The Great Pizza Bake Off: Co Thanh vs. Sassy (13 to 25 March 2018)
For the love of pizza, round 3 of The Great Pizza Bake Off 2nd Edition (#thegreatpizzabakeoff) just kicked off at Mercato. If you haven’t been before, basically one local chef and one local media personality are paired together to each create their version of an awesome pizza. Both pizzas are featured on Mercato’s menu for two weeks, in this case from 13 to 25 March, and the pizza with the most sales wins!
Obviously, the best part is being able to taste pizza creations by local tastemakers. This time, it was Chef Brian Woo from Co Thanh against Annie Simpson and Beatrice Hug (two media personalities this time) of Sassy Hong Kong.
Being a big fan of Co Thanh and Vietnamese flavours in general, I couldn’t wait to try his Vietnamese Spice Roasted Chicken Pizza ($248). Kind of simply named, but super big on flavour! It smelled like pho, had a generous amount of juicy chicken, and the base had a kick ass house-made chili sauce with Vietnamese chilis. A few of us tried a tiny spoonful of the chili sauce, so I can confirm it’s H-O-T but in a my-tongue-is-numb-but-mmm-these-flavours kind of way. Don’t ask them to dial down the spice if you can. The chili sauce really ties the pizza together. Also, note that this pizza is cheese-less but you can add cheese if you want (I checked).
Sassy’s such a fun resource for girls-about-town, so it’s no surprise that their pizza was cheekily named The Morning After the Night Before ($248). These girls know what’s up pizza-wise too, and their bechamel-based, hollandaise and poached egg-topped, spinach and prosciutto pizza was the kind of hearty, heavy mess one craves after a big night out. Given the heaviness, it’s perhaps better for brunch than dinner. But I’d be tempted to eat anything with Mercato’s flavourful hollandaise sauce any time… So, so good. Luckily, it comes on the side of this pizza as a dipping sauce.
So both of these #thegreatpizzabakeoff pizzas are available on the lunch, brunch, and dinner menus during this period. Get ‘em while you can! Sadly, as one of my girlfriends noted, Chef Brian (and the Sassy girls) won’t actually be there to make your pizza (haha). But the pizza recipes are enough of a draw, and of course Mercato itself is awesome.
We tried a couple of other dishes from the menu too. The House-made Ricotta with Cranberry, Olive Oil and Grilled Bread ($178) is one of those dishes your want to kick yourself for not having tried before. This might be my favourite thing at Mercato now, with the cheese so sweet and light, and perfectly matched with the sweet-but-not-tart cranberry and a strong, earthy olive oil. While the Lobster and Shrimp Ravioli ($328) was more mild in flavour, there was a buttery, moreish quality to it. The ravioli themselves were also generously sized and stuffed. Like the pizzas and nearly everything on Mercato’s menu, it was totally worth the carbs and calories.
Central, 32 D'Aguilar St, 8/F, California Tower, 3706 8567
*By invitation
