iO Osteria Restaurant Review: Good Italian Food + Cheap Wine = 😍

It is easy to write this iO Osteria Restaurant Review. This Italian restaurant in the HillV2 Mall in the Hillview/ Upper Bukit Timah residential area has won our hearts with its winning combination of good food and cheap wines.

The HillV2 is a small shopping mall at Hillview Road. It was a quiet place when it first opened several years ago. It has become more lively now that the Hillview MRT station has opened and the new Hillview Community club was set up right next door. Italian restaurant iO Osteria is one of the original tenants at this mall and has been a favourite of ours since day one. It seems like we are not alone as this eatery is always buzzing with activity, even on weekday lunchtime. Reservations are always a good idea.

iO Italian Osteria Restaurant Review

The area right after entering the iO Osteria restaurant is a very busy place. There is a large kitchen that almost looks like a food production factory. Pasta was being hand-made, traditional Italian bread and pizzas being baked and displayed for sale in the glass cases. Slices of these oblong-shaped pizzas can be bought for takeaway or consumed on site. Pick your selection and have it served in the restaurant.

iO Osteria Restaurant Menu

Here are pictures of the iO Italian Osteria restaurant menu. We like the idea of having the entire menu printed on plain paper that doubles up as placemats on the tables. That way, everyone has his own menu and the servers do not have to deliver and retrieve menus throughout the day. These were the food items that we ordered that day: porchetta (baked pork belly with fennel $9), traditional stuffed Roman schiacciata (Italian toasted bread $10), baked eggplant parmigiana ($14) and grilled pork chop ($22). Prices here are before GST and service charge.

The Wine at iO Osteria

You will notice the is a small wine section in the iO Osteria menu. There are unbranded “iO wines”, classified by grape varieties – chardonnay, merlot etc. These are sold by the glass, 1/4 bottles and by bottle. Even more affordable are the “iO House Wines” that are sold by volume – glass, 1/4, 1/2 and 1 litre.

We decided on a half litre of the sparkling white wine ($26). This was served in a carafe, chilled in a plastic bag of ice – which is a good idea, being smaller and easily handled than the usual ice buckets. We don’t know the origin or type of wine nor did we ask. All we need to say is that it was cheap and cheerful. Perfect for a hot Singapore afternoon and the right quantity for two persons. In case more serious wines are desired, they have a wine list with the usual suspects from Tuscany and Piedmont.

Our Italian Lunch at HillV2

The porchetta and the eggplant parmigiana (pictures above) were wonderful starters. They were small dishes that worked well as snacks before the main course arrived. This was the first time we were trying the stuffed Roman schiacciata. They looked and tasted like ham and cheese toasties. These will work very well as breakfast with a cup of black coffee.

It was fortunate that we only had one main course. The snacks and starters were quite substantial. The pork chop was fine but the portion size of the meat was small. There were lots of vegetables. Checking back on our post of an earlier visit in 2018, we note that the prices seem to have remained the same. Which may be another reason people keep coming back to iO Osteria at HillV2.

Dessert and Coffee

Our meal concluded with a cappuccino ($6) and an affogato ($10). The former was served in a large cup. The coffee was overwhelmed by the large volume of milk. The affogato was a better choice – espresso coffee with ice cream and a cookie made a simple and light dessert.

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

iO Italian Osteria
#02-01 HillV2
4 Hillview Rise Singapore 667979

Tel: +65 6710 7150

---

The Ordinary Patrons | Real Dining Experience of Ordinary People
an independent Singapore food blog