Trattoria Piccolo (Closed)

Item: Trattoria Piccolo
Rating: 2
Author: christychinam

55 Reviews

Taste

Decor

Service

Hygiene

Value

6824

Western District

$201-400

Italian Western Pizza

christychinam

Level4

303

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This restaurant has been bookmarked for long and accidentally realising having the same bookmarked restaurant of my friend's wish to go list, ending up spending our happy Friday evening at it.

Restaurant had a vintage Rome design, with their representative arch door and also in between the dining area and the kitchen. Light blue and yellow wall paint were such a calming design. Fake plants have been placing along the seating side way which gave a sense of vibrancy. Along with the pop music with occasional remix songs, that was exactly how a Friday night should be felt.

Staff were nice, greeting us friendly and efficiently serving us. Under such stuffy hot weather, it was thoughtful serving us cold water. And staff even recommending their signature dishes. It was a welcoming start.

For starters, we asked for arancini and hamachi crudo. Requested a funghi and truffle pizza and a bolognese caeserecce.

Hamachi crudo came first. Majority fish slices were in uniform shape. Not too thick and drizzled with extra virgin oil. Not as fresh as I hope it could be. But good to be easily cut. Olive oil didn't give that aroma kick. Artichokes were bland and sea asparagus was expected to give some freshness although they might be tiny.

Arancini were served in four servings. Crispy battered risotto stuffing was indulgent. Risotto rice were cooked perfectly. Parma pieces were visually stuffed. And this gave a hint of porky flavour. It seems a heavy dish but paired with the marinara, the tanginess balanced well. Not bad.

Moving on to the most disappointing dish of tonight, which was also the staff recommendation....Bolognese pasta dish was supposed to be an Italian classic. Every Italian restaurant shall have their own bolognese sauce which their customers are dying for. Sadly, the one we enjoyed wasn't given us such authenticity. Bolognese was pretty wet. It was on a sweet side but no acidity. Description from the menu was served with chunky vegetables but no vegetables could be visually seen or tasted; maybe just the topped parsley. Minced were in generous amount but few of my bites were chewy that barely eatable. Caeserecce pasta was over cooked. Soft and couldn't even hold the sauce (which mostly is the reason of runny bolognese). We just gave up this dish to save our stomach for more goodness.

Next was the aromatic funghi and truffle pizza. You could tell it's ready from the kitchen just by its truffle smell. When it was served on the table, you could tell this possibly would be one of the better dishes tonight. Crust edge was risen perfectly with some burnt mark. Looks like from the stone made oven. Pizza dough was thin and crispy. Freshly made and serving hot. Truffled cheesy plus umami mushroom bites. It would be even nicer if it was loaded with variety mushrooms.

After finishing the whole pizza, we didn't even feel full yet, ending up we added one more pizza, vegetarian. Another regret of tonight. I ordered this because of their description, a combo of Italian classic ingredients, artichokes, aubergines and zucchini. To be honest, I could barely see, find and taste a piece of artichoke in the whole pizza. Aubergine and zucchini were in paper thin slices. Mushroom slices were again too thin. Barely taste their own flavour as covered by the sweetness of the bell peppers and the marinara. Not much cheese had been topped. This was why no pulling cheese or no gooey texture had been tasted. All in all, tasted like a 'supreme' pizza in a vegetarian style that could be easily purchased out there.

Apart from the food I would like to comment, service was a bit odd that I had no doubt to share. Service in the beginning was pretty warming and staff were efficient and helpful. Always taking our cleared food plates with no pressure and refill icy cold water all the time. Nevertheless, throughout my reservation and confirm booking call, no staff reminded the dining time was only 90 minutes. Even when we were walking in the restaurant, the greeting staff didn't mention anything. After we just served our first pizza which was our 4th dish, the staff suddenly came saying we have to finish our meal by 1930 while it was 1905. After the reminder, she still asked nicely if we would like to add anything else. Well, indeed we wanted so as the sad pasta didn't feel us up. We added the second pasta. The staff was smiling when facing us after giving the order but rolled eyes behind our back. I was immediately on fire. Honestly, if you were rushing the table, you shouldn't ask if we would like anything else. And if you asked so, you should expect extra food. Anyhow, when we were eating the second pizza, one staff was standing in front of the table in a close distance, watching us eating while keep checking her watch. Odd and come on, giving us some pressure, huh? Some staff suddenly rushed to prepare the table next to us at 1925. I guess to prepare the table reserved at 1930. Customers indeed showed up on time and were seated beside. When we were consuming the last piece of pizza, staff came to ask if we want any dessert and remind us we had only 5 minutes left. We were literally in shocked. Seriously thinking it is possible to serve us a dessert within 5 minutes plus our eating time? Just enough, we asked for the bill and return your table on time as you wish.

No goodbye from staff and I don't want this experience again anymore and anyway.