If I were a chef, I believe the greatest joy would be a diner’s appreciation for food cooked my way. Unpretentious, inspired and creative. For Giampaolo Maffini, that is exactly what he does at Modo Mio or ‘My Way’, a restaurant that has been gaining momentum ever since its launch. With pleasant reviews, this was the perfect venue for the little darling’s 20th birthday dinner with the guys considering how well Modo Mio has been promoted for its personalised service and authentic, but more importantly, tasty food.
While we waited for the rest to arrive!
For the night, we ordered a few dishes to share among ourselves with the pizzas coming out first.
Pizza Asiago e pollo which had a tomato based topped with chicken, Asiago , onion, pink peppercorn & mozzarella. As simple as the ingredients might seem, it actually is really delicious. The pizza ingredients was tasty and not too salty. It felt balanced. But what really made me like the pizza was the crust. I am known for hating Italian pizza crusts. Why? Simply because most places tend to have it in the oven until the crust becomes overly hard and dry. Despicable! But at Modo Mio, it was GOOD!
While the Pizza Asiago e Pollo was good, the Pizza al Prosciutto stole the show! Like the chicken pizza, it was a tomato based pizza but this time with parmesan, mozzarella, Parma ham, and rocket salad. Again simplicity was at its best. The pizza was delicious, crust cooked till the perfect, prosciutto well salted and the cheese and tomato sweetness were just spot on. But if it can be done, it would be great if the prosciutto can be more well placed. As this pizza was shared, it was actually quite difficult to eat because the prosciutto often get dragged off from one slice to another. Moving on to our mains!
The star:
Carre d’agnello in crosta di nocciole, salsa al timo e tortino di zucca or Oven baked lamb rack with a macadamia crust, thyme jus & butternut pumpkin flan. Overall, the lamb was the best meat dish for the night. There were many reasons why we liked it so much! For me, crust coating the lamb rack was simply delicious and magnificent. Also, the meat had a pink-ish middle showing it was cooked to perfection. Following on, while I am never a fan of pumpkin, the flan that accompanied the dish was actually NICE! It had a creamy centre which complemented the meat well. Overall, this dish was the best among all that we ordered!
Red wine marinated Angus beef tenderloin, pan-fried foie gras, polenta & taleggio ravioli, onion, pommery mustard marmalade. As we had just dined at Nine Fine Food the day before, the little darling and I were expecting a flavour filled foie gras that would complement the angus beef like a pair made in heaven. Unfortunately, this was not so. Pan-fried foie gras was not magical but felt a little dry, as if it has lost its creaminess =X! Beef was perfect but cheese filled ravioli felt bland. Not that this dish is not nice but our hopes for perfection was perhaps a little far fetched.
Another dish worth mentioning for the night was the filled pasta with a cream sauce finished with shaved black truffle. The sauce was superbs, pasta lovely and until now I still cannot think what was in there but oh it was good. As there were less than 5 pieces, we each barely had one! Nevertheless, it was lip-smacking! The cream sauce had us drooling for more. Myself? I spooned every bit possible onto my little pasta! I have actually just checked the menu and this dish is off the list. Rather unfortunate but I am sure it is a matter of time before it comes back on!
Perfection!
After having our dinner we moved on to a few desserts to try, for the little darling her dessert also served as a birthday cake! A rather special one I would say!
Seeing basil did not scare the darling from her favourite dessert. In fact, vinegar was almost non-existent! The traditional Italian custard with strawberry marinated in aged balsamic vinegar, and basil was to the little darling, ‘quite nice’!
For my sister, she chose to have the her normal Tiramisu!
This was finger lickin’ good! In comparison to a few that I have eaten, this is actually nice. Perhaps it is just me because this does not have a liquor flavour that felt overly strong and neither were the sponge fingers drenched in concentrated coffee. It felt just ‘right’. Or at least it did for a person who does not drink coffee like me!
Lastly, my dessert was the chocolate pudding with marsala wine and sort but omagawd. Almost died from this dessert. The chocolate pudding was really rich but the overall experience was to me a little too ‘adult’. Rich chocolate felt slightly bitter, liquor soaked fruits and wine everywhere. Ewwww!! But I think if you are into desserts that are not overly sweet, this might just be the one for you. Just my two sense but it could be wrong anyways 
Overall, I have to say that the small servings and rolling cutleries were not the highlight of the restaurant. Neither was the venue which was draped in luxury only to be let down by the low ceilings making the place a little claustrophobic. But if you are looking for good Italian food with a wallet to match, this might just be your cue. Also, headwaiter was keen so serve and ensured that we were well taken care off. Definitely had to thank the waitress Anke, that was assigned to our table of 16! Priceless experience and, great place with little to improve on! Probably for a stingy pot like me, perhaps Giampaolo can double the size of my mains! :)!
WenY
