spaghetti with a square section. It had a nice bouncy texture. With the mentaiko (fish eggs) and seaweed topping, the dish took on a Japanese feel. It was a successful combination of east and west.

Our affordable Italian food lunch was completed by a simple dessert of chocolate gelato with caramelised pine nuts and some Hoegaarden Rosee beer ($6.50). The rose beer was new to us. It is wheat beer with a sweet taste. The colour looks nice but I think we will go for normal beer the next time.