Singapore – Modesto’s, #01-166/167, 1 HarbourFront Centre Walk S(098585), VivoCity

When my parents and I were in Singapore a few months ago, one of our close friends took us out for lunch at VivoCity. It was a bright, sunny day (just a few celcius cooler than Malaysia, but that was the difference between sweat patches and sophisticated dryness) and along the way to the restaurant, we went by a large ship that had just docked by the marina.

The crew (who surprisingly dressed like how guys on stag nights pretending to be sailors would look like) were bent down over the side of the ship, giving the name plate a good scrub. Not entirely sure up to now where they were from, but during the course of our meal, we noticed them coming out of the shopping mall with boxes after boxes of new, flat screen tvs. Either these guys were in the import/export business, or they watched alot of tv on the boat.

Right, back to the restaurant. Once we got inside, it was really airy and bright. Surprisingly, despite it being lunch hour, there weren't that many people in there - a couple who looked like they were on holiday, a table of students sharing and caring, and a bigger table with corporate suited types who looked like they were celebrating a deal of some sort.

It was really refreshing coming into the air-conditioned restaurant from the heat outside, but something about heat makes me really hungry. The menu actually shows real-sized pizzas, good for those who have eyes bigger than stomaches (like me) so that you can kinda measure it against your body to see what the possibility was of you finishing the pizza by yourself.

Look, no one in there yet.

After we made our order, the waiter came around with some bread. None of that hard, crusty type bread that makes your gums bleed, no sir. This was lovely, soft, herbed bread to be dipped in the balsamic vinegar and olive oil mix. Could have had lots of that if not for the pizza (measured, nonetheless) that was to be coming.

The antipasti which had the usual mozzarella and tomato (soft and springy, very nice), bruschetta, grilled aubergine and melon and prosciutto mixture.

Excellent grilled aubergine also, not too greasy but still very well flavoured with the olive oil used.

The melon was so deliciously sweet it was almost as though it had been drizzled with syrup. Lovely stuff. Coupled with the salty, chewy ham, this was as good as the ones I had in Italy, and so fresh.

Then we shared the funghi pizza, which had a lovely, thin crust base which broke apart delicately like the thinnest wafer being cracked in half. Mushrooms tasted good (as good as mushrooms of the non-truffle variety can taste), and again they weren't greasy as I'd expected roasted mushrooms to have been.

And then, we had some rocket.

It was actually meant to be rocket and parma ham pizza, but they must have had a rocket sale or something in the market, as the amount of rocket on that pizza was phenomenal. It could have populated about 5 more pizzas, if it hadn't all been chucked on our one pizza.

Having fought aside the insane amount of green on top of the pizza, we finally found the good stuff - gimme ham! OK, so they might have been a little heavy-handed on the rocket, but boy were they generous with the ham also. Lots and lots of ham beneath lots and lots of rocket. It seems the only thing which was presented in moderation was the pizza base. Absolutely excellent quality again, really surprising for a chain restaurant located in shopping mall.

After all that tussling with the green stuff, I was in awe of the next plate that was taken to the table. The seafood linguine - remember how I said they were quite generous with the rocket, and the ham? OK, the same chef made this linguine dish.

Crab claws, mussels, prawns, fish ... you name it, we had it. In large quantities also. I'm not sure what the prices were as it was our friend's lunchtime treat, but assuming reasonable prices, the portions here sure are worth the price. Excellent lunch with lovely company.

Fire & Stone, 31 Maiden Ln, Covent Garden, London, WC2E 7JS

This place is competition for Pizza Hut. Where as to most people, this may sound like an insult (ie your cooking is as good as McDonald’s), to me, this is quite a compliment indeed as there is nothing more alluring than the Pizza Hut lunch buffet. However, with Fire and Stone’s 2 pizzas for £10 offer (with Toptable), this place suddenly becomes better value for money.

The queues that form outside this place are probably evidence of this, but on the day we were there, there wasn’t any of that pesky queuing nonsense getting in the way of our eating. Sat down and with a menu placed in front of us, it took about 10 minutes to find my way around the pizza globe they had created.

Each pizza is named after a country, but not all countries are named after pizzas (fact).

My friend mentioned that there was a pizza which came with potatoes on top of it, and an image of a pizza laden with chunky roast potatoes hovered deliciously on the cloud that wafted on top of my head. This cloud wafts quite constantly whenever I’m hungry, so ordering becomes quite a tricky process when hunger clouds all reasons.

After having travelled round the continents and back in the span of an A4 menu, we finally decided on the 4 pizzas:

a) Bavaria
b) Bombay
c) New York
d) Melbourne

Melbourne £7.95 usually (Fire & Stone’s tomato base with sweet roasted butternut squash, balsamic roasted red onions, sliced brie, mozzarella topped with toasted pumpkin seeds)

Not one for pumpkin seeds (not on pizza anyway), or butternut squash (on pizza), this didn’t look that appealing, but I was told by my friends having it that it was great, so it must have been.

Bavaria £8.95 usually (Smoked german pork sausage, crispy bacon, pickled cabbage, Fire & Stone’s tomato based & mozzarella topped with sour cream, german mustard and chives)

This was Super Star of the meal, one of my favourite pizzas of all. The base was lovely and crispy, and although I would never have thought of putting sauerkraut on a pizza (such a lack of creativity), it worked wonderfully. The salty sausage, slightly chewy sauerkraut, and little crispy bits of bacon did the tango across my tongue, each one tapping a different little burst of flavour, but all coming together to the music. It was indeed a great first bite.

Bombay £8.95 usually (roast tandoori marinated chicken breast, spiced tandoori yoghurt base, broccoli, sliced red onion, mozzarella, spiced mango chutney & cucumber & mint yoghurt)

Now if the Bavarian was Super Star of the meal, this one was the extra. Put to the back of the stage, and could have been ignored if not for not wanting to waste. The chicken tasted slightly powdery, and although I find that common with most tandoori chicken (must be something to do with the marinade), it wasn’t that nice when placed on top of dry pizza.

Whoever it was who put the dollop of yoghurt and mint sauce on the pizza was having a canteen-style-slop-the-mush-on day. The dollop was possible bigger than the size of the pizza if I’d evened it out over the base, and after I’d tried to thinly spread it over the pizza, I had lots leftover to scrape off to be put to the side of the plate.

Broccoli was also slightly weird, as I’d never had broccoli with my curry before, and definitely not on top of a pizza. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for trying new flavours (re: 24 hour slow cooked bolognese) but the crunchy yet strangely bland broccoli did nothing for the pizza. Nothing at all.

In fact, the pizza did nothing for the pizza.

New York £8.95 usually (crispy oven-roasted smoked bacon, mozzarella, Fire & Stone’s tomato sauce, garlic and rosemary roast potatoes, caramelised onion jam, topped with sour cream and smoked paprika) – whew

Because I’d imagined chunks of roast potatoes on top of a pizza, it was slightly disappointing (although very highly sensible) when the pizza came with little bits of beautifully roasted potato on top of the pizza. Each little square looked as though it had been carefully roasted and turned in the roasting tray, each one evenly brown and crispy looking.

Although it wasn’t one I had, it looked really good, and I probably will order this the next time I’m here.

Would I recommend this place? With the Toptable offer (which we found in the form of a voucher on our table, convenient), you get 2 pizzas for £10. Works out cheaper than Pizza Hut, and dare I say, even McDonald’s.

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Domino’s Pizza, Greenwich

Before Pizza Hut changed its name to Pasta Hut (Don’t believe me? See here), it was the main contender for the Pizza Champions League Trophy. However, since the name change, I’m not quite sure what Pizza / Pasta Hut do anymore (Is it a bird, is it a pasta, is it a sweet shop. Who knows.)

When considering where to order my pizza from, there is only one place to choose from. No, not Pizza / Pasta Hut, but Domino’s.

Why? Because the pizza base is chewy and fluffy, the toppings are more creative and generous than that of Pizza / Pasta Hut’s, and the quality is consistent, almost guaranteed. They also do these fantastic dips to go with the pizzas.

This is the Meteor, a frisbee dough holding atop it sausages, meatballs and mince, slooshed in barbeque sauce.

Look, meatballs.

From what the Domino’s guy said, it seems most franchises do their own meal deals (usually for collection only), so you’ll have to call the franchise to know more. The one in Greenwich does a ‘Buy one get on free’ offer, as well as a ‘Any size pizza for £10.99’ which is the deal we used.