LINO @ Forum - 583 Orchard Rd

After enjoying their Shaw House location, we decided to try the new Forum location for dinner. Service was really good with the staff particularly thoughtful and friendly. We were also presented with a welcome drink, presumably to celebrate the new opening. A nice touch. The dinner menu is quite large and has a lot of interesting options. We found quite a few things we want to try and opted for a calamari and oyster starter, a gnocchi bolognese pasta, and a mushroom pizza. On the following visit, we tried tagliatelle with meatballs and a burrata pizza. They have quite a good mix of hot and cold starters to choose from. The starter we had was tasty, though I personally would have preferred a marinara dipping sauce to a mayonnaise-based one. For the pastas, they have a nice range of options and we look forward to trying more of them. The gnocchi we had were really nice and tender with the bolognese sauce rich and flavorful. I saw they have carbonara on the menu but it lists cream as one of the ingredients, so will be passing on that. The tagliatelle with meatballs was nice. The mushroom pizza was okay and closer to a NY one than the one I had at Shaw House. I would have liked a little more flavor in the crust, but then I’m particularly picky about pizza and others may find it just fine. It was loaded with toppings and quite tasty overall. The burrata pizza was really nice. We’ve had that twice so far. It was crispy and very fresh tasting. One minor gripe is that the burrata should be room temperature when they add it. The way they serve it now, it quickly makes the pizza cold. Seeing this really makes me miss Nancy Silverton’s roasted tomato and burrata pizza at Mozza. That was top-notch. The baked snapper was nice but a little too salty. They have a large dessert selection with all of the usual suspects for an Italian restaurant. Overall, pricing is okay, though the starters could be a few bucks cheaper and the mains get quite pricey for a casual dining restaurant, and pricing also varies slightly by location, even for some of the same dishes. I think they should also ditch the 90 minute seating limit. This isn’t the kind of place where you’re likely to be there longer than that anyway, and constantly telling your customers about the limit (we were literally told a total of four times when confirming our reservation and when being seated) is frankly poor form bordering on rude. Also, if you send an SMS asking to confirm our res, don’t call the next day to confirm again. I prefer no confirmation at all — send a reminder if you must, but a reservation is a reservation. If you are going to confirm, do it once and only once. When we arrived for our last visit, the staff were also standing around chatting instead of greeting and seating us promptly, despite the restaurant being nearly empty. Basically, the table service is good but the administrative side of things needs some work. I’m also not a fan of QR codes for menus, especially in a case like here where it’s really formatted for printing with a relatively small font and two columns. If you insist on making customers read the menu on their phones, at least put it in a mobile-friendly format. In sum, the food is generally good and they have a nice range of options. Table service is also good, but the management side of things could be better. Pricing is mixed but not terrible. As long as they don’t become another Jamie’s, they should do okay. I give them a cautious four stars.

Great service, and relatively packed on a Saturday night. Food, however, was incredibly lacklustre for the price. Arancini was okay—executed well but brought nothing new to the table. Pasta was absolutely disappointing—had the seafood risotto (okay not technically a pasta) and the beef short rib fettuccine. Everything on risotto dish was overcooked, from the rice to the scallops, and not quite salty enough. Don’t get me wrong—it was still plenty decent but at 36 bucks it should be more than decent. The fettuccine had a similar issue—pasta was overcooked also, and the sauce was overpoweringly sweet (too tomato-y), which is a pity cos that was a waste of good short rib. Wine (Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc) and the cocktail (Melon Bellini) were good for the price. Might come back for a tipple next time. Overall, had high hopes because LINO Pasta and Pizza Bar (at Shaw) was good, so was expecting a more elevated experience here, but was wholly disappointed. There is much better Italian fare at this price point.

Decent Italian place! I love the escargot pizza!! The truffle fries are great (albeit rather pricey at $18?!) and so is the seafood risotto. Prices lean towards the higher side for the better tasting dishes

** Walk-ins available around 8pm, even on a weekend - last order at 9pm as they close at 9:30pm ** Lovely pizza! We had the burrata one - the dough was light and the pesto tasted very fresh (and a tad garlicky). Drinks were small for the price ($19 for an Aperol Spritz). Service was friendly though when I called to check if they had a table they said they didn’t. I still went and saw plenty of empty tables so got one as a walk-in. I would definitely visit again.

Suggest to make a reservation before heading down, especially on weekends, as it was pretty packed when we went on Sunday for lunch. Ordered minestrone soup and foie gras for starters, followed by burrata pizza and shrimp/seafood risotto for mains. Minestrone was alright, nothing exceptional. Foie gras served is pretty thick and goes well with the garnish it came with. The pizza is so good, but I agree with some other reviewers here that the cold burrata cheese plopped on to the hot pizza is not so much a good balance. No major complaints though. The dough holds the weight of the burrata pretty well after spreading it. Seafood risotto quite generous with the ingredients. Taste good.

Great food & service at Lino @ Forum. We had panccetta pizza, beef cheek, seafood stew, garlic bread, various starters, goose leg, desserts, all were delicious. Special thanks to Albert who attended to us, he’s friendly, helpful, & made our visit to Lino special & memorable!

Great service and great tasting pizza. The staff recommended the lobster and it was so good! All the crew were very friendly and attentive to our needs. Shout out to Shaminda ( Hope I did not butcher her name)! She is really good and kind! Would come again!

We did take away free delivery for over a certain amount. Very good pizza nice chewy. Would be better if eaten at the restaurant. Hot is nicer obviously. But the flavors are still there even if a bit cold. Loved the pizza definitely would love to dine in someday.