Pizza Risotto Pasta

The Holy Crab! pizza was one of the most impressive pizzas that we have had during the visit. At S$28.00, there was generous amounts of real crab meat spread around the pizza that featured their in-house pizza dough and chilli crab sauce.

I really loved their pizza dough, which obviously tasted different from most pizzas that I have had locally. And there should not be any reason to ditch the crust of the pizza, simply because it tasted so fresh, airy and absolutely delightful to finish. Dip into their sauce for the “happy ending” finish, and obviously, if there was no sauce left, it would be time to order more!

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With lots of Mentaiko sauce and a half-boiled egg, this Bacon & Mentai Cream Pasta (S$13.80) was just the right item to order on a day I craved for a taste of savoury cream-based pasta. In fact, because of the runny yolk and whites, the sauce tasted a little more eggy which I quite liked. I do know of people who could not stand the taste of eggs when they were not fully-cooked.

Three upgrades happened here: extended kitchen, more dine-in seats and a larger menu. Now that they started serving 12” pizzas, I was surely curious to see if their pizzas were comparable with those from LINO and Peperoni Pizzeria (all under the Les Amis Group).

What could be better than ordering their Burrata Pizza (S$24.00)? Topped with marinated cherry tomatoes and basil pesto, the pizza met my expectations with its thin, crispy yet airy pizza crust that was just so yummy. It was a shame to learn that they could not install a wood-fired pizza oven because of building regulations, but the crispiness of the pizza (even after all the oil from the pesto kind of soaked it) stayed, and I found that pretty amazing to be honest.

They also offered food delivery, powered by Oddle, at a fee and a slight mark-up. However, I really would doubt that you could replicate that same level of satisfaction by doing so.

This combination was like a meat galore above a red sauce base, with the standard pineapple and ham on one side and the meatballs, pepperoni and bacon on the other.

It was one of those best comfort foods that I would order through Deliveroo, and while the pizzas here were at a premium price, I would really vouch that Peperoni Pizzeria served really scrumptious pizza with that crust that I absolutely would not say no to. So for those who do not like to eat the pizza crust when they go to a pizza restaurant, I would advise you not to waste the dough here and finish even the last crumb that you could find.

Honestly, I would not go for angel hair as my top choice of pasta because I always thought that it lacked the volume for the “al dente” finish that I would expect from pasta dishes. However, the Cold Angel Hair Pasta with Yuzu, Salted Seaweed & Ikura (S$18.00) was an item in their takeaway menu that sort of changed my opinion.

The choice of ingredients gave the pasta a savoury, umami finish that very much resembled an oriental dry noodle dish, less the Kecap and chilli. Although served cold, the pasta did not turn clumpy after packed, and it was easily mixed and tossed upon serving.

Served in their refreshed menu this year, LECOQ introduced two sea urchin mains for the diners who loved its freshness — the Hot Uni Spaghetti (S$22.00) and the Cold Uni Somen.

Every strand of the spaghetti was thickly coated with a cream-based sauce with a few pieces of the raw sea urchin resting beautifully, so once the pasta was tossed, you could actually taste the freshness of the sea urchin without feeling to overpowered by it. Even as a person who was not a big fan of sea urchin, I thought this was a pretty noteworthy dish to enjoy.

As far as I understood, this dish would not be redeemable as a Burpple Beyond deal, but don’t let that stop you from savouring it.

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Of bacon, Shiitake mushrooms and a runny egg wobbling in the middle, this Shipwreck pizza (S$22.00) turned out to be a delightful comfort food to go with their beer. What I liked about this was its simplicity coupled with those familiar flavours, coming together with the crispy thin crust.

Best enjoyed with their EagleWings Craft Beer from S$5.00 per half pint onwards!

As a response to the decline in business at Jewel Changi Airport, Café Morozoff introduced a price cut for their pasta dishes, allowing diners to get a plate of pasta at only S$10.00 (usual price S$12.50). On top of the price cut, they would even throw in a beverage or pudding for free, making the deal very attractive.

There was quite a large portion of pasta, with large chunks of diced chicken tossed in mushroom cream sauce that tasted strangely familiar. Though I could use a bit more intensed flavours here, the overall satisfaction was still pretty good in relation to the price point.

I thought I was fooled by their menu’s recommendation of this Truffle, Mushroom & Spinach Pasta with Roasted Chicken (S$18.90). It was greasy, “gelak” and definitely did not taste as exciting as its name.

And I also wondered if the waiters were told not to speak when taking orders. I would have wished that there was a little more friendliness to lighten the quiet atmosphere of the restaurant.

Another casual dining spot in Shaw Centre, checked.

I was very pleased with my order of Mentaiko Chitarra with Soft-Boiled Egg, Cream, Plum and Seaweed, as it had been a while since I last had a good plate of Mentaiko pasta.

Going at S$17.50, I sank my teeth into the thick, al dente Chitarra pasta, which did not lose its flavour in the creaminess of the sauce. And while the molten egg added some richness to the dish, the acidity of the plum purée balanced the flavours a fair bit, leaving behind a very mild (almost negligible) sourness aftertaste. All that, without masking any taste of the Mentaiko.

One should be pardoned for scraping all the sauce they could find on the plate.

One of the more popular dishes at Rice-O-Bistro was their Wafu Seafood Pasta (S$14.90), a Japanese twist to our familiar main course. Moving away from heavy or rich sauce bases, this dish focused on tossing garlic and other Japanese condiments to bring out the flavours of seaweed and fresh tiger prawns.

But what I really thought was a pleasant surprise was their addition of coriander into the dish, which helped to neutralise the savoury profile of the dish by a bit. The funny thing was I did not realise I was enjoying the coriander until I was more than halfway into the dish.

With the flying fish roe that created more crunchy bites, I would say that this meal was hearty for lunch, and I could order this again for my return visit soon.

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To welcome more diners with varying palates, the boss of Good Bites decided to introduce some mainstream dishes to their menu.

One of them was the Beef Meatball Tomato Pasta (S$12.90) which came with five homemade meatballs together with their regular spaghetti and tomato sauce. It was quite average, I would say. Even though the meatballs were quite plump, I felt that there was still some coarseness in the mince, so some might not really fancy that. And while keeping the dish away from additional sodium and other unnecessary condiments, the resultant was that the pasta was also short of that tangy flavours that I would usually expect from a tomato sauce base. And perhaps a wholegrain spaghetti might be a healthier option to the regular one, although some might argue that there was little evidence in the superiority of wholegrain pasta over the regular ones too.

But what struck me was the principle of healthier eating that the owner was hoping to advocate, and I inferred that this dish was the go-between of absolute healthy and absolute tasty. It might not be a love at first bite, but we’ll never know.

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