Extra Virgin Pizza

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First of all this restaurant is in a great location overlooking MBFC. Since we were seated outside it did slightly stuffy after a while. The decor was simple and comfortable.I found the place through a Chope 1-1 pizza promotion. So naturally I ordered a couple of Pizzas. Since my mom was with that day we went for vegetarian options in pesto and green herbs. Both pizzas were served hot and tastes really good but the pesto was the clear winner on that day. The green herbs pizza was oily because of the fried herbs on the top apart from the regular oil on the pizza. But the pesto was very good served with rocket leaves on top which was fresh and added to the flavor. We also had brownie and ice cream for dessert. We got a couple of cute waitresses who took care of us well. I'll definitely be going there again to try some of their other pizzas considering all their options were unique! continue reading

This pizza outlet is at central working district hence it is crowded during lunch I went during dinner which is less crowded. The restaurant does not have any indoor seats. It is 100% Al fresco. The seats are high tables and chairs outside the restaurant. However their pizza is so far one of the best I have ever tried. I ordered the pizza with Parma ham, goat cheese a rocket leaves. The Parma ham portion is very generous and the ingredient are all very fresh. The crust of the pizza is thin and crispy and baked in a traditional Italian oven. Total cost about $25++ continue reading

This place is located at the ground floor of Asia Square Towers, a stone throw away from Marina Bay MRT. My first remark when we got there was, “No indoor seating ah?”. Yes, the dining area is outdoors while the kitchen (with their mighty stone ovens) are tucked inside. Thankfully the area was breezy and it wasn’t too hot. Moreover, they were having 1 for 1 happy hour for their beers! So we ordered a couple of Kirin beers to cool us down.We had the popular Pistachio Pizza ($24) which is essentially pizza smeared with pistachio pesto paste and copious amounts of exotic vegetables with a sprinkling of mozzarella. When I read RERG’s review on how the pistachio pizza tastes like BBQ chicken wing I was deeply skeptical. How can something so green taste like meat? But tasting is believing. It truly had this perfectly grilled chicken flavour to it which bewildered my tastebuds. I’m not sure how the mix of vegetables, pistachio paste and mozzarella can do such magic but yes, it does. The pizzas here are thin crusted btw, and they were slightly burnt and somehow gave out a nice smokey grilled taste.Next up, we had the other recommended pizza, Ham and Mushroom ($24) which was not as mind blowingly good as the previous. It was a decent pizza topped with ham and mushroom although I wished they would be more generous with the pine nuts topping.Finally, the meal ended with Tiramisu ($8). It was decent, the mascarpone was good, although I wished the liquer content was higher hehe.Overall, it’s a great place to hang out for beer and great thin crusted pizza. My only complain? The chairs. They are really uncomfortable to sit on for long periods. Hope they invest in better chairs/cushions soon! BTW, there is no service charge here, tipping is highly encouraged! Will definitely come back for a great evening out with excellent tasting pizzas!For more details and photos, pls visit http://eugeniegene.tumblr.com/post/18193989848/extra-virgin-pizza continue reading

For photos, please visit Rubbish Eat Rubbish Grow: http://rubbisheatrubbishgrow.wordpress.com/2012/01/06/extra-virgin-pizza-asia-square/Decor: The inside of the shop is the kitchen while the tables and chairs are all outdoor (as shown in the photos above). The server didn’t know I was here for the food tasting and she eagerly said, “Do you want to see the kitchen Come in!” That’s honesty for you! Don’t you love honest eateries You walk into the kitchen, and everything is displayed: the ingredients, the tomatoes, the oven, and how they make the pizzas. No secrets, no gimmicks, just natural and fresh ingredients. AWESOME.The best natural and fresh ingredients are imported from all over the world: organic tomatoes from California; salami from France; flour from Italy. Extra Virgin Pizza went through great lengths just to get the flour. They had to order 50 tons to establish good relations with the Italians and store the flour in a temperature-controlled warehouse.The ingredients are not the only ones that needed to be found. The bosses of Extra Virgin Pizza traveled the world–from Europe to America–just to find the perfect executive chef,Chef Matthew White, who has worked in Europe and Michelin-starred restaurants and has a diverse background of pizza-making and fine French cuisine.Chef White said to me, “I told the bosses, if we are going to go this, we must do it in the best way. Can we get a Wood Stone Oven” The bosses replied, “Why get one Get two!” The amazing thing about Wood Stone Oven is it goes up to 500 degrees, so the pizza is cooked within 2 minutes. Chef White said that precision is key: he only has a ten-second grace: pull out the pizza 10s earlier, it’s undercooked; 10s too late, it’s charred. The amazing thing about the oven is that thetaste and the juiciness of the food are retained and sealed in by the high heat.Another anecdote Chef White told is they actually tested pH of Singapore’s chlorinated, fluorinated water. After getting all the ingredients from all over the world, Chef White worried that the pH of the water would affect the taste of the crust — let’s see if the water has affected the taste!The menu isn’t extensive but it is focused. For starters, Chef White recommended theSalami & Cheese Board ($22). I wanted to tell him that eating cheese is a very Western thing; Singaporeans don’t usually eat cheese for starters. So Hot Boy Jasper from Six & Seven and Old Uncle Wise Guy (aka me) picked Veal & Ricotta Meatball ($15) andoven-fired clams in garlic, butter and white wine sauce ($18).We love balls and we cannot lie. The meatballs were a lighter color and a lighter taste because of veal, so that they didn’t get excessive and heavy like Ikea meatballs. The choice of cheese (Provolone) provided a distinct smelly cheese taste–not for people who dislike cheese–while the minty, peppery basil gave the balls a kick.Jasper said the clams, which are delivered freshly every few days, were a surprise since pizzerias have no use for clams. Jasper seemed to like it but I can’t say I do. The bread was crispy but also tough. The entire dish had a very “clammy” taste, too intense, too smelly sea-shelly for me. My critique of both starters is that they were both greasy although the portions were very generous.The spicy pepperoni pizza ($22) arrived first and after a first bite, I said to Jasper, “OMG OMG, it’s so good.”The crust (for pizzas across the board) was AMAZING. It was crunchy like potato chips, like an apple. Every bite you bite into it, the sound of the crunch reverberates within your soul. The texture was amazing for a second reason: the crust was smooth and airy but there was a grainy substance–semolina–scattered on it to provide an interesting contrast. For the third reason, the crust was charred. They are actually called “leopard spots” which are characteristic of authentic Neapolitan pizzas. The “leopard spots” provided such an interesting variation–and plus I loved charred food. Usually pizza crust tastes monotonous like this: —– but Extra Virgin’s crust tasted like this: –^-^–. Besides the texture, the taste was very savory–one of the best crusts I’ve eaten–sweetened naturally from the flour and high heat.The organic tomatoes imported from California on the spicy pepperoni pizza were extremely fresh. At first, when I didn’t know the origin of the tomato, I bit into it and exclaimed, “OMG, they bottled sunshine. The tomatoes tasted like a burst of sunshine.” There was also mozzarella on the pizza, which after the high heat, seemed to transfigure into a sweet milk powder substance. My only complaint is the spicy pepperoni, imported from France, wasn’t fierce enough. But still, spicy, tomatoey, and creamy made a very excellent pizza.Then came the vegetarian pizza, Pistachio Pizza ($24), eat already very chio. Get it Pista-chio I am a carnivore, how good can a vegetarian pizza get right If the spicy pepperoni was amazing, the Pistachio is an alien… out of this world. There was surely magic involved. The combination of pistachio pesto, mozzarella, and parmesan caramelized in the high heat, giving off a mind-blowing, unbelievable taste–it tasted almost like the skin of very good BBQ chicken wings. It’s guilt-free BBQ chicken skin!! The bitter raw arugula and zesty lemon vinaigrette added after the oven added awesome dimensions to the BBQ chicken skin, providing layers and layers of different tastes. We were truly blown away by this perfect pizza.Jasper was praying, “After such delectable pizzas, please please please let the dessertsbe good.” Well, both the tiramisu ($8) and nutella panna cotta ($8) were competent. The nutella panna cotta was… I dunno.. like that lor. So-so, not particularly good but not bad either.It wasn’t fair for me to comment on the tiramisu because I just had one of the best tiramisus in Singapore the day before coming to Extra Virgin. The cream cheese–mascarpone–was actually comparable to this best tiramisu, rich enough, but the sponge was not soft. It would be nice if they soak the sponge in rum. As it is, this tiramisu is alcohol-free.Recap: Yumyumformytumtum and I both opine that Peperoni Pizza may be the best pizza in Singapore but now I no longer think so. Extra Virgin may possibly win that spot. It is going to knock your socks off. It is going to be sensational. Delivery will start in early 2012. I wish one day they do island-wide delivery.Directions: How to get to Asia Square. Asia Square is so new its postal code isn’t even on gothere.sg. This is the same building as Google, which I wrote an entry on the lunch buffet Google has for the staff. If you’re taking public transport, Asia Square is diagonally across from Lau Pa Sat. Asia Square is behind One Shenton Way Building. If you’re driving down Collyer Quay, keep left, turn left into a very, very small lane just after Lau Pa Sat, just before One Shenton. There is a small sign pointing “Asia Square.” continue reading