Casa Vostra opens at Raffles City: Affordable Italian pizzas by world’s No. 57 pizza chef, nothing over S$28

Anyone who has been to Raffles City would probably remember the ultra-iconic McDonald’s outlet that immediately comes into sight, especially when you’re coming up the escalator from City Hall MRT.

For those who have good memories of the space, we have some bad news for you: The fast-food favourite vacated its long-time spot earlier this year.

However, the closure also brings some great news for Italian food lovers. In its place, we’re getting an exciting new opening — Casa Vostra has opened at Raffles City.

Casa Vostra originally debuted as a ready-to-heat pizza brand, but eventually had a one-month physical pop-up at Ann Siang Hill in Nov 2023. This Raffles City restaurant will be its first true brick-and-mortar location and is slated to open to public on Jul 27.

The brand is the brainchild of chef-owner Antonio Miscellaneo, who is also behind the highly-raved-about La Bottega Enoteca at Joo Chiat.

More impressively, Antonio has also achieved worldwide acclaim for his doughy creations — La Bottega Enoteca was recognised as the No. 57 best pizza in the world in the Top 100 Best Pizza list in 2023.

Antonio subsequently teamed up with the prolific Ebb & Flow Group to come up with a more casual pizza brand — thus Casa Vostra was born.

Compared to the former, which is a proper sit-down restaurant, Casa Vostra is designed to be a much more accessible and, most importantly, affordable option for pizza aficionados. 

Great for foodies, because we all know how expensive good Italian food — particularly good pizza — can get in Singapore.

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Is it the best affordable pizza?

One interesting observation when scanning through Casa Vostra’s food menu: There are no items above S$28 and the pastas start from S$13, while pizzas start from S$15.

As far as pizza dough is concerned, Casa Vostra is pretty good for the price. Based on Antonio’s fastidiously developed and patented “Newpolitan” pizza dough, it’s soft and airy with a nice chew to it — textbook Napolitan-style pizza dough texture.

The menu is divided into three sections — red, white and Doublecrunch — with a myriad of toppings available for each category.

For the red sauce base, the most affordable options are the timeless margherita (S$16) and marinara (S$16). If you’re itching for a good mix of tang, richness and spice, though, the diavola (S$20) should scratch that itch.

Adorned with parmigiano reggiano and fior di latte cheeses, spicy salami and basil, the sizzle and salinity of the salami nicely complements the tangy red sauce, which is made with San Marzano tomatoes.

On the other hand, Casa Vostra’s white section provides creations such as four formaggi (four cheese, S$22), carbonara (S$24) and tartufo e funghi (S$28).

If you like truffles, the last one would be hard to resist. Sporting fresh black truffle, truffle oil, mushrooms, thyme and fior di latte and taleggio cheeses, the aromatic and creamy pizza that just screams “crowd-pleaser” — and for under S$30, too.

As for the Doublecrunch, that’s another one of Antonio’s signature creations that you can’t really find anywhere else. It’s essentially a pizza-sandwich hybrid that’s so airy and crunchy, its crackles are plain scandalous.

Casa Vostra’s mortadella Doublecrunch (S$22) is one of the signatures and you can see why. It elevates the overall profile with a fragrant, lightly savoury and slightly zesty ensemble of mortadella, lemon zest, pistachio, and parmigiano reggiano cheese.

Oh, you get clumps of burrata inside too, and boy, do they add a delightful creamy contrast to the gratuitous crunching in the foreground.

Not just pizza at Casa Vostra

While Antonio is best known for his pizza, Casa Vostra is not a one-trick pony, either. It is a casual Italian concept and there is a diverse stable of antipasti and fresh pasta as well.

One very interesting item would be the frittatina (S$8), a traditional Napolitan street food but rarely seen in Singapore. Essentially crispy and creamy fried balls of pasta, it is available in either carbonara or lasagne form.

The former comes with guanciale, egg and pecorino romano and parmigiano reggiano cheeses, while the latter is loaded with beef pancetta, soffrito, and red sauce.

More importantly, there will be a launch day promotion that gives you a free frittatina if you show up between 3pm to 5pm on Jul 31 — just show the staff that you follow Casa Vostra on Instagram or Facebook. It’s limited to one redemption per person and while stocks last.

If you’re a pasta enthusiast, Casa Vostra also offers a wide range of affordable fresh pasta. 

These range from homely styles such as the aglio e olio spaghetti (S$13) to the more luxe crab tagliatelle (S$26) that’s finished with umami bottarga (cured fish roe) and juicy crab meat.

In case you’re craving something more unique, there’s also the agnolotti del plin (S$21), a sort of dumpling-esque pasta that’s stuffed with pork stew and finished in a chicken jus and butter sauce. Very comforting.

Is Casa Vostra gonna blow your mind? Probably not. But the newest Raffles City restaurant has all the fundamentals down and probably offers some of the best quality for the price.

Quite honestly, with how exorbitant Italian dinners have become, it’s nice to see a place that serves the most classic, homely Italian dishes without holding your wallet to ransom.

For more ideas on what to eat, read our stories on where sashimi lovers can find the freshest chirashi don and our guide to the coolest must-eats at the swanky new New Bahru.

Casa Vostra is on the GrabMart delivery service and offers free delivery (up to S$3 off) with GrabUnlimited. 

Do explore the new GrabFood Dine Out service for awesome deals.

You can also book a ride to Casa Vostra at Raffles City.