Address: 56 Club Street Singapore 069431
Cuisine: Italian
Nearest MRT: Chinatown (Northeast & Downtown line) / Telok Ayer (Downtown line)

Mazzo Restaurant & Bar is a laid-back Italian diner that specialises in small plates, pastas, seafood, and grilled meats. With indoor seating as well as a spacious al fresco dining area, it’s the perfect spot for relaxing after a long day’s work. With indoor seating as well as a spacious al fresco dining area, it’s the perfect spot for relaxing after a long day’s work.

I had come across this restaurant while wandering along Club street during the day. It is a lively neighbourhood with several quaint shops and a variety of restaurants serving international cuisine.

Whet your appetite with several sharing plates such as Spicy Calamari Fritti and Parma Ham Salad before digging into the hearty mains. If pasta is a must-have for you, try the Crab Meat Tagliolini with Basil Tomato Sauce or the Tagliatelle All’Aragosta. Big parties should go for the Grilled Seafood Platter with lobsters, prawns, and calamari, and the Grilled Iberico Pork with Mashed Potato.

During our visit on a Thursday evening, we decided to go for the set dinner menu. It includes an appetiser, a main course and a dessert for $48. The options for main course are limited compared to the main menu, but it had the perennial favourites such as pizza and pasta of the day. We also ordered a glass of house red and house white wine which was going at $8 for the whole night. Few places in town have happy hour that runs for the whole night, no wonder that the crowd at Mazzo were mostly enjoying the drinks.

For appetisers, we both ordered the mushroom and tomato bruschetta ($11). With tomatoes, mushroom and melted cheese on top of the slice of bread, it was a great start to the meal. The mushrooms were tasty as they were sauteed in a special sauce.

We also had the calamari fritti ($11), an additional order as we wanted to try it. It is served with lemon and garlic mayo. Being a fan of fried squid, this one is really delicious, with the lightly fried batter and the squid is not too chewy.

For the mains, I had the Grilled chicken leg ($23). It is served with roasted potatoes and mushroom sauce. The rosemary and dill herbs used enhanced the flavour of the chicken. The roast potatoes were slightly too little, but it is a good sign for those who do not like to eat too much carbs. I had been influenced by someone who described this chicken leg as reminding them homecooked food with flavours bursting in the mouth, but I feel that is just an exaggeration.

My wife had the Pizza of the day which was Pepperoni Pizza ($25). The pizza crust was thin but not so crispy, and we really liked the sofy, stretchy mozzarella cheese. The pizza was too much to finish, so we brought back a few pieces. The staff was kind enough to help us pack in a takeaway box.

After the satisfying mains, it was time for dessert. Based on the set menu, it was either a fruit platter of the dessert of the day. We chose the latter and it happened to be panna cotta ($11). It was disappointing, having tried the panna cotta over at Valentino. This one came in a dessert glass and it was too hard and a bit sweet. I would have preferred my panna cotta to be more wobbly, with more cream, but this one had too much gelatin. It had failed the wobble test in my opinion.

Overall, we would come back to Mazzo again for the nice ambience. It is a rare gem to find such good Italian cuisine in town, with an all-night happy hour drinks. However, we would not go for their desserts as they are not the best Italian ones. Even the tiramisu ($12) that we saw other people order also did not look that great.