These days getting a reservation at certain places needs more than a stoke of luck - iL Cielo is one of them. Meeting up with the group I term Sex and The City, and a PR lass in it - I was in good hands, reservations included. So after my numerous calls and her 1 call, we nabbed a table at 730pm.
Here comes iL Cielo perched on the 24th storey, serving up food with exquisite ingredients. Expect not to find the common Hawaiian, Margarita flavours...think boston lobster, caviar and all things fancy. It is a small outfit, truth be told - and it was barely as crowded as the reservations seem to suggest.
Rest of iL Cielo save for a private dining room.
Cosy corners.
Menu.
Cute butter knife!
Complimentary bread basket of olive loaves and cheese sticks served with truffle butter and the good old olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I actually preferred the crunchy sticks to olive loaves, though by normal standards the preference should have been the other way around.
Not the best eaten.
Truffle butter was mild though smooth and I simply loved olive oil with sticky balsamic vinegar, at least it had a thicker consistency than usual! Would have loved if the loaves came piping hot.
Amuse bouche of lobster and avocado cream and honeydew juice. Novel presentation of the lobster in a crunchy cone, thought the sour cream was too stark a contrast with sweet lobster flesh.
As for honeydew juice, I liked it!
Burrata ($36)
iL Cielo homemade Burrata Mozzarella filled with Buffala
Served chilled, this was highly recommended. Slice open the cheese package to reveal creamy buffala topped with juicy tomatoes and arugala salad. As much as I love my cheeses, this was above average for me but not mind blowing for a "signature". As with mozzarella, it was bland tasting cheese with a nice chewy texture.
Pappardella ($26)
Truffle scented pappardella with venison ragout
Once again highly recommended, I was crestfallen when I saw the miniscule of portions dished up. Venison ragout was reminiscent of meat of a double boiled soup and pasta was bland, most unfortunately. The only dish that was served close to warm. Yes, truffles did up the sparkle of the dish but that was it.
iL Cielo ($48)
Napoletana with Maine Lobster and Caviar
iL Cielo's pizzas are by far the thinnest around - even thinner than Harry's or Skinny Pizza's. With edges slightly charred, the most guilty part of the pizza had to be the ingredients. One morsel of lobster per slice and caviar sprinkled all around, I was so sure this had to be the most expensive pizza my pearlies ever sunk themselves into.
Maine lobster is faultless, caviar forgettable as did the rest of the pizza. Lacking in wow, somehow. What irked me most was the pizza was served barely warm!
The baffling bit of it all is each dish is prepared only upon ordering so why should all of them be barely warm? We were disappointed, truth be told after the difficulty in getting a table to the positive reviews online. Even if set lunches are going at $35++, I am not tempted enough to return.
And until the time we left a good 3 hours later, the restaurant was never once completely full.
The lovely hue of blue for the swimming pool just outside the restaurant!
iL Cielo
Hilton Hotel
Here comes iL Cielo perched on the 24th storey, serving up food with exquisite ingredients. Expect not to find the common Hawaiian, Margarita flavours...think boston lobster, caviar and all things fancy. It is a small outfit, truth be told - and it was barely as crowded as the reservations seem to suggest.
Rest of iL Cielo save for a private dining room.
Cosy corners.
Menu.
Cute butter knife!
Complimentary bread basket of olive loaves and cheese sticks served with truffle butter and the good old olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I actually preferred the crunchy sticks to olive loaves, though by normal standards the preference should have been the other way around.
Not the best eaten.
Truffle butter was mild though smooth and I simply loved olive oil with sticky balsamic vinegar, at least it had a thicker consistency than usual! Would have loved if the loaves came piping hot.
Amuse bouche of lobster and avocado cream and honeydew juice. Novel presentation of the lobster in a crunchy cone, thought the sour cream was too stark a contrast with sweet lobster flesh.
As for honeydew juice, I liked it!
Burrata ($36)
iL Cielo homemade Burrata Mozzarella filled with Buffala
Served chilled, this was highly recommended. Slice open the cheese package to reveal creamy buffala topped with juicy tomatoes and arugala salad. As much as I love my cheeses, this was above average for me but not mind blowing for a "signature". As with mozzarella, it was bland tasting cheese with a nice chewy texture.
Pappardella ($26)
Truffle scented pappardella with venison ragout
Once again highly recommended, I was crestfallen when I saw the miniscule of portions dished up. Venison ragout was reminiscent of meat of a double boiled soup and pasta was bland, most unfortunately. The only dish that was served close to warm. Yes, truffles did up the sparkle of the dish but that was it.
iL Cielo ($48)
Napoletana with Maine Lobster and Caviar
iL Cielo's pizzas are by far the thinnest around - even thinner than Harry's or Skinny Pizza's. With edges slightly charred, the most guilty part of the pizza had to be the ingredients. One morsel of lobster per slice and caviar sprinkled all around, I was so sure this had to be the most expensive pizza my pearlies ever sunk themselves into.
Maine lobster is faultless, caviar forgettable as did the rest of the pizza. Lacking in wow, somehow. What irked me most was the pizza was served barely warm!
The baffling bit of it all is each dish is prepared only upon ordering so why should all of them be barely warm? We were disappointed, truth be told after the difficulty in getting a table to the positive reviews online. Even if set lunches are going at $35++, I am not tempted enough to return.
And until the time we left a good 3 hours later, the restaurant was never once completely full.
The lovely hue of blue for the swimming pool just outside the restaurant!
iL Cielo
Hilton Hotel
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