2 Twenty plus one

Flowers may die
Rivers may dry
But our friendship
will never say bye bye

That was the kind of poems we used to write in each other's autograph books back in primary school. Cheesy as it may sound, this embodies the friendship with my college mates. Yesterday was a special day - they took time off their busy study schedules to throw me a birthday cum farewell celebration. I was left to decide on the location, and Marina Bay it was.

The mandatory Marina Bay Sands shot.

Twas cloudier than usual, almost bleak day. I pity those in the Singapore Flyer who could probably see nothing more than 10km away.

We wandered down the Helix Bridge with JJ, ever the enthusiastic photographer, snapping away like she was one of the tourists. Eventually (which means after 1000 shots later) we made it to the dinner venue, Pizzeria Mozza. How excited I was!

Helmed by the trio of star-studded celebrity chefs - Mario Batali, Nancy Silverton and Joe Bastianich - word has it that this restaurant dishes out the best pizza in town, accompanied by great service. Knowing that this hip hangout is hugely popular, I crossed my fingers and attempted to make a reservation. I managed to get seats at 5.30 pm, not the most convenient of times for dinner, but I suppose I should be thankful for getting seats in the first place. Surprisingly though, the place was only half-full when we arrived – for the time being.
Great things started right from when we were seated. First, an envelope bearing the Mozza stamp was set on the table. Curious, I peeked in to find the cutlery and a card containing quirky nuggets of information on “what you can thank Italians for.” After we placed our orders (what a hard time trying to decipher those Italian words!), another envelope was addressed to us. This time it contained complimentary crackers, which tasted strangely familiar until it finally struck me: it tasted just like those Ritz cheese crackers!

Ricotta cannelloni al forno.

Translated as baked ricotta cannelloni (a type of pasta sheet), this was the dish of the day. Basically it was just oozing with cheese: two crispy crepe-like roll-ups stuffed with ricotta sitting on a bed of ricotta, and layered with tomato sauce and more ricotta. Cheese heaven for cheese lovers but for me, the cheese-hater-trying-to-like-cheese, it was simply too rich. Nevertheless, I still delighted in the crispy/spongy texture of the cannelloni (how did they ever achieve it?) and the full-bodied tomato sauce.

Margherita.

I think the waitress was confused. I remembered dithering between the burrata, slow-roasted tomato and Sicilian oregano pizza and the Margherita, and finally opting for the former. However the Margherita was served instead, but we didn’t voice the mistake and accepted it. Do you know the ingredients for a Margherita pizza represent the colors of the Italian flag: tomato sauce = red, basil = green and mozzarella = white. How cool is that to have your country’s flag represented in its national dish? The tasty tomato sauce, which I think was the same as the cannelloni, made its appearance again. The mozzarella did not overwhelm and the basil leaves could not be any fresher than it was. I only wished they were more generous with the basil. With the basics done right, I think it's safe to say that their other pizzas can be expected to be just as good.

But of course, the best of all was the crusty dough/doughy crust. I can’t really describe what makes their dough so fantabulicious, Thick rimmed and slightly charred for extra flavor, your inner carb monster will be shrieking in joy. Skinny pizzas are so yesterday.

Cheesey and drippy.

Despite being located at the Sands, Pizzeria Mozza was very affordable. The bill came up to about $54, which meant $18 per person. Overall it offers causal dining in a relaxed atmosphere, with great food (especially for cheese aficionados) and fairly good service (at times it is hard to get the waiters attention though).

And then I was truly surprised by the birthday surprise. It was a golden bronze butterfly necklace with reddish gemstones, and a pair of cat earrings. <3

Water & Laser show.

It was a coincidence that when we walked out of Sands, it was 8pm and just in time for the daily laser show on the Singapore River. The illusion and technology is such a beauty!

I’ll be quite busy with all the last-minute packing the next few days On my next post, I hope to do a “21-things-to-do-before-my-22nd" list for that extra special 21st flavor.