Wineshark Mystery Restaurant - Zozzona

Recently opened, this restaurant has already received good attention, with an interesting concept of combining fresh hand-made pasta with Japanese flavours, known in Japan as ‘Itameshi’, in a casual bar setting. Today, we came to Hillwood Road in TST to try it out.

With cool weather and nice breeze, the restaurant opened its windows to the street for fresh air. It has cozy and relaxing ambience, with a row of dining tables, some highchairs and counter seating to create different experiences, served by an open kitchen at the back.

Both of us had Yakult Fizz ($68) to start, which is a non-alcohol drink made from house-made strawberry cordial, mixed with Yakult, soda water, and lime juice. Pleasant in look and refreshing in taste, it was nicely balanced and not too sweet.

There is an Omakase Menu ($458 each) which includes three appetizers and three pastas, plus one dessert. The first starter was Burrata Cheese on Japanese Grapes, with some candied hazelnuts and dressed with balsamic. Nice combination of flavours, the contrast of crunchiness of grape skin with the soft burrata cheese was also appealing.

The second one was Akami Tuna Tataki. Cut into pieces, the tuna was raw on the inside and lightly seared on the surface, with some Sicilian pistachio and Calabrian chili as condiments, and a bit of orange puree to give acidity. Another wonderfully created starter.

The third one was Okinawa Seaweed Zeppole. My favourite among the three, the zeppole was a sort of deep-fried dough ball with nice chewy texture, dusted with Parmesan cheese and seaweed, to give a nice savoury taste. A must try in my opinion.

Transitioning to pasta, first was Tagliolini Freddi, a cold pasta dish. The al dente tagliolini was mixed with a fragrant shiso and walnut pesto, with some marinated squid on top, cut into shreds and very tender, dusted with some lemon zest to freshen the palate.

Next was Bucatini Wagyu Beef Ragu, with the long macaroni having great texture, picking up the flavourful ragu and the sauce. There was subtle spiciness in the ragu, with additional dried chili on the side to supplement if needed. My favourite among the three pastas.

The last one was Botan-Ebi Spaghetti AOP, with the texture of the spaghetti al dente, prepared with extra virgin olive oil and garlic. The wild spot prawns were good in taste, seasoned with some pepperoncino and nori for heat and savoury.

For dessert we could choose among two, and we picked Matcha Gelato instead of Tiramisu. The creamy gelato was rich in matcha flavour, served in a glass cup for sharing. Nice in taste, it was also not too sweet.

Service was good, with the whole team very friendly and engaging with customers. And there was also a sake pairing if desired. The bill on the night was $1,157. The overall dining experience was very good, no wonder it had become so popular.