My dad read an article in Sunday Times recently about Alt. Pizza and he got all excited about it because the owner of Alt. Pizza (Matthew White) had helped to launch Extra Virgin Pizza and I had brought my dad to Extra Virgin Pizza once and he was so impressed by the pizza there that he remembered the name. Long story short, we finally went to Alt. Pizza for dinner.

Located at a tiny corner of Suntec City, Tower 4, it is no wonder that this place is not as popular as Peperoni downstairs. It is on Level 1 and is next to the taxi stand. It is outside of the main shopping area and because of that, it does have a few tables located outside for al fresco dining.

The place is decorated with very bright neon colours and I love the puns - Love with Slice us Apart/ Everyday we'll be trufflin' etc. The pop art decor isn't what one would normally associate with artisanal pizzas but it's quirky and it explains the funky names given to the various pizzas.

Dad ordered their Tangerine Wheat Craft Draft Beer (S$10++) and this is one of the 3 craft beers to choose from. I recommend the Tangerine Wheat because it's a little more unique and true to its name, you'll get a citrus after taste with the first notes of fruitiness. It's a light beer so ladies will like it too.

For starters, we tried their Calamari Fritti (S$10++) which is fried with rosemary and another herb and served with a chipotle lime aioli. Loved the aioli and the calamari was well seasoned. I prefer the smaller type of squid though because although the squid was soft and cooked well, this large squid tends to have this band/vein through it that makes it hard to chew through.

First up is their Truffle Shuffle (S$14++), which has a white sauce base and comes with fennel sausage, caramelised onions, roasted mushrooms and truffle oil - all on an 11" thin crust. In fact, all their pizzas are thin crust and at 11" and you start to make the Extra Virgin Pizza connection since EVP also fixes their pizza size and type.

Ok...taste test! I was expecting a heavy aroma of truffle to bombard my nose when I picked up a slice and alas, I was sorely disappointed. The onions were good and the mushroom was tasty but...truffle? :( Other than that, it was a good pizza.

Next was the Crabby Ninja (S$18++) and it comes with a red pepper cream sauce, blue crab meat, cherry tomatoes, basil and smoked cheddar. Now THIS tasted a lot better than the Truffle Shuffle and it delivered what it promised. The basil was a nice contrast to the crab and cuts back on the oil from the cheese. The fresh tomatoes were sweet and juicy, adding a little more depth to the pizza. Each slice had a generous serving of crab meat so one can't complain there.

2 pizzas are more than enough for 3 Asians but if you're really hungry, you can have a whole pizza to yourself. If you don't fancy their standard pizzas, you can even build your own! The full menu can be found here. They do have daily special pizza flavours so do check those out too! They are taking orders online but it's currently meant more for takeaways since they only deliver within Suntec City and Millennia Walk. Now...will they ever have set lunches?? Only time will tell.

Alt. Pizza
Suntec City Tower 4
#01-602
Singapore 038983

Tel: +65 6836 9208
Website: www.altpizza.com.sg
Email:  hello@altpizza.com.sg (reservations only for parties of 8 pax and above, dinner only)
Opening Hours: 11am - 10pm, daily

Siew Mai and I met up for dinner at Salt Tapas & Bar last Wednesday because I read in an email/article by HoneyCombers that Salt has a ladies special where ladies get a free cocktail for each tapas ordered.

Alas, the promotion was over AND we just missed their Happy Hour (ends at 7pm).  Nonetheless, the grub there is good and they change their menu regularly!  I should know since this is my 2nd time there.  You can read about my first visit here.

Above is their Tuna Sashimi Pizza (S$23++) which has avocado and a wasabi mayo dressing.  It was really tiny (7 inches?) but it was good, although I had to scrape away the wasabi dressing.

Below is their Haloumi (S$13++) which was very good!  Meant really for the vegetarians or those who really like Middle Eastern flavours.

These adorable Pork Belly Sliders (S$18++) were very tasty and reminded me of the Vietnamese Bahn Mi although the sliders have softer buns. 

In my hunger, I forgot to take photos of the truffle parmesan fries (S$10++) and the Meatballs with mash potatoes (S$18++).  The truffle fries were very very good!! They used fresh shaved Parmesan cheese instead of the powdered version and when the bowl of fries are placed in front of you, the smells of pungent cheese and truffle simply permeates the air.

As for the meatballs, it was a bit disappointing in terms of taste.  In fact, the mash was the one that stole our palates.  It is the BEST mash I've eaten so far.  Buttery and smooth, what else can you ask for in a mash?

Once more, both of us got a shock at the bill.  This little bit of food plus a beer and rootbeer caused us over $96...Sigh, my wallet becomes lighter.  At least the food is good!

I have no idea who recommended La Braceria to my bro but he suggested that we go there for dinner so my family did.  First up, I am constantly amazed at how all these restaurants in Bukit Timah survive very well despite the horrible lack of parking and not being the most accessible by public transport, except for taxis.  Can't be total dependence on residents either, right?  Anyway, back to La Braceria.  It is nestled at the back of Glendale Avenue and the sign is rather nondescript from the road and it is only when you walk, do you see the rather large signboard.

For starters, we ordered the baked eggplant (above) as well as the seafood platter (below), which was on their special seasonal menu.

The eggplant was the expected yummy cheesy and tomato stew that I love with totally cooked eggplant.  The seafood platter had fried anchovies, smoked salmon, fish carpaccio and a 'stew' of clams and prawns.  I think the most unexpected delicious part of this platter had to be the fish carpaccio.  The slice of orange on top of it lent it that slight refreshing citrus taste while it was lightly salted.  It didn't have the smokiness of the salmon which was great because you need balance.  The stew was good but the soup was a tad spicy thanks to the chilli padi bits in side.

For mains, we ordered the Parpadele with Duck Confit which was on the special menu as well.  They ran out of black truffle so instead of paying S$28++, they only charged us S$26++ and the dish came with a very generous dousing of truffle oil.  The ducky was very well cooked and the sauce was gorgeous.  My only gripe is that the parpadele could've been cooked just a wee bit longer.  It was too aldente for me.

We also ordered a white pizza with beef tenderloin and mushrooms (S$28++).  A white pizza is essentially one without tomato paste and I can understand why they didn't want any tomato sauce to mask the pure taste of the mushrooms and beef.  Simple but there's just something comforting about melted cheese on a thin crust with sliced mushrooms and beef.  Two thumbs up!

What's life without desserts?  Despite being a bit full, we ordered the 'Must Try' Braceria special cheesecake (above, S$9.50++) which is really very different from the usual cheesecake.  It's light, less cloying in texture and felt more like eating layers of cheese panna cotta interspersed with graham crackers.  But I'm quite sure that it's not graham crackers.  I tasted hazelnuts and pistachios.  The sauce drizzled on the side was not simple chocolate either.  There was cherry glaceed into it.

Many reviewers recommended ordering the Flaming Lava Cake (S$9.50++), so we did.  It comes in this souffle bowl where Grand Marnier was poured on the surface.  With a lighter, the waiter set it on fire and voila! A flaming lava cake!

I was not impressed by the lava cake.  It was gooey and soft on the inside but one gets a satisfaction from seeing the molten centre oozing out onto the plate.  No such satisfaction here.  Also, Grand Marnier is orange flavoured brandy liquer and how do I feel about pairing orange and chocolate? I loathe it.  I only enjoyed the alcohol with the chocolate but it's orange...so...ugh.  Bro enjoyed the crispy bits though.

Overall, this meal was good.  There's no denying how authentic and hearty this Italian meal was.  There is no fancy schmancy plating and is just as good as Valentino's or Trattoria Noona Lina or any other famous Italian joints in Singapore.  I highly recommend dropping by if you're in the neighbourhood!

La Braceria
5 Greendale Avenue
Singapore 289501
Tel: +65 6465 5918
Website: http://labraceria.com.sg/

I've read so many good reviews about Extra Virgin Pizza that I just HAD to try it when I met my bro for dinner one evening.  They didn't have any seats inside so we had to sit outside on the uncomfy bar chairs which were easy to get up but less easy to get down.  Ladies - opt for the seats inside if you're wearing a skirt/ dress. 

For starters, we had Prosciutto ham & Melon ($14++).  This is a simple but fave dish of mine and it's not easy to screw it up.  They were very generous with the prosciutto, which was flavourful and wasn't too salty.  Wish they gave more melon though. 

Now...the pizza!  I ordered the Spotted Pig pizza ($26++) which had tomatoes, mozzarella, spicy pepperoni, pork sausage, applewood smoked bacon and pecorino.  Last time I had pecorino was in Tuscany, Italy and I must say that it's nice to have a taste of real Italy in a slice of pizza.

The flour is imported and the pizzas are meant to be artisanal.  For that price tag, it really does seem artisanal.  Their pizzas are small and meant to be eaten by 1.  I must say that the pizzas are good but for similar prices, I'd rather eat Spizza's pizzas, which are topped with fresh salad.

The vibe of Extra Virgin at Asia Square is very much like the other Lo & Behold Group's restaurants (Overseasy and The White Rabbit) so it's a bit of a cafe meets gourmet experience.  The view of the Marina Bay Financial Centre and Marina Bay Sands to the corner does add in the yuppie chillax feel too.  Would I eat at Extra Virgin again?  Maybe...if I'm not paying.

Extra Virgin
8 Marina View #01-04
Asia Square, Tower 1
Singapore 018960

101 Thomson Road #01-14
United Square Shopping Mall
Singapore 307591

Website:  http://www.extravirginpizza.com/

P.S. They do not take reservations.

This review is kinda long overdue since I've been eating at Skinny Pizza since they first started. I think I've been to almost all their branches too so I'll just let the food do the talking. It's foodporn after all. ;)

Trinity of Truffle Fries, Grilled Corn on the Cob and Harissa Prawns with Couscous - $15++ for 3 sides

Grilled Figs, Walnuts and Parmesan cheese Pizza - $25++

Salami with goat cheese and pine nuts Pizza - $24++

I must say that their Truffle Fries used to be awesome but now, I think my current fave truffle fries can be found at Alley Bar.  I haven't eaten those at PS Cafe despite raves from some friends.  The reason is simple - I think PS Cafe's food is so-so, thus, there's no compelling reason for me to make a special trip down to their restaurant.  I had a craving for truffle fries so bad one day that I'm tempted to make my own.  Only thing holding me back is the price tag of a bottle of Truffle Oil - $39?!?! And the bottle is anorexic. Ok...enough of my rant on truffle oil (which doesn't even have real truffle...wait, I said that I'll stop ranting).

Back to Skinny Pizza.  I love how I can eat the whole pizza on my own without the same guilt as regular pizza because:

• The dough is a cracker
• There is only 1/2 the usual amount of cheese
• There is lots of veg
• Everything is super fresh

Love Skinny Pizza! :) I highly recommend their Veal, Squid Ink as well as the English Breakfast Pizzas.  Awesome!

Skinny Pizza
Website: http://www.skinnypizza.com.sg/locate-us-contact-us/
I highly recommend just going to their website to check out their menu and locations because they do have a few branches.

As you know, I went to AFA (Anime Festival Asia) over the weekend so a girl has got to eat right? So...Siew Mai did a bit of googling and found 'Heath Bistro' at Expo via hungrygowhere.com.

That's Siew Mai pretending to take a photo of my food.  Below is my Chicken Chop Rice which came with a small side of salad with balsamic vinaigrette.  Verdict - so-so. Nothing really special.

Siew Mai ordered the Pizza Margherita and added $1 for chicken toppings.  I didn't try it but she said that it was good.  Thin crust pizzas rule!

Both were part of their sets which cost $9.90 and came along with a soup.  I didn't take any photos of the soup because it looked grey.  It was mushroom soup and I liked that the mushroom soup wasn't creamy and still had obvious mushroom bits.  Didn't like that it tasted like seawater. Salty.

The service was a bit lacking and they only had 2 wait staff.  1 auntie was just doing the serving and clearing while the younger girl had to do that as well as take orders.  Hmm...not a good idea on a Saturday with 4 exhibitions going on simultaneously.  No wonder the place wasn't crowded.

I don't think I'll go back there again unless I want to beat the crowds.  That said, the lure of $9.90 set meals is quite strong if I'm at Expo since I'll only go there when there's a major exhibition.

Heath Bistro
1 Expo Drive
Just outside Hall 3
Singapore 486150
Tel. no.: +65 6260 2002

Long post alert!

Wee~~ Sunday was such a wonderfully relaxing day. (^^)v Chilled out with Siew Mai at Sentosa in the afternoon till night. I had completely forgotten that the Barclay's Open was on but thank goodness I wasn't driving into Sentosa so I just had to put up with the usual weekend crowd.

First up...we went to the Fish Reflexology!! I really like the fish reflex in Sentosa compared to Kenko. Look at the pic below!!


Talk about swarming to my feet!! Look at how clean the fish tank is!! Compare THAT to Kenko and you'll understand one of the reasons why I prefer this place. ;) Siew Mai's reaction was damn funny!! I have a video but she'll kill me if I were to put it up on my blog for all to see...so I've placed it on facebook for our friends to laugh about. Hahaha... =D The pic below is a snapshot of her reaction yesterday...

Siew Mai described the feeling of those doctor fish nibbling to be like tiny electric shocks. To me...it felt like being constantly tickled and nipped at. :P

After having our feet nibbled at, massaged and our shoulders massaged, we moved onto the Underwater World!

At the Underwater World...we first went to the Touch Pool!!

Fugu!! Puffer Fish!! I actually touched a puffer fish!! The body of the fish is so soft and squishy...I want to squish it again!! Hur hur hur...yes, a very harassed puffer fish.


At the stingray feeding pool...I can't believe how tame these rays are!! Super greedy too...they literally kinda jumped up to grab the food. There was this irritating boy who was taunting the poor stingrays by sticking his hand out but moving it away whenever the stingrays came near to it. -__-; That boy ought to be smacked.


はい。。。記念写真！！I'm getting good at this self taken shots! Hiak hiak hiak... ;)


Garden Eel...they look like tiny snakes sticking out of the sand...looks a little icky when there are sooo many of them.


Pencil fish...another weird looking creature. Is it really a fish?????


Above is an angel fish. Mind you, this little fella is only about 0.1cm long and this was the largest of them all. Quite an interesting creature considering that it has no eyes and probably relies on its other senses to catch its prey. What prey? No idea...plankton??

We saw a lot of other marine life but I'm just going to show the more interesting ones! :)

Leafy seadragons...how cute!

Wah...Japanese spider crab! I want to eat one! HAHAHAHA....oops...

Sharky sharks...I love looking at sharks...can't wait to dive near sharks...sharky sharks!! Don't eat shark's fin!! Yes...I'm one of those who won't serve shark's fin soup at my wedding...if I do I get married. No...WHEN I get married! ;)

I've got no idea what this is called but I'm calling it a sea cockroach because it looks like one. It's damn huge. It's the same size as an average lobster minus the claws and feelers. Yuck. Giant sea cockroach. Yuck.

Gracie - the Dugong. She was stranded off Pulau Ubin when her mother was caught and died in a fishing net. The Dugong is probably what sailors mistook as mermaids. Especially when the female dugongs tend to cradle their young like women.

A black clown fish! This is the first time I've seen a black one. I've seen a few orange ones in Bali when I went diving...but black? Interesting...

My frozen lychee daiquiri and Siew Mai's Hoegaarden. Mmm...what a nice thing to start our dinner and to cool ourselves down after a warm afternoon.

Dinner was pizza with Jalapeño peppers and sausage. Ooh...the heat from the peppers was shiok!

After dinner, we went to Vivo and caught "The Blue Mansion". I'll blog about it in my next post as I think it deserves a proper review/ post! All in all, Mel is a happy girl. :) すごく満足でした！Nice way to end the weekend and hopefully, chase the coming Monday blues... :D

Community teamworks 2008

I volunteered with a bunch of colleagues for today's Pizza making session with some teens from the Students' Care services. The youths ranged from 12 to 18 years old and all of them are troubled children. A couple of them have learning disabilities (dyslexia, autism etc) and have gotten in trouble with the law for petty crime. However, it was heartening to know that the government is trying to steer these youths away from the courts and therefore are making these juvenile dilinquents enter counselling programmes.

Anyway, I was paired with this 13-year old who has autism and therefore, his school teachers weren't able to handle him and felt that he was disruptive. As such, he was taken out of this 'normal' school and enrolled into private tuition....which he calls 'special school'. However, I learnt from the social worker that he has been on the waiting list to enter the special school for the past 2 years. I was shocked to hear that there aren't enough special schools for children with autism or any other learning disorders! As much as these children's stories are relatively sad, I can't bring myself to pity them. I could go on with each child's profile...but when you put things into perspective, everyone has issues. We just need to work through them. These youths are seeking help, they are not stupid. They just need guidance. You can tell that their families love them...but they just don't know how to parent well and to deal with children with issues.

Ok...back to the main point of this entry...which is about the actual pizza making session. We made our pizzas at the cooking school, Palate Sensations, located at Whitbourne Road. It's just off Portsdown Road and it is such a nice, quiet place to hang out and chill. It doesn't have that 'hipness' associated with Dempseys but its definitely a nice place to visit. My youth is slightly hyper so he was just walking around, doing things and then walking off again. Nonetheless, he's one who knows what he wants and what he wants to put on his pizza. We were the first one to finish with our thin crust pizza (thanks to my youth) and it was yummy!! You could really see everyone bonding while making the pizza and then eating them. There was this 18 year old (who likes to claim that he's 19) who cut the veggies like a pro! Wonder whether its because he's currently working in a fast food restaurant?? Hmm.....

Despite having to wake up early on a weekend, I really enjoyed myself and I hope that the youths enjoyed themselves too. Although I question how my lack of a relationship can make an impact on these children, I'd like to think that no matter how short a period of time we spend with others, we are like a small pebble thrown into a lake - we still make a ripple.