the boy loves pizza. and when i say loves pizza, i really mean loves pizza. to better illustrate my point – he has birthday pizza on his birthday instead of birthday cake. yes, birthday pizza.

so it was only right that we pay a long-overdue visit to extra virgin pizza, after we got wind of some people dubbing it the best pizza in singapore. they have 2 outlets on our island, one catering to throngs of cbd workers on weekdays at asia square, while the other serves more families and young folk at united square.

at united square, they occupy a large shop unit with high ceilings and big glass panels which makes for a very nice dining setting, casual yet giving off quite a hip and happening vibe.they have a long open kitchen counter where you can observe the chefs at work, and the tables are well-spaced out so that everyone is comfortable and can speak to each other without having to strain any ears or voices. also, i would imagine this would make a great place for dining in large groups because their spacious restaurant space afford them the ability to very easily join smaller tables together to form one long table. this picture was taken at 6+ on a weekday evening before the crowd came in; it got a lot more crowded after!

their menu offers sides, starters, pastas, pizzas, drinks and desserts, though of course they are most well-known for their artisanal neapolitan-style pizzas.

we opted for 2 of their most popular pizzas – the spotted pig and the pistachio pesto. the spotted pig was served first:

spotted pig pizza – tomato, mozzarella, pepperoni, pork sausage, applewood smoked bacon, parmigiano reggiano ($26)

for the size of the pizza, we thought it was priced rather steeply at $26. i suppose the high price comes from the fact that they use only the best all-natural ingredients without any preservatives or additives at all – extra virgin olive oil (of course, given its name), pizza flour that is said to be the best in the world, and imported cheese and assorted toppings. after taking my first bite, i was struck by how the quality of the ingredients really shone through. the toppings did not taste processed at all like many of the more mass-market pizzas, and they were not overly-seasoned or piled onto the pizza such that it remained light and allowed for appreciation of the amazing crust. the boy on the other hand, initially wasn’t as pleased as i was (i suppose boys still prefer things in large quantities, things that are hearty juicy saucy tasty artery-clogging) but later came to really enjoy it too!
 
the tomato sauce was fresh and light, slathered onto the pizza in just the right amount. it went very well with the toppings and cheese, and brought everything together to make for a very tasty pizza. i thought the mix of bacon, pork sausage and pepperoni was a little too salty at times, but otherwise it was all great.

as for the crust, it was perfect!!! i absolutely loved the crust!!! thin and crispy on the outside with a subtle smokey yet lightly sweet taste, but so wonderfully fluffy and chewy inside. apparently the pizza dough is left to age for 3 days with live yeast, before being hand-stretched and baked to order in extremely high heat ovens. so light that i could go on eating the crust forever, but yet tasty. i think its pretty hard to achieve a thin pizza crust that retains some kind of chewiness (think the ultra crispy crispbread-like crusts at skinny pizza), but the crust at extra virgin pizza really hits the mark and is completely on point at doing that. the little charred bits (characteristic of authentic neapolitan pizzas) on the crust adds to its yumminess. you won’t be seeing any bits of crust left on people’s plates here, that’s for sure!

next up, we had the pistachio pesto pizza, a vegetarian option. the boy wasn’t too pleased with my choice of something meatless but given the rave reviews we’d heard about this pizza, we couldn’t leave without trying it! turns out he didn’t find it so bad after all; he quite enjoyed it in fact, though i suspect he might have said that just to make me feel less guilty about ordering something herbivorous. such is the power of love 😉

pistachio pesto – pistachio pesto, mozzarella, baby arugula, lemon vinaigrette, pecorino, provolone ($24)

this was a really clever concoction which i thoroughly enjoyed. the pistachio pesto was super yummy; i imagine it would also go amazingly with some pasta/spaghetti! it made the pistachio nut lover in me extremely happy.

the nutty fragrance of the pistachios really came through, and added a great texture and crunch to the pizza. all the toppings came together perfectly and the pizza was so tasty that it didn’t feel like we were eating something completely meat-free at all. the addition of the lemon vinaigrette was also wonderful, it balanced out the slight bitterness of the argula, and went perfectly with the pistachio that seemed to have caramelised from the high heat of the oven – so good!

not-so-perfect picture featuring perfect pizza crust with huge delicious charred spot and perfect amazing pistachio pesto topping

though pricey, extra virgin pizza does serve some very good pizzas made with top quality ingredients. definitely worth trying if you’re craving pizza and looking for someplace different from your usual pizza haunts to check out! service is also friendly and efficient, which makes for a very pleasant dining experience.

NB: despite the good food at extra virgin, pepperoni’s still remains a firm favourite of the boy’s and mine for pizza! its more reasonably-priced and also offers my all-time favourite heavenly extra large breaded portobello mushroom with chicken and a range of very good pastas!!! yum.

Extra Virgin Pizza
101 Thomson Road #01-14
United Square Shopping Centre
Singapore 307591

PS. headed to black ball in the basement of united square to have some grass jelly dessert – yumz. #1 rule in eating/of life: no meal is ever complete without dessert.