Week 1 of our Holland Village Food Trip: Amici Italian Restaurant

Every time we've made the trek to Holland Village we have been bombarded with options -- so many in fact that we tend to end up mentally exhausted in the tried and tested Thai Express.   Safe and ... well...  boring.  Hubby, the Little Giant & I have decided to be more adventurous and tackle the restaurant row one establishment at a time.  Tonight marked the start of our food trip.

Week 1:  Amici Italian Restaurant

I didn't realize that this little hole in the wall is quite popular.  It was a good thing that I had made reservations because by 7:30 the place was jampacked.

Tip 1: Specify where you want to be seated.

One's cozy ambiance can be another's claustrophobic nightmare.  It does get fairly dark inside the restaurant, particularly in the section next to the semi-open kitchen and stone oven.     Personally,  I don't want to leave a restaurant smelling of its signature dishes.

Tonight, we were lucky enough to get a table near the Holland Avenue entrance.

Tip #2:  Inquire about the ongoing promos

Amici seems to have a number of promos with various banks, something which the servers don't disclose upfront.  Since we entered through the back entrance, we were able to see the following signs:

These signs greatly helped our decision making process. 

Choices.. choices.  What do we order?

Amici serves relatively simple yet extremely satisfying fare. All of the items looked scrumptious but we decided to ere on the side of caution and made our choices from the award winning dishes.  

Antipasti:

1.  Fegato D'Oca E Mele (S$24.90)

Pan impale goose liver with glazed green apple and sweet raisin sauce

The liver was cooked just right.  Its texture, combined with the sweetness of the sauce and crisp greens, was perfect.

2.  Frito Ai Calamari (S$11.90)

Deep fried squid served with greens

Ok so you can't really go wrong with calamari but Amici's version was exceptional. The meat was soft and tender and the coating perfectly crispy.   Why oh why can't we replicate this at home?

Pizza:

Since we had a hungry boy with us with pedestrian tastes,  we decided to play it safe and ordered the Pizza 4 Formaggi (S$23.9)

Fresh cut wild mushrooms, Parma ham, pepperoni, seafood, tomatoes and mozzarella cheese.

The thincrust pizza was good but not anything to write home about. The next time, I'll probably just go with my first choice,  the Pizza Ai Prosciutto.

Carne:

Tagliata Firenze (S$32.90)

Sliced tender beef in balsamico and olive oil topped with fresh parmesan cheese and rocquette salad

 The meat was perfectly tender and cooked just right.  Love Love Love!

I admit that I'm nitpicking but a few things would have made our dining experience perfect:

* Bread. For the prices that Amici charges, you would think that there would be some complimentary bread rolls.

* Cutlery.  Try twirling and flicking your food with heavy stylized cutlery.  It just doesn't work.

My Rating:

Ambience 8

Food & Bev. 9.5

Value 8

Service 8

Amici Italian Restaurant

275 Holland Avenue, Singapore 278993
+65 64 699 989

http://www.amicirestaurant.com.sg/