Burrito, Quesadilla & Nachos @ Viva Mexico

Shrimp Burrito (S$22)

Cheese Quesadilla

Cheese Nachos

According to Time Out Singapore, this is one of the closest you can find for authentic Mexican food. Some reviewers commented not to expect "tex-mex" style food here. I don't know if it's true or not, whatever it was -- it was delicious.

I ordered their burrito with prawns. You can choose to have beef, pork and chicken if you want. It was served with Mexican rice and sauce. The burrito was very good. Unfortunately, I had stuffed myself with the nachos and quesadilla that I couldn't finish it off. All the dishes were very filling with a generous serving size. The surprise of the entire dish was the Mexican rice. It was white rice mixed in with basil (?) and it was sweet, herby and refreshing to eat with the burrito.

As mentioned above, we ordered their nachos and quesadilla for appetizers. You can also choose to add beef, pork and chicken to both dishes. We only had cheese. The guacamole was delicious and the nacho chips seemed homemade - just the right amount of salty to go along with the salsa, guacamole and chilies.

Unless you haven't eaten for days or not as heavy eaters like we were, I suggest you stick to ordering one dish. The burrito would have been enough for me without the nachos and quesadilla.

The verdict was we would definitely go back. The next time we'll skip the appetizers in order to appreciate the main courses more.


Viva Mexico
23 Cuppage Road
Singapore 229453
T: 6235 0440

Operating Hours:
Open Daily 12pm-2:30pm, 6pm-11:30pm

Thin Crust Pizza @ Peperoni Pizzeria

Half-half Pizza: Frutti di Mare & Diavola

Half-half Pizza: Prosciutto Crudo di Parma & Salmon

To continue my previous post on Peperoni Pizzeria: after the appetizer of their delicious Portabello Mushroom, we ordered two of their family size - XXL at 21 inch (S$50) - pizzas with both half and half types of pizzas.

For the first one, we had half the Proscuitto Crudo di Parma (pork) and Salmon. The Proscuitto Crudo di Parma had tomato sauce, mozzarella, Parma ham and rocket salad. The verdict by the carnivores was good. They loved it. The Salmon had tomato sauce, mozzarella, fresh salmon, caramel onion and capers. I was actually expecting fresh as in raw salmon but it was actually cooked salmon cubes. While it wasn't what I expected, it was very good nonetheless. 

The second pizza we had was half Frutti di Mare and Diavola. The Frutti di Mare or roughly translated "fruits of sea" (correct me if I'm wrong) had tomato sauce, mozzarella, and mixed mushroom (button, shitake, porcini). Also very, very yummy. The Diavola had tomato sauce, mozzarella and pepperoni. Also very good but one comment was that the pepperoni looked and tasted almost like tocino. Which actually makes sense because tocino is sweet cured pork. Their pepperoni is not the usual red circular things you see in other pizza places.

The pizza crust was very thin and crunchy but since we ordered a very large pizza when you get a slice in the middle (it was sliced in squares), it got soggy and not crunchy anymore. Some guys ended up looking for crusts at the end.

On another note, I am so thankful to have understanding friends. As the only pesky pesce in the group, they were very gracious to always choose a seafood half on the pizzas.

Peperoni Pizzeria
6 Greenwood Avenue
Hillcrest Park
Singapore 289195
T: 6465 6556
www.lesamis.com.sg

Opening Hours:
Mondays to Sundays
All day dining: 12pm - 12am (last seating at 10:30pm)
Closed on certain holidays

Portobello Mushroom @ Peperoni Pizzeria

The highlight of the dinner at the Peperoni Pizzeria. This was our appetizer before finishing off two very large pizzas (review later).

This is one huge piece of portobello mushroom deep fried with chicken & red wine sauce. It's S$17 bucks but definitely worth it. It was that good and the size of the mushroom makes up for the price.

The mushroom had a coating outside that gave it a crunchy texture along with the smooth and chewiness of the mushroom. The sauce itself was a perfect complement to the mushroom. Most of us were swirling the mushroom around the sauce to get more of it.

Word of advice: reserve your table before heading out because it's usually packed. It was so busy that Friday night that we were told we had to leave an hour and a half after we said on our reservation. So be on time and order ahead if possible.

A definite must-try. Oh, we decided to order this thanks to some tips left of the Foursquare app. That's social media at work.

Peperoni Pizzeria

6 Greenwood Avenue

Hillcrest Park

Singapore 289195

T: 6465 6556
www.lesamis.com.sg

Opening Hours:

Mondays to Sundays

All day dining: 12pm - 12am (last seating at 10:30pm)

Closed on certain holidays

French Fries with Dips @ Rock & Ash

I saw this store on my way to the MRT a few months ago and thought it was worth a try. So when I found myself in Marina Square with no appetite for a large dinner, I went to Rock & Ash for some of their fries. 

From outside, the store seems to be an upscale version of Potato Fries (that's a kart-type stall in the Philippines selling french fries sprinkled with all kinds of flavors -- sour cream is my fave). They offer made-to-order crispy fries with a unique range of homemade dips. But they apparently also serve a selection of main courses like chicken, pasta and fish.

I ordered their large fries combo which was an order of large fries, 2 types of dips and a drink. I chose their spicy cheese and barbecue with their homemade lemonade. Unfortunately, the fries themselves were nothing special. Seemed like something you can buy off a supermarket freezer and deep fry at home. The spicy cheese dip was very good while the barbecue was a let down. It didn't go well with the fries at all, in my opinion at least. I made do with their free ketchup at the counter. 

While there were 8 types of dips available, they lack the more staple versions like plain nacho or cheddar cheese, or gravy (I miss McDo in the PH), or  even plain mayo. They have:

• Spicy Cheese Sauce - surprisingly very spicy
• Special Meat Sauce
• Wasabi Mayo
• Mayo & Chili
• Black Pepper Sauce
• Chocolate
• Lemon Curd
• Barbecue

I'm kind of surprised they didn't have curry sauce considering it's such a local specialty and I see a lot of people requesting it when in McDonald's.

They should take a look at NYFD's selection of dips: gravy, pesto, hawaiian curry, ranch, tartar, peanut, honey mustard, and more.

Rock & Ash (Fries, Dips, Coffee)
B1-03, Marina Square
6 Raffles Boulevard
Singapore 039594
T: 6336 6682

Opening hours:
10am - 10.30pm (weekdays), 11pm (weekends)


How to get there:
Nearest MRT - Esplanade MRT (via new Marina link)