Taglio Gourmet Pizza

G told me about this pizza place at Central that sells authentic Italian pizzas at cheap and reasonable prices. Realising that it was the same place I had passed by many times and wanted to try, I decided to get the Lady to accompany me again for another gastronomical experience.

It was a bout of good timing, for that week we went, Taglio had just started this pizza buffet, where you pay $15.90 nett per person and enjoy a starter (we had Calamari, pretty good), small pasta serving and free flow of pizzas and drinks. I felt guilty for convincing the health conscious Lady to embark on this buffet with me, but it was too late to apologise~~

The pasta we picked was the mushroom Aglio Olio. Honestly I was not impressed with it. The olive oil used was not fragrant, probably not extra virgin olive oil. Pasta itself was not al dente, somewhat softer, but still good on the palate, but the garlic came through as overpowering. Shiitake mushrooms were used, which imparted a curious oriental flavour to the Aglio Olio. On the whole reasonable but not impressive. But I digress. The main highlight were the pizzas.

First round: Smoked salmon, Mushroom and Chicken Teriyaki
Smoked salmon scored with me with delicious smoky flavour, but the Lady who was averse to strong pungent flavours, did not like it as much. As for the mushroom pizza, I wished they had use Portobello, or at least, not cut the cremini so thin that they dehydrated after a visit to the oven. Not impressed with it. Teriyaki chicken had plenty of juicy tender chicken dices, but the teriyaki sauce used was so little we couldn't really taste it. We were left wondering what pizza it was for a moment. However, I must point out that the thin crust with a bed of mozzarella was pretty well done, crispy with a little fluffiness on the inside and topped by a bed of light mozzarella and tomato sauce. This will not impress people seeking heavy flavours though.

Second round: Hawaiian and Pepperoni
This time the pizzas were slightly underbaked. The dough was not as crispy and was of a bread-like texture. The Hawaiian was fine, but could stand to be more generous with the ham. The Lady loves Hawaiian so this naturally scored with her. I think Pizza Hut offers better ones though. Pepperoni is a favourite of mine, but I was quite disappointed to see the obviously countable pepperoni-s used, a total of 8! The meat was fine, just not quantitious enough to make an impression.

Third round: Cajun chicken
Pizza was overbaked this time, with significant portions of the crust burnt and hard. However this pizza impressed me the most, with a strong spicy seasoning used on the chicken dices. It tasted very Indian style, but I liked the blend of spices. Could be better named Masala chicken.

Each variety came in a rectangle of 20 x 10 cm and cut in fours. They sell these large slices by about $6 a slice or more. FYI Pizza al Taglio means "pizza by the slice". I see potential in the pizzas, but they need to be more consistent and generous. Gourmet pizza cannot be termed 'gourmet' if there isn't consistent quality.

Food: I had a satisfying meal and was full to the brim, and so did Lady, but we agreed that the quality should be a notch higher than what we got. Still, there is potential for improvement.

Cost: 8/10 for a buffet, this is awfully cheap. We still had a few pizza varieties we didn't manage to try.

Location: 7/10 Central is at Clarke Quay MRT station

Ambience: Wooden furniture and an orange-brown themed decor makes for a pretty joyful establishment, except that the selection of weird British Airways commercial music is questionable..They even had the techno version...

Address: 6 Eu Tong Sen Street #01-67 S059817 The Central

Tel: 62271795