Restaurants: Peperoni Pizzeria @ Greenwood Avenue

After all the recent articles on Biryani, I thought it would be a nice change of pace to do a post on Italian Food. Peperoni Pizzeria is run by the Les Amis Group of restaurants and concentrates on delivering hearty, affordable Italian fare. I haven't been there for some time so no time better than the present to see if they're still maintaining their standards. Luckily for me, they are. Bringing up the usual suspects!

Starters/Entrées:
Funghi Portobello con Pollo ($20):  
aka Deep fried whole Portobello with sautéed chicken fillets in red wine sauce. 

What a great combo! Whole Portobello mushroom coated with batter and deep fried to crispy perfection and drenched with a savoury wine sauce and topped with chicken fillets which were quite tender (as far as chicken breasts go) and rocket lettuce. What's not to love? Not for the faint hearted though, some friends of mine have commented that this is too tasty for them. Well, more for me then! 

Calamari Fritti: ($14)

aka Deep fried squid rings, with lemon, mayo and arrabbiata sauce

The version here is lightly battered so the outer layer is slightly crispy yet the squid is done with the right level of springiness and tenderness. Goes really well with the accompanying sauces.

Pizzas:   ($19 for 9 inch, $24 for 12 inch, $50 for 21 inch (family size))

Frutti di Mare  

First up to the plate is the Frutti di Mare (aka Seafood Pizza). The toppings include Prawns, clams, scallops, squid rings, garlic and fish on a thin crust pizza base. Seafood toppings were ample and fresh. I feel this is the most value for money pizza option. All the pizzas have fixed prices here i.e. a Large 12 inch pizza is priced at S$24 whichever flavour you choose (based on the standard menu).     

Capricciosa 
Our second pizza of the meal has Shitake mushroom, ham, artichokes and black olives as toppings. 2 Words come to mind: "Simply Tasty!". For Pizzas, families can order the 21 inch (it is huge!) to share with the option to do Half and Half too (2 flavours).

Pasta:
Al Nero di Seppia ($23)
Fancy name for squid Ink pasta with Squid rings, garlic and tomatoes. I find the version here nicely balanced: squid ink is not overwhelming, garlic enhances the flavour. A winner in my books! Although it doesn't exactly look like what is displayed in the menu on their website.

Desserts:
Panna Cotta ($9)

You could probably call this a western version of Tau Huey(soya bean curd). However, this is a creamy eggless pudding, flavoured with vanilla grains. Not too sweet, light and the texture is velvety smooth. Yumz!

Frangipane ($12)

Another dish that looks very different from the photo displayed in the menu. It is described a warm, fluffy almond cake with sweet raspberry sauce & served with smooth vanilla ice cream.

You can see from the photo above that it looks like there are 2 layers, the darker bottom half is where the almond flavour is most intense. Not sure if it is because it is denser and sinks to the bottom. Not fluffy as stated, a pedestrian effort considering the dishes that preceded it. The vanilla ice cream  makes up for it.

The restaurant does serve a variety of belgian beers so I couldn't help myself and ordered the most outstanding name that my eyes came across. Satan Beer!

Not as light as a weissbier but goes down really smoothly. A devilishly refreshing end to the meal.

Taste Verdict: Good news that the standards here are still being upheld (desserts notwithstanding). Still one of my go-to places for pizza and pasta and the ambience is still great. For a group of 4 or 5, budget about S$35 (minus drinks) per pax.