Osteria Mozza

This is the second visit but further time blogging about the food here. Was rather disappointed that the portions have somehow seemed to be scaled down.but overall it was less salty than the previous time. The menu changed regularly but less so for it's desserts menu. I would prefer pizzeria mozza to this but the desserts here are still very delicious.

As usual, the complimentary bread with dips(but as always, their bread is not toasted warm enough)

Ricotta cheese and olive on a cracker (complimentary)

This one is rather average and the cheese leaks out some pale white liquid that turns the cracker below slightly soggy.Typically, if you like to have a complete Italian meal, there is the starter, the cheese from the mozerella bar, primi(pasta), then your second (meat/fish), then last is dessert. That might be the reason why when we order just pasta or the meat as a main, the portion is quite small. But nonetheless, here are the pastas and mains:

Ricotta and egg raviolo with browned butter

This is a very rich dish as the ravioli is filled with cheese and a runny egg yolk that burst when you sliced through it. Very savoury but the pasta dough helps to balance the taste. The browner butter sauce was not very special though.

Sweet Potato Mezzalune with Amaretti

(Amaretto is an Italian sweet almond-flavoured liqueur. It is made from a base of apricot or almond pits)
I did not spot this the other time and the idea of having sweet potato inside my pasta caught my attention. Mezzalune means "half moon" and thus the pasta is shaped like a crescent moon.

The orange colour sweet potato filling was a interesting sweet change to a typical pasta dish but there is still a creamy cheese like sauce around them so the taste was actually nice. But the portion was really insufficient for this.

Guinea Hen Crostone with liver pancetta sauce

The guinea hen was roasted to golden brown. Though there was no hint of any fats, the meat was not too dry. It tasted like 烧鸡 but in larger chunks. Crostone is actually the toasted bread on which the guinea hen sits.
Each bite of the crostone, guinea hen and liver pancetta sauce together was really very tasty. Highly recommend this dish than the pasta if you compare the prices. The liver pancetta sauce was rich and savoury.

Grilled Whole Snapper wrapped in Radicchio with herbs & extra virgin olive oil

The fish was extremely fresh and the ingredients were kept to a minimum, bringing out the simple flavors of herbs.

After serving, the waiter would slice open the fish and placed the raddichio on the fish. Raddichio is actually known also as an Italian chicory or leaf vegetable that has a bitter and spicy taste. Then, fresh lemon juice will be squeezed from a large grilled lemon straight onto the fish.A very light and healthy dish as the seasoning is very little.

Brasato al Barolo, braised beef short ribs with horseradish gremolata

The portion was smaller than I thought but it was sufficient for a man. . The dish has quite met it's standards but not very impressive. Barolo is a red wine produced in Piedmont, Italy.

The beef is easier to chew than a steak but not as tender yet. The horseradish is grated on the spot too

Desserts: all highly recommended.

Cioccolato bittersweet chocolate cake with Perugian chocolates

I have been eyeing this and it was fabulously rich. It is not a mousse or sponge cake but a whole choke of intense dark chocolate ganache. Really like eating truffles.
The almonds and hazelnuts that were coated with cocoa powder or chocolate was not rancid at all. The nougat was a delight accompaniment as seldom do we find Italian Nougats in restaurants here. The honeycomb crunch on the left was very sweet.

Torte Della Nonna with Honeycomb & pine nuts

This means"grandmother's cake" which is a traditional Tuscany dessert. The name evokes a homely feel.
Though this is a cheesecake, it is not like the heavy kind of US creamy cheesecake or as light as Japanese cheesecake. Neither is it mousse like. More towards a baked rustic kind of texture as ricotta is used instead of cream cheese.. Got to try it yourself to know. The mound of honeycomb is very sweet but good to go with the cheesecake because the cake is not sweet at all. There was also a layer of biscuit pinenut crunch object on top of the cake.

For the recipe click  here:

Cannoli filled with passionfruit, coconut & banana ice cream

They have changed the original chocolate coffee caramel combination to this tropical version. Though the taste is light and refreshing, I prefer the original plating style(though I did not manage to take the photo that time) This place serves one of the best cannoli as the pastry is really crispy and does not taste like frozen food.

In all, I think this is a place for good Italian food knowing that the standards are there already since it is opened by Chef Mario Batali. But that said, some might find the price shocking some not. For me, I guess a one-time experience would satisfy.

Osteria Mozza
Mbs