Motorino - Neopolitan Style Pizza

Rating: ❤❤❤❤

I was invited back by the restaurant after they saw my review on OpenRice where I highlighted my bad experience with their service the first time I was there. It was my first time getting such an invitation and made me realize that people are actually reading my reviews. I was surprised and intrigued at the same time so decided to come back with J to give them another chance. 

As we were taking a look at their menu, the restaurant manager Kathy came over to introduce herself. She thanked us for coming and told us that she just started to take over the operations here. All throughout the night, she stopped by to check on us from time to time as well as all of the other tables. It seemed she really wanted to ensure that everyone was having a good time, which was a definite improvement from last time. The wait staff were more attentive this time and informed us of their specials for the night. They also made sure our water were filled throughout the night.

Onto the food! I remembered the food here was not too bad last time so I was looking forward to trying their pizza again. This time, we ordered the meatballs for appetizers and 2 pizzas to share - the soppressata piccante and the colatura di alici. 

I wasn't planning on drinking at first but the wait staff recommended their perfect pizza wine, which is an Italian wine that's only available at this restaurant. My interest was piqued. Usually I'm not a big fan of Italian wine in general, but this wine was a red bubbly which tasted pretty good. It wasn't too strong to over power the taste of food, and the bubbly made it easier to drink. 

Meatballs - the meatballs came in 3 large balls. Like really big. Unfortunately it's not always the bigger the better. The meatballs were too lean for my liking and with such a large size, it's harder to spread the flavor of the sauce to the meat inside. The sauce was also a bit salty. I thought the octopus salad I tried last time was much better. 

Colatura di Alici - this was a pizza with buffalo mozzarella, onions, olives, and anchovies. The flavor of the ingredients combined were very well mixed which complemented each other. The pizza dough itself had a lot of flavor and the bottom of the pizza was nicely charred as well which made for a nice base. If I had to pick a bone with the pizza, the gluten was a bit on the high side and the cornicione was not puffy enough. Otherwise, this was one great Neopolitan pizza. 

Soppressata Piccante - this was a spicy pizza with fresh chilies, soppressata and oregano cheese. It was indeed spicy especially if you happen to bite into one of the chilies. The flavors of the meat, cheese and tomato sauce was well balanced with the pizza dough. It was a bit soggy in the center of the pizza to the point where it was hard to pick it up by hand, which is apparently a trait for Neopolitan pizzas. I used to hate this as I was more used to the New York style pizzas with a crispier base but I learned to accept it as is as long as the pizza tastes good, which it does here. 

Tiramisu - The ratio of mascarpone cheese to the cake was alright - could be higher as it was a bit dry. There was no taste of alcohol in the cake though which was disappointing. Overall, this one is a pass. 

I appreciate that the management of the restaurant took my feedback and invited us back to give them another chance. It was a totally different experience this time as the staff seemed much better trained this time around and the service was much much better. They were more attentive and more knowledgeable with their menu. The pizzas also tasted better too (I think your mood can definitely affect your taste buds)! I'll be willing to come back if the level of the service and food keeps up.

Motorino 
G/F, 14 Shelley Street, Central 
2801 6881