Mamma Mia!

Baby, it’s cold outside. I don’t know about you but when icy winds are blowing and the sky seems perpetually grey, all I want to do is snuggle under my blankets, scarf down a big bowl of pasta and watch reruns of Friends.

But sometimes, even that is not enough for days when you’re seriously craving carbs, fries and all kinds of comfort food. That’s when you leave the warmth of your blankets, make a dash to 70% Pizza and Pasta, before heading home again to hibernate.

With an all-you-can-eat selection of pizzas, pastas, fries, fried chicken and dessert, 70% Pizza and Pasta is every food lover’s wet dream and Weight Watcher’s nightmare. Perhaps taking the Italian theme a little too literally with red, white and green furnishings, the restaurant nonetheless exudes a warm, cosy charm, in part due to the open brick oven just behind the bar.

The head chef stands in front of the oven, firing up pizza after pizza. They come out crisp with slightly charred rims, and the waiters bring them over to your table. If you like what you see, just nod and a slice of pizza appears on your plate. Dig in as you await the next slice to be served. The fries and chicken are served in the same manner while you can order the pastas just as you would at a restaurant, though they come in mini portions. Because each pizza has to be baked fresh, there’s a considerable amount of time spent waiting for the next pizza to be delivered -the perfect opportunity to help yourself to the drinks and dessert at the bar.

A testament to my “bottomless pit of a stomach”, as my friend KY is so fond of saying, I managed to try 9 out of the 12 types of pizza available. The takoyaki pizza, which conjured up images of squid stuffed tako balls sizzling in a skillet, didn’t live up to its name. Instead, we got bonito flakes sprinkled on a crust smeared with teriyaki sauce and mayo. Very disappointing.

Kimchi and beef however, proved to be a surprisingly winning combination. The tangy crunch of the kimchi was a nice contrast to the beef bulgogi, and together made for an excellent pizza topping. Another favorite was the classic Hawaiian. Sweet chunks of pineapple atop a tomato sauce swirled crust and finished off with bacon instead of boring ol’ ham. Bacon! Anything with bacon can do no wrong.

The pastas are also decent for an all-you-can-eat joint. Moss green anything is a no go for me, but Xyan liked the pesto chicken spaghetti. I’d recommend skipping the spaghetti bolognese though and going for the seafood spaghetti gratin instead, a cheesy and satisfyingly creamy dish with a mild tom yum kick.