Summer Choice (10" regular, handtossed crust)

Managed to squeeze in some light cooking, but for times when I got too tired, we fell back on pizza delivery.

Summer Choice, sliced

Sticking to our tried-and-tested brand Rite Pizza, here’s one of our all-time favorites — Summer Choice (cheese, ground beef, shredded chicken, beef pepperoni, onion, chicken ham, tomato, green pepper, mushroom, pineapple). The combination of these toppings resulted in a very tasty and juicy creation!

Winter Special (10" regular, handtossed crust)

On the recommendation of fellow Rite Pizza fans, we tried Winter Special (cheese, turkey bacon, chicken ham, cheesy sausage, pineapple, mayonnaise, lettuce/cinnamon).

Winter Special, sliced

This sounds like a rather dubious combination, but surprisingly, it was delicious! The sweet, tangy pineapple dices and creamy mayonnaise went exceedingly well with the meat toppings.

And don’t be fooled by the droopy-looking lettuce. Although the lettuce leaves were slightly wilted by the steam of the hot pizza, they retained some crunch and provided a nice, refreshing edge. Next time, I shall ask for the lettuce to be packed separately so that they arrive crisp and green!

Both Summer Choice and Winter Special are from the premium range, so they cost S$23.00 for two 10-inch pizzas.

So far, we’ve tried three out of the “four seasons” pizza flavors, and they’ve all proved to be big hits. The only one we haven’t tried is Ocean Spring, which is a seafood pizza. We’re not really fans of seafood pizzas, but we just might try it out next time to complete Rite Pizza’s “four seasons” experience!

Click here to read my previous post on Rite Pizza’s Pepperoni Plus and Autumn Classic.

Rite Pizza
Delivery hotline: 6899 3838
URL: www.rite-pizza.com

Operating hours: 10.30am to 10.30pm daily (last order @ 10.15pm)

Available outlets:
Jurong – Blk 253 Jurong East St 24
Choa Chu Kang – 206 Choa Chu Kang Ave 1
Woodlands – Blk 325 Woodlands St 32
Ang Mo Kio – Blk 338 Ang Mo Kio Ave 1
Hougang – 1017 Upper Serangoon Road
Bukit Merah – Blk 133 Jalan Bukit Merah
Tampines – Blk 445 Tampines St 42
East Coast – 328 Joo Chiat Road

The Rite choice

When it comes to pizza delivery, we alternate between two of our faves: Domino’s and Rite Pizza.

I like Domino’s for their crust and sauce. Overall, their pizzas are also delicious. Plus, they have a 30-minute delivery guarantee, which is great for times when we’re starving (most pizzerias quote about an hour to deliver).

For Rite Pizza, they win in terms of variety — they’ve got more than 30 pizza flavors to choose from. Also, their pricing is very attractive. Prices start from S$21.00 for two 10-inch pizzas, or S$23.00 if you choose from the more premium beef/chicken/seafood toppings.

Pepperoni Plus (10" regular, handtossed crust)

This time, we tried something different — Pepperoni Plus (cheese, pepperoni, chicken ham, mushroom, onion, green pepper, oregano).

Pepperoni Plus, sliced

Though the green pepper and onion were on the skimpy side, overall, it was satisfying enough. There could have been more tomato sauce too, but at least they were generous with cheese. The dough — soft, moist, and chewy — was neither too thin nor too thick, just right!

Autumn Classic (10" regular, handtossed crust)

For the other pizza, we stuck to our usual fav — Autumn Classic (cheese, beef pepperoni, turkey bacon, onion, tomato, mushroom, basil).

Autumn Classic, sliced

We preferred this over Pepperoni Plus. Perhaps it’s because we like the tomatoes in Autumn Classic. The fresh tomatoes made the pizza extra juicy, and their mild acidity offset the richness of the bacon and pepperoni.

Another flavor we enjoy is Summer Choice (cheese, beef, chicken, pepperoni, onion, ham, tomato, green pepper, mushroom, pineapple). Mayo Chicken and Winter Special sound interesting too, perhaps we’ll try those next time!

Click here to read my previous post on Rite Pizza!

Rite Pizza
Delivery hotline: 6899 3838
URL: www.rite-pizza.com

Operating hours: 10.30am to 10.30pm daily (last order @ 10.15pm)

Available outlets:
Jurong – Blk 253 Jurong East St 24
Choa Chu Kang – 206 Choa Chu Kang Ave 1
Woodlands – Blk 325 Woodlands St 32
Ang Mo Kio – Blk 338 Ang Mo Kio Ave 1
Hougang – 1017 Upper Serangoon Road
Bukit Merah – Blk 133 Jalan Bukit Merah
Tampines – Blk 445 Tampines St 42
East Coast – 328 Joo Chiat Road

Nothing beats freshly made pizza. But frozen pizzas can be a great alternative, especially in the middle of the night or when you just want a quick snack. The latest Tried & Tested feature taste-tested 5 supermarket brands. Which frozen pizza brands are worth stocking up on?

Actually, I’d also been wanting to try out Domino’s, but alas…

“I’m sorry, ma’am, your address is out of our delivery radius”.

Aww, shucks. Oh well, that just means falling back on our regular pizza delivery service: Rite Pizza.

Hawaiian pizza, 10" regular

So far, of the numerous pizza delivery services in Singapore, we’ve found Rite Pizza to be pretty decent.

The crust is not too thick nor too thin.

They have two kinds of crust – hand-tossed or thin crust. Usually, we go for “hand-tossed” as we find the “thin crust” too crispy and biscuit-like. The “hand-tossed” dough is fairly soft and chewy, and the thickness is about just right.

Pepperoni pizza, 10" regular.

Rich and hearty, I like their tomato sauce, too. Also, they are quite generous with the toppings, especially for the premium range (chicken, beef, seafood). This time, we ordered from the Rite Savers range for a change.

Peppery pepperoni = nice kick.

Mmm, not bad, but I remember the premium range as being more shiok (psst, Summer Choice and Autumn Classic are worth checking out). Not so much toppings and mozarella this time, and the dough seemed a tad drier than usual. But overall, still better than 62-35-35-35, IMHO!

Do the "rite" thing!

Prices start from S$21.00 for two 10-inch regular pizzas. Prices listed are nett, so no GST to inflate the bill, but I’m not sure if ERP charges are absorbed. For the full menu, check out their website. Details as follows:

Rite Pizza
Delivery hotline: 6899 3838
Open: 10.30am – 10.30pm (last order 10.15pm)
URL: www.rite-pizza.com

Barracks - no army rations here.

Occupying the premises of a former army barracks, House is a lifestyle concept that houses (sorry, I couldn’t resist) a spa, cafe, and bar. This is how the cafe’s name comes about. But this is also where any association with an army camp ends, for Barracks resembles nothing like a military mess hall. From chic, quirky decor down to stunning food presentations, our experience at Barracks was a total revelation. This is one canteen that soldiers would happily dine at everyday!

Clockwise from top: Beetroot Beat, S$8.50; Pei Pa Herbal Tonic, S$12; Mint Berry Fix, S$12

This lunch was a food-tasting session organized for four other food bloggers and yours truly. Helmed by Resident Head Chef Ho, Barracks’ recently updated menu is full of refreshing, unique ideas, and the trio of non-alcoholic cocktails that kick-started our meal reflected just that.

Inspired by the paper prata, Barracks’ Skinny Pizza crust must be the thinnest and crispiest ever! Forget about thick, bread-like pizza dough. You can throw melted cheese and tomato paste out of the pizza equation too. Barracks wants to completely revolutionize the pizza, hence their “thinnovation” – the Skinny Pizza. There’s also a Skinny Pizza outlet at Suntec City serving just pizza and soup.

Chorizo Almond Skinny Pizza, S$18

There are 12 kinds of pizza combinations available. Essentially, each 12″ Skinny Pizza is a super thin and crispy cracker, first baked, then topped with cooked ingredients and fresh arugula (rocket) leaves. We got to sample 4 pizzas. The Chorizo Almond was a clear winner – everyone loved the combination of smoky chorizo, crunchy toasted almonds, roasted garlic, grilled bell pepper, olives, and fresh grated parmesan.

Ahi Taki Skinny Pizza, S$24.00

While I love the Chorizo Almond, the pizza I went absolutely ga-ga over was the Ahi Taki! First, the crust is lightly smeared with mashed avocado, then generously topped with seared fresh tuna, port-wine soaked raisins, plump pistachios, avocado slices, and roasted tomatoes. Brilliant, absolutely brilliant! Most definitely a thought-I’d-died-and-gone-to-heaven moment, which I haven’t had in a while!

If you don’t fancy pizza, it’s also available as a salad. Currently, the Ahi Taki is available only at Barracks and not at Skinny Pizza, Suntec City.

Curry Chicken Babaganoush, S$15

For something spicy and exotic, we had a Middle Eastern-inspired creation. A dip made primarily of mashed grilled eggplant, baba ganoush is spread over the crust, then topped with mildly-spiced curry chicken, chopped hard-boiled eggs, onion and fresh coriander. Very exotic and very nice indeed!

Wild Truffled Mushroom, S$18.00.

Truffle lovers will love this! Roasted portobello and truffle oil generously adorn this Skinny Pizza, but alas, it failed to entice me, because I’m not a big fan of truffle (the mushroom, not the chocolate kind).

We were told that the recipe for the pizza crust has been improved upon since it was first launched. Indeed, we were very much impressed with the taste and texture, and especially how it managed to stay crispy till the end.

Old-fashioned American Sliders (Bleu cheese & bacon), S$22

Bigger and more luxe than White Castle sliders, there’s a choice of 5 toppings for each pair of mini burgers. Pictured above is the Bleu cheese (brie) and bacon, which I didn’t get to try.

American sliders (Cheddar cheese & bacon), S$22.00.

But I did get to try and enjoy the Cheddar cheese and bacon sliders! Pretty ordinary burgers, but although medium well done, the beefy patties were juicy and the lightly toasted buns soft and chewy.

Sweet potato & truffle fries

Accompanying the sliders were these golden beauties. Those are no ordinary shoestring fries; they’ve been tossed in luxurious truffle oil! But I could only detect a faint truffle taste, and both the sweet potato and truffle fries went limp pretty quickly.

Bay Prawn Capellini, S$22.00.

One of the “House Proud” dishes, the capellini is accompanied by some very plump and crunchy prawns! I thought the sauce was lovely – a light prawn bolognese with braised baby leeks and a hint of chilli. But I’d have preferred if the noodles had been more “wet”, ie. more sauce, please!

Herb Crusted Lamb Rack, S$32.00.

The lamb is gorgeous! Well, that’s what the others said anyway, because I was slow and only managed to grab a teeny bite-sized piece and it turned out to be gristle.

Moroccan Spiced Baby Chicken, S$19.

I didn’t detect much Moroccan spice, but the half portion of baby chicken had lovely crisp skin. Even the breast meat was super juicy and tender! Those crispy strips are yam, and underneath the chicken are baby bok choy and tomato-berry chutney.

One-meter-long Sausage, S$25.

That’s one loooooooooong sausage, one meter long, to be precise. Available as chicken, beef, or pork, this is fun for sharing and will certainly make for great conversation!

Finally, it’s time for desserts! Under the direction of pastry chef Sarah Tham, the desserts at Barracks are a medley of hearty American-style cakes and East-West fusion creations. Some of them are even served in mess tins to reflect the location’s military heritage. How quaint!

Barracks Strawberry Shortcake, S$9.50

Not quite your old-fashioned version of sponge cake sandwiched with whipped cream and fresh strawberries, this is a slightly different interpretation of strawberry shortcake. That’s vanilla bean cream to pour over the cake. Yes, there’s really specks of vanilla bean in the cream. So much nicer than whipped cream, IMHO.

Guiltless Chocolate Almond Cake, S$12.

Why is this guiltless? Well, for those who want to stay off carbs but still wanna indulge, this dense cake is flourless and gluten-free. Hmm, really? What about the sugar and milk chocolate?

The BBC (Banana, Brownie, and Cheese), S$12

Call me looney, but if I’m gonna indulge, I’d rather go the whole nine yards for The BBC, which is da bomb! I went bananas (again, I couldn’t resist) over the crispy banana strudel liberally sprinkled with freshly grated cheese, and the gooey, dark chocolatey brownie hidden underneath.

MMM - Mango Marshmallow Melt, S$10

But my top pick is the MMM! Maybe cos it has my favorite fruit – mango! MMM is a delicious concoction of chunky fresh mango, mini crunchy pavlova, honey, yoghurt, whipped cream and marshmallow. Do I hear you going mmmmm……?

Green tea tofu tiramisu, S$9.50

Normally I’m dubious of fusion dishes. If badly executed, things could go really wrong. And tofu with green tea and tiramisu? Alarm bells started ringing in my head.

Thankfully, they managed to pull it off. The firm, custard-like tofu – freshly made in-house – worked well with the light mascarpone and mild green tea flavor. In all, it’s a pleasant, airy creation that’s not excessively sweet.

Panna Cotta Agar Agar, S$9

Inspired by the Nyonya 9-layer rainbow kueh, this stunning dessert is actually alternate layers of creamy panna cotta and colorful agar agar. The refreshing agar and creamy panna cotta complement each other really well!

If you’re here in a large group, you’re in for a treat. Order the “Godzilla Box”, which is your choice of any 6 desserts, and you get 15% off! Isn’t that sweet?

Tiffin Punch, S$59

By now, you’d have noticed that besides taste, Barracks puts a great deal of effort into presentation. Like the Tiffin Punch, which is served in mini tiffin containers. Served on the side is sparkling champagne, which you add just before drinking for a zesty experience.

Refreshingly zingy!

What goes into the Tiffin Punch? Bombay Sapphire gin, lychee liquer, ruby red grapefruit, ginger slices, lychees, and of course, Mumm champagne. Sweet and refreshing, much like a lychee martini!

Tea, anyone?

This ain’t any ordinary tea. You have to be at least 18 to drink it!

This “tea” set is actually what they call Prohibition Long Island Iced Tea Party (S$55). In the teapot is gin, vodka, rum, tequila, cointreau, and lemon juice; in the jug is Coca-Cola. This innocuous-looking drink packed quite a punch!

Dining at Barracks, one can’t help but appreciate the details that go into every aspect of the experience – industrial chic interior, cosy vintage furnishings, whimsical antique plates, and visually stunning food presentation. But more importantly, we really enjoyed the food. For me, that is the most important factor, because without good food, ambience and presentation wouldn’t pull me back.

If it’s always this good, I’d most certainly return soon. I’m already starting to have recurring dreams of the Ahi Taki and MMM!

Fellow bloggers at this tasting session are: Camemberu, Hungry Cow, Ivan, and missyglutton.

Many thanks to our sweet and gracious host, Janet Lim of Spa Esprit Group, for the invitation and wonderful hospitality.

Prices stated are exclusive of 10% service charge and 7% GST.

Barracks @ House
8D Dempsey Road
Singapore 249672
Tel: (65) 6475 778
www.dempseyhouse.com

Dial 6-241-0-241, and you'll get two for one, oh, two for one!

But, there are days when one is too lazy to cook or go buy take-out in the blazing midday sun. And one can also tire of chicken rice, if consumed too often, delicious though it may be.

The pizzas from Canadian Pizza took 1 hour and 7 minutes to arrive, even though the operator had said delivery would take between 45 minutes to an hour. As a result, the pizzas were barely warm. A quick zap in the microwave did the trick. I like my pizzas piping hot.

Canadian Classic, regular 10".

Here’s exhibit A the first pizza: the Canadian Classic.       

Smoked turkey bacon, beef pepperoni, mushrooms, fresh tomatoes, and onions.

This was a safe but boring choice. Couldn’t really pick out the distinction between the bacon and pepperoni. They were skimpy on the tomato sauce; would have tasted better with more. The sauce was also lacking in robustness.

Cross-section of Canadian Classic pizza slice.

Here’s a closer view if you’re interested in further scrutiny.

Tandoori Chicken, regular 10".

Here’s exhibit B the second pizza: the Tandoori Chicken.

Spiced tandoori chicken, onions, mushrooms, and fresh tomatoes.

This had sounded interesting, and I wasn’t disappointed. The tandoori chicken was mildly spicy and quite tender. It was nicely complemented by the sweet onion.

I thought the mushrooms were out of place here. Green peppers would have been a good substitute. Otherwise, they could have upped the amount of onion and tomatoes; I could barely make the veggies out.

Cross-section of Tandoori Chicken pizza slice.

Overall, the pizzas were passable. The amount of toppings was fairly generous, but not as much as that of Rite Pizza’s. One grouse I have is that the ingredients were too chunkily cut; perhaps that’s why the distribution of the toppings wasn’t as even as it should have been.

The pizza dough, though soft and quite light, was a little too thick for my liking. Pizza Hut has the same phenomenon. This is one of the reasons I don’t enjoy delivery pizza. The dough is too much like bread.

In terms of value, Canadian Pizza beats Pizza Hut hands down. The latter’s 12″ pizza is SGD$24.90 pre-GST (for the Supremes range), whereas Canadian Pizza’s 12″ pizza is SGD$28.90 nett, but you get two pizzas, making them SGD$14.45 each.

Canadian Pizza is moderately decent. However, if Rite Pizza is still as good as I remember, they’d be my first choice.

Total bill for two regular 10″ pizzas was SGD$21.90 nett.

Canadian Pizza
Delivery hotline: 6-241-0-241 (delivery in Singapore only)
website: www.canadian-pizza.com

cheers!