A friend of mine told me that pizza was back again on Collin's regular menu, then asked me if- for old times' sakes- I wanted to go try.
I didn't mind.
So together we went.
The Collin's of today may be known for a good number of offerings besides pizza- you'll find beef, pork, poultry, fish, salad and pasta- but pizza was in fact the very first dish that introduced me to Collin's when I went to their Balestier Shaw outlet years ago for the very first time.
I've never forgotten the taste of blue cheese over mozzarella cheese over crispy, chewy pizza dough.
I've never forgotten the price of $17 either.
Maybe that's why the pizza appealed particularly well to me.
Because where else, I ask, can noobs (who aren't familiar with fermented foods and the like) have a taste of blue cheese over warm, chewy bread without breaking the bank, without receiving side eye?
I don't know.
I have yet to find a place that will offer me good blue cheese pizza without strong recommendations for a glass of wine.
Maybe that's why I was really glad when the pizza arrived at our table in Collin's at Great World City.
Their standards haven't changed.
Their prices remain more or less the same as well.
This evening we decided we'd make our dinner a meal, so along with the pizza (which I now cannot remember what it was we ordered), there was a soup, and a drink.
To some, the soup might be nothing much to shout about, but creamy mushroom soup means something if you haven't had it for a long time.
Same goes for the pizza- even if you cannot remember what it was you ordered.
I think it might have been a Hawaiian.
It might also have been something else.
But I know there were chunks of juicy pineapple, there was a thick layer of melty, gooey cheese underneath, and best of all, a whole heap of carefully arranged, thinly sliced parma ham right on top.
It isn't every day that I get to have this much of parma ham with pizza.
And we took a special liking to it.
No doubt they might have been cut thin, yes, but there was no substitute for the distinctive flavors, nor the textures that blended the meat together with the melted cheese, the pizza bread, and that fresh burst of pineapple juice all in one bite.
That wasn't all.
There were also some bits of (minced) meat, and my all-time pizza favorite- sliced black olives- scattered all over this delicious, affordable Italian-style dinner as well.