A good pizza used to be hard to come by, but not anymore. In fact, there are so many Italian restaurants in town these days that there’s a bit of contention about which is the best. Our foodies tried two pizzas (one seafood, one ham and mushroom) from five of the top Italian pizzerias, not knowing which restaurants they came from. Here’s who came out tops (or not).

Ristorante Da Valentino

Seafood
The catch: Mussels, prawns in shell.
Effort required: Too much.
Overall pizzazz: If we didn’t have to work so hard to eat this, it would have tasted better.

Ham and mushroom
Other toppings: Rucola and shaved parmesan.
Heavy or light: Wonderfully light.
Overall pizzazz: Thumbs up.

La Strada Pizzeria

Seafood
The catch: Scallops, prawns, squid. Looked great.
Taste factor: Liked the flavorful cheese, good squid but prawns weren’t very fresh.
Overall pizzazz: Good but inconsistent.

Ham and mushroom
Other toppings: None.
Flavor flash: Ham is off the bone and is smoky. Acquired taste.
Overall pizzazz: Erm … pass this pie along.

Sapori D’Italia (BEST SEAFOOD PIZZA)

Seafood
The catch: Prawns, calamari and chili flakes.
Simple or elaborate? Plain but good with light chopped tomatoes.
Overall pizzazz: The best catch of the lot.

Ham and mushroom
Other toppings: Artichokes.
Simple or elaborate? Definitely simple, but worked.
Overall pizzazz: Compared to the others, this needs some sizzle.

Papi

Seafood
The catch: Mussels, squid, prawns, pesto.
Effort required: Again, too much. Mussels were in their shells.
Overall pizzazz: OK. It worked, the pesto helped a lot.

Ham and mushroom
Other toppings: None.
Ham vs mushroom: Fungi won with strong mushroom flavors.
Overall pizzazz: Next to our best ham and mushroom pizza.

Sistina (BEST HAM AND MUSHROOM PIZZA)

Seafood
The catch: Diced seafood and lots of chili.
Fishy factor: Prawns were fresher than on the other pizzas.
Overall pizzazz: The second best seafood pizza we had.

Ham and mushroom
Other toppings: Lots. Spanish onions, capsicum, marinated mushrooms, smoked cheddar and proscuitto.
Simple or elaborate? The mix of toppings was elaborate but yummy.
Overall pizzazz: Our top choice.

Spizza

Seafood
The catch: Squid, mussels, olives and lots of other toppings.
Simple or elaborate? This was chock full of seafood, almost too much for our tasters.
Overall pizzazz: You need to be a huge seafood fan to enjoy this.

Ham and mushroom
Other toppings: Cherry tomatoes and porcini. “Ham” was large fatty slices of pancetta.
Heavy or light? Quite oily, but full of flavor.
Overall pizzazz: We’re not sure about this one. Some raved about it, others were hmm-ing and ha-ing.

PRINCE OF PIZZAS

Sistina! They dominated in the ham and mushroom stakes and came second in the seafood ratings. Spizza deserves a mention too. They may not have won any category outright, but was always voted as a mid-range pizza and never bombed out.

Address Book

La Strada Pizzeria, #02-11 Shaw Centre, 1 Scotts Rd., 6737-2555.
Papi, 5 Mohamed Sultan Rd., 6732-6269.
Ristorante Da Valentino, 11 Jalan Bingka, 6462-0555.
Sapori D’Italia, #02-00, 165 Penang Rd., 6732-1691.
Sistina, #01-58 Chip Bee Gardens, 44 Jalan Merah Saga, 6476-7782.
Spizza, 29 Club St., 6224-2525; 26/26B Lorong Mambong, 6468-1982; #01-09 Balmoral Plaza, 271 Bukit Timah Rd., 6333-8148; #01-69 Harbourfront Centre, 1 Maritime Square, 6271-0923; 7 Maju Ave., 6280-8880; 109 Killiney Rd., 6732-4700.