With more than 60 outlets in Australia, and its first international one in Singapore, Crust Gourmet Pizza is different from pizzas you’ve had here on 4 counts at least:

1.     They don’t come round but in rectangles,

2.     They only come in 1 size about 10 x 8

3.     You can always mix 2 flavours on 1 dough base, and

4.     Besides tomato, you can have 6 other sauces

The first makes it easy for you to split your pizza, the second and third give you less to agonise about when you’re ordering, and the fourth offers the adventurous more fun.

UrbanWire also likes that they’re made on the spot and come with generous portions of fresh ingredients.

The crust is thin and crispy, nicely charred. For those who are allergic to gluten, gluten-free bases are available on request and UrbanWire was told that this is the only outlet that provides this option.

Most pizzas use tomato sauce as a base. Here you can find a refreshing change for those who like more choices. There are 6 other pizza sauce bases for you to choose from – Garlic Oil, the white Bechamel mix of flour and milk, Hoisin, BBQ, Spicy Pesto and Sweet Chilli. The sauces as well as the pizza bases are specially flown in from Australia.

Kenny, an amiable and helpful waiter, said that there are a few top-selling favourites, depending on whether one is a meat, poultry, seafood or vegetarian lover.

Their best-selling pizza is the Peri Peri Chicken ($22). Marinated chicken breast fillet, spring onions, roasted red peppers, caramelised onions and bocconcini (small balls of cheese) are topped with tangy Peri Peri sauce. It adds a tinge of sweetness to the pizza. Choose this if you’re overwhelmed by the many choices, as this is a fairly safe option that will appeal to most.

The Five Spice Pork Belly with pear slices, wild rocket, crushed walnuts and topped with balsamic graze ($23) was intriguing. The original recipe from Australia comes with a tomato sauce. But for the Singapore outlet, Hoisin sauce was recommended instead as they find that it suits the local palate better.

For the extra kick, the Szechuan Chilli Prawn ($25) with fresh green peppers, spring onions and bocconcini stood out. Garnished with lemon and fresh chilli, it has the right amount of spiciness without blowing your brains out.

How many people do you know pick the vegetarian option by choice? But at Kenny strong urging, we tried the Wild Mushroom ($21). Take it from someone who abhors greens, this was a pleasant surprise. Wild marinated mushroom mix, asparagus, pine nuts and parmesan cheese is drizzled with truffle oil on a béchamel sauce base. This vegetarian pizza promises a good mix of different textures that blend very well.

As is typical of pizza makers, they offer delivery service, but unfortunately only to locations within a 6-km vicinity of its first international branch in Holland Village to ensure that the pizzas arrive at customers’ homes piping hot.

Rating: 4/5

Gourmet Pizza Crust is at 34B Lorong Mambong (Holland Village). Opening from 5pm to 11pm all week, it can be contacted at 6467 2224.