O Mamma Mia lands in Singapore!
Growing up, pizza has been one of my favorite comfort food. I guess I've told you about this before and I hope I haven't bored you out. It's about my regular afternoon snack routine with Pan where we would order a box of our favorite local pizza together with a bucket of mojo potatoes and we have been having this for close to 30 years. This has been our signature sisterly bonding activity and just recently, Pan and I did this again when I was back home for a wedding last January. Yes, not even a fully made up face and my long gown can stop me from enjoying our favorite snack. I have a strong feeling this practice is meant to last a lifetime and we'll continue to have our pizza afternoon sessions for decades to come. I can't wait for Pan and I to also share this tradition with our little ones for them to hopefully love pizza that way we both do.
Anyway, since I've moved to the Lion City, I got to admit that I've always been on a hunt for the best pizza in town that's affordable and easy to have access to. It has been four years since and I'm thisclose to accepting defeat and believing that delicious commercial pizza is not just one of Singapore's forte. That was until Paul and I chanced upon O Mamma Mia, which recently opened at Clementi Mall. As we descend the escalator, we immediately smelled the delicious aroma of freshly baked pizza and everything that comes with it -- tomatoes, basil, the works! Guess this didn't only attracted us but pretty much most of the mall goers as there's a permanently crowd in front of the restaurant. Sitting capacity is very limited as I feel that O Mamma Mia meant for customers to just choose their pizza and pasta and have them to go.
Checking out the line-up, I was also surprise that each slice goes below S$5 and it's not a tiny slice, mind you. It's one that can definitely fill you up for a good afternoon snack or if you want something light for lunch. Majority of the pizza flavors go for about S$3.90 so I noticed a lot of the customers would get more than 2 at a time. There are 15 flavors available but this rotates on a regular basis so you'll probably see 6-8 at a time. As for the pasta, there are 5 different types of pasta noodles to choose from and you match this with your choice of sauces too. The pasta dishes are priced slightly higher than the pizza but wait till you see the serving size, it's HUGE! Price ranges from S$7.90 to S$8.20. Still very reasonable if you ask me.
We started with the 5 Terre (S$4.20) and it was love at first bite. It has everything that I love on my pizza -- boletus mushrooms, pesto sauce, parmesan cheese, mozzarella and fresh tomatoes. It's very simple if you think about it but I love the strong basil kick of the pesto paired with the mild and tangy fresh tomatoes. The mushroom gave it a good bite. The best part about it is the crust. I found out that the dough is imported regularly from Italy. You can't get more authentic than that. It's not very thin nor was it very thick thus filling you up without making you feel overly stuffed. I love how the crust stayed so crispy and it has a good smoky taste which is an indication of how it was baked just right.
Next was the Tonnara e Cipolla (S$3.90) which is perfect for seafood lovers. It's topped with premium Italian canned tuna, homemade tomato sauce, mozzarella and fresh arugula. It was very light and the tuna doesn't have any funny fishy smell. For veggie fans, you have to try the Marco Polo (S$3.90) which I find to be the most interesting. It's topped with zucchini, chilli flakes, garlic, whipped cream, mozzarella and parmesan cheeses. Yes, pizza with whipped cream but it was incorporated so well that you won't be able to see any white foam on the pizza. Initially, I thought that it might be a salty-sweet type of pizza at the mere thought of whipped cream but I was proven wrong. The chili flakes gave it a more interesting kick and if you want more heat, you have to try the spicy oil that they have available on every table. Paul enjoyed drizzling his pizza and pasta with it.
For cured meats lovers, you have to try the Rucula Speck Provolone (S$4.20) which was an impressive masterpiece consisting of speck ham, provolone cheese, parmesan, mozzarella and a generous amount of fresh arugula. Paul loved this and once again he had it with a drizzle of O Mamma Mia's homemade chili oil.
If you want something more toned down then the Prosciutto (S$3.90) might be the one of you. Topped with prosciutto slices, home-made tomato sauce and oregano. It's very straight-forward yet it's very flavorful too.
Among the three, the Gnocchi with 4 Cheese captured my heart and I've been daydreaming about it for days. In fact, I couldn't help it one day and went back to O Mamma Mia to enjoy it again. After queuing up for a couple of minutes, I was just told that the gnocchi was sold to the customer before me and they're all out of the day. My heart literally just broke right there and then. :( It was that good. I love the chunky gnocchi which has a good bite to it and the four cheese sauce wasn't very overwhelming instead it just made the entire dish truly satisfying. I will try again and hopefully they'll still have a serving of gnocchi waiting for me.
The Strozzapreti with Pesto was my next favorite but I got to admit that I wasn't too crazy about the thin swirly noodles. Perhaps, I'll go for the garganelli or the tagliatelle on my next try. The pesto sauce was very good though.
Paul, on the other hand, loved the Garganelli with Arrabbiata, which wasn't a big surprise as he loves loves loves anything with tomatoes.
It was a carb-loaded dinner at O Mamma Mia but wait, we're not done yet! After enjoying 6 types of pizzas and 3 pasta dishes, out came the Pizza Nutella (S$3.50) which will be every chocoholic's dream pizza. The delicious dough was fully covered in thick nutella spread and stopped with slices of fresh bananas. Yummy!
Now, let the tasting begin!
Of course, what's a wide-spread of pizza without 5 Formaggi (S$3.90) as part of it? Pizza and cheese goes hand in hand. What more if you got 5 different types of cheese on your pizza? They got mozzarella, parmesan, gorgonzola, provolone and a secret blend of cheese to seal the deal. Next to the 5 Terre, this is my second favorite type as I really like my pizza simple and not overly loaded with toppings.
After enjoying our pizza, we moved on to the pasta. We sampled three types of pasta dishes that day : Garganelli with Arrabbiata (S$7.90), Gnocchi with 4 Cheese (S$8.20) and Strozzapreti with Pesto (S$8.20).
I'm so glad that O Mamma Mia found its way to Singapore and I hope it'll visit the rest of Asia too. We would surely love to have something like this in Manila as well. Till then, I'm going back to Clementi Mall to try my luck again at those mouthwatering gnocchis.
Check out O Mamma Mia at 3155 Commonwealth Avenue West, 01-11, The Clementi Mall, Singapore 129588. They also have outlets at Causeway Point and soon, at Changi City Point too. Follow them on Facebook!
