Cozy family-style Italian restaurant tucked away in Jalan Riang. The specialty La Pizzaiola pizza was great - thin+chewy crust, not overcooked, and generous with toppings. The squid-ink taglioni with crab meat was underwhelming and portion size was pretty small - definitely go for the pizzas instead!

Pretty legit place for Italian food. Being that it was Mother's Day the place was quite crowded. Nice selection of pizza, salads, pasta , antipasto, and wine on the menu. There are those who love it and then those who says a true pizza liver would never ... the Hawaiian, like it or hate it, I'm reviewing it cause that's what we ordered. The pizza arrived and all I wanted to say to it was "oh, slice to meet you" but my belly did most of the talking. It was genuinely good and I have to say that everything on that pie was nice and balanced. I would've prefer fresh pineapples (hey, this is Singapore after all, am I right?) over the can kind, but hey, most do it with the preserved stuff anyways. Can't figure out what kind of ham it was (shaved luncheon?) but it worked. The cheese and sauce was nice too. The only grumble I have is that the crust could've used a little more color, so another minute or two would've been perfect. But the kitchen seemed exceptionally busy so things may have been a bit rushed. The Spaghetti do frutti de mare was pretty decent with a generous portion of seafood. The sauce was a little too mellow and watery for me but okay, I'll eat it. A sprinkling of parmesan on top to finish off the dish would've been nice. Food coma setting in ... I wonder if that's why it's called a piZZzzzza? Service was really brisk and attentive by the well staffed front of the house. It didn't seem staff were assigned and everyone pitched in to provide great service. Will be back to try more from the menu.

The imported burratina here is a thing of beauty. Burratina is kind of like a ball of cheese where the middle is ricotta and the outside layer is intact mozzarella. My girlfriend and I took one bite and looked and each other with a knowing nod. We had found a new great restaurant. It came with thinly sliced prosciutto crudo, salad, and a few cherry tomatoes. Heaven. I think this was the same item as the $36 cheese appetizer we got priced out of at Valentino, except here it was $18. Here is their menu: http://www.lapizzaiola.com.sg/images/Menu2.pdf The other salad we had was also awesome, rucola with sundried tomatoes. The pizza was really good, not quite as phenomenal as the appetizers, but still excellent. We had the diavola, and at that point I was so excited and happy that it had arrived at our table that I forgot to take a picture. There is supposedly another location at Telok Ayer, which for all intensive purposes is closer to everything. It looks like their Ghim Moh location may have closed. I will do some sleuthing and report back.

Please check out my blog (on my profile) for photos :) My family recently discovered a cute little Italian place near my house. We'd thought it wouldn't be too crowded since it's quite secluded but wow their business is so good!! But it's no surprise because their food is really good, and their prices are really affordable considering how good their food is!! We also found out that it is the second branch of the original La Pizzaiola at Jalan Riang, the one we went to is at Teacher's Estate, Kalidasa Avenue, but the menu is the same. We had a garlic bread for starters, but it's not the usual garlic bread. When it was served we were kinda surprised because it looked like a garlic pizza! But it was still really satisfying! There wasn't a very overpowering taste of garlic, which allowed us to taste the fragrant and delicious pizza base. I looove the doughy taste of the pizza, it was so yummy I couldn't stop eating!! Garlic bread was $6.90 which is so amazing cos it came out as a full pizza!! We also had the Diavola pizza, with spicy salami and tomato and mozzarella. Same as the garlic bread, the pizza was really fragrant and delicious. The spicy salami wasn't too spicy but it gave a nice kick and overall the pizza wasn't too meaty! By the way, their chili flakes are authentic and fresh, and VERY spicy! The pizza cost $14.90. So affordable!!! We also had an Aglio E Olio, which was less impressive, and a Risotto al Funghi, which is one of the better risottos I've ever had :) But I gotta say, what absolutely sealed the deal for my family was the desserts we had! We had a home-made Pear cake and a Melting Chocolate cake (lava cake) served with vanilla ice cream. The pear cake was sooo fluffy and the lava cake was possibly the best I've ever had?? Both weren't overbearingly sweet and the flavors were so balanced, my family was so full but we demolished the cakes within seconds. Overall the bill amounted to $82 for 4 of us, including service charge and GST. We didn't order wine or drinks though. We are definitely going back!!! Please check out my blog (on my profile) for photos :)

If a restaurant is tucked away in an area that's hard to reach yet is always crowded, one can safely conclude that the restaurant is a gem of some sorts. Having been there twice, the lesson that I learnt is always call in advance to make reservations if you don't want to wait long for your table. Especially during the peak dinner time, you could end up waiting close to an hour. Cos there's really nothing much around, you can't 'walk off' and come back later unless checking out houses in the private estate is your thing. Some hot favorite includes their rocket and Parma pizza which I simply adore. The appetizer, some kind of a tomato base sauce with meat and mushroom on mashy-like dough was pretty good too. (apologies for the lousy description but I really can't remember the name). We tried the chef's specialty the first time i went there. It looked interesting with the dough baked over the pasta bowl with a mushroom and meat stew inside. We were told it's a classic Italian dish from the country side thus not many restaurant serve it. It taste ok. I feel it's a practical dish cos the people in the country would need their supply of starch and carbs to help them get through their day working hard in the fields but taste wise, nothing extraordinary. Their desserts look pretty good in the menu but I always save space for dessert at the cafe next door thus never had the chance to try. I do enjoy going there cos the service is good with attentive servers always coming by to check on you no matter how busy they are. Though the manager may get a little flustered trying to arrange tables while ensuring diners are still well served, he's a real sweetheart who make sure all customers are happy. If you can't finish the food, fret not, cod they'll gladly help you pack in a take-away box with a nice paper bag.

did a takeaway order for the bufalina & diavola pizzas, and i'm liking them. i've been searching for the longest time for something as good as Al Forno pizza (when they 1st opened opposite novena church and later Artz Pizza (East Coast Parkway) i want the crust a little chewy... and this is the closest one so far.. gonna be back for more!

This place is a bit inconvenient to get to and parking can be a bit difficult however I really want to applaud the staff for making up for all of that by giving le girlfriend and me one of the best dining experiences we've had. We did not have a reservation but they did not turn us away. Instead, the manager explained to us that he had a table available till 9pm and that we could use it till then. We accepted and parked ourselves at that table for all of 2mins before a waitress came up to us to tell us that another spot has become available and if we moved, we wouldn't have to rush through dinner. We had the parma ham pizza and it was really good. I like more ham on mine while my girlfriend likes more rocket on hers so we were both pleasantly surprised when the pizza arrived with lots of both. The pizza was soft yet very slightly crispy and the rocket was as fresh as it could get. The ham was nice because it wasn't too salty like parma ham sometimes is. We also had a codfish that was really good. The fish was cooked for just the right time, so it retained its freshness inside without being too dry. I also ordered the "default" beer that I usually have at these Italian joints which was the Birra Moretti and it was a perfect way to top the meal off. There are more beers to choose from of course but the Moretti is always the best compliment to an Italian meal. They have a wide selection of desserts to choose from but we skipped to try dessert next door at wimbly loo instead.