Thursday, January 22, 2009

da paolo Pizza Bar

Tried Da Paolo Pizza bar on a Friday - it's pretty crowded but you can't make a reservation(unless you're a huge group). It's much more relaxed and casual than the other very expensive da Paolos. I can't believe that I actually liked Pizza Hut pizzas last time.

The pizza that I came here for was the black truffle pizza which I have been dying to dry for the longest time, but never had the opportunity to.Pizza Mascarpone, mozzarella, funghi e tartuf ($24++)
This is pizza with mushrooms and black truffles. It doesn't have a tomato base, so it's quite different from the other pizzas we tried that night. There's lots of mozzarella cheese, and although black truffles don't taste of much, it's just the not-so-cheap thrill of eating a truffle. Im now imagining how this pizza will taste with a slosh of white truffle oil. One of their signature pizzas, Pizza Rucola, Proscuitto e Scaglie Di Parmigiano (Pizza with arugula, Parma ham and shaved Parmesan,$22++). Anything that tastes like rocket disagrees with me. So I didn't like this pizza. But if you love the weird taste of rocket, this is the pizza for you. Lots of bitter argurula, parma ham and parmesan cheese.
I didn't get the name of this pizza, but it's on the first pizza page, and it has spinach, mozzarella cheese, caramelized onions. I think it was $22. This is pretty good cos the caramelized onions are sweet and the fresh spinach balances the sweetness of the onions and saltiness of the mozzarella cheese. Pizza Mozzarella di Bufala e Crudo ($25++)
This was the most expensive pizza of the lot, cos instead of using normal mozzarella cheese, they use buffalo mozzarella, which is produced from domesticated water buffalos. Buffalo cheese is said to be richer and more buttery than normal cows cheese and is more expensive than normal mozzarella, and thus the slightly higher price. The ingredients on the pizza are the exact ingredients of Insalata Caprese, a salad which has buffalo mozzarella, basil leaves and fresh tomatoes. There's also parma ham, and the saltiness of the parma ham goes very well with the mozzarella.
More info about buffalo mozzarella can be found here.
The service was below average - the staff were very inefficient, and they kept clustering around the cashier counter, and it took eons for them to realize that we were trying to call them to top up water, to make another order etc. For example when we asked for a water refill, they filled up 6 out of 8 cups, and never came back to fill the other 2. The only thing that came quickly was the bill. Coming from Da Paoloa, I'd have expected better service, but since it's a pizza bar, I'll lower my standards a bit. So other than the spotty service, the pizzas are absolutely worth the price you're paying.

The Da Paolo empire in Chip Bee is great, and you'll have to walk past 3 other Da Paolos while crawling up the hill. The pizza bar is right on top. Great way to work off the calories from all that pizza.

da paolo pizza bar
44, Jalan Merah Saga
#01-46, Chip Bee Gardens, Holland Village
Tel: 6479 6059

Jessie Tan, hope you had a memorable 23rd birthday!;p I laughed till my cheeks were so tired!!

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