Roberta's Pizza doesn't rise to expectations

NEW RESTAURANT

Roberta's Pizza

B1-45 Marina Bay Sands

2 Bayfront Avenue

Singapore 018972

Open daily: 11am to 10pm. No reservations.

HOW do we know that our colonial hangover is far from over? When we get excited over a pizza dough mother starter that's a foreign talent.

So, yes, that's 1 reason why we're hightailing it to the Brooklyn-based Roberta's Pizza, which brings that very starter and its brand of manufactured Americana to the avenue of imported concepts at Marina Bay Sands.

Squeezed between Mott32 and db Bistro like a petulant teenager, Roberta's decor appeals to a young demographic drawn by the bright lights, brighter pop art and the notion that Rihanna laid her very own enhanced lips on the aptly named Bee Sting pizza.

But for all its bare-bones, self-service setup and zero ambience, the pricing is grown-up, with a basic nothing-on-it pizza clocking in at S$20, but the rest averaging S$26 to S$29 - on par with Italian restaurants that offer full service and sometimes real Italian chefs.

The only one at Roberta's with an EU passport is the pizza oven - a fire engine-red Pavesi that stands like a cartoon robot with pipes for arms and a mega mouth to spit out heavily charred discs of tomato-coated dough.

But, we are suckers still in pursuit of the perfect pizza, so we shift our dining time zone and appear at 5pm just to beat any no-reservations queue that might appear. If you do the same, it'll be nice and empty - take your pick of seats at the counter and watch the show begin.

The kitchen staff are young and inexperienced - it feels like a pizza-making class, and we're on tenterhooks watching them get arm-deep into the dough, wondering if the dough is going to tear and if they washed their elbows.

But perhaps they rely on the searing heat of the pizza oven to correct any hygiene oversights, and the chef in charge of that doesn't skip a beat as he times, adjusts and pulls out your dinner when it's spotted just right.

While Neapolitan in style, Roberta's pizza dough is on the thin side, although it's resilient enough to dispel any sogginess from an infusion of tomato sauce. The puffed edges with the charred spots are the best part - chewy, fluffy with a mellow tanginess from the 15-year-old starter that can be traced back to Roberta's first pizza in 2007.

At first we wonder why there's such a wide variety of pizza toppings that you can add on - even tomato sauce at S$2 - until we realise the pizzas are thin because there's barely anything on top to weigh them down. So if you want more than just dough, prepare to fork out.

In the Bee Sting (S$28) you get a smear of sauce, 7 slivers of salty salami and the bare minimum of mozzarella to qualify it as a pizza and not flat focaccia. There's a little bit of honey - and we mean little - so you pick out a hint of sweetness to offset the saltiness of the salami. If we knew better we would have ordered the basic S$20 version and added our own toppings.

Still, it's better than the Maui Wowee (S$29) which is a Hawaiian Choice that's made some poor life choices. Nasty sour bits of shrivelled pineapple share angst with very salty something and not enough cheese to cheer them up.

Where Roberta's delivers is with its dough, and the best way to appreciate it is to have it on its own. It's called house bread but it's the same pizza dough beautifully puffed into a ball, crowned with dark freckles, and served with milky, creamy stracciatella cheese (S$15). You could fill up on this and the savoury smashed cucumbers (S$12) dressed in sesame oil, chilli and gochujang and not really miss the pizza. Then again, without the star attraction, there's precious little else to eat at Roberta's. Dessert is non-existent, and bottled drinks are pulled from a fridge, for you to pour into optional plastic cups.

It's too bad. Roberta's has good bread going for it, but after the initial novelty, there's really only so much hype you can eat.

Rating: 6

WHAT OUR RATINGS MEAN

10: The ultimate dining experience

9-9.5: Sublime

8-8.5: Excellent

7-7.5: Good to very good

6-6.5: Promising

5-5.5: Average

Our review policy: The Business Times pays for all meals at restaurants reviewed on this page. Unless specified, the writer does not accept hosted meals prior to the review's publication.