Amore Pizzeria in Taipei

Been here twice. Ordered the pepperoni and sausage, a salad, and a stromboli (like a calzone, but uses different cheese).

I have to say pretty solid pizza… probably the best I’ve had here in Taiwan. I prefer my tomato sauce a little more acidic, and the mozzarella flavor a little stronger than what they had, though.

Pizzas here are a lot heftier than Alley Cat’s.

I met the owner before he opened up and he’s a nice guy. I guess he’s Taiwanese, but he spent a long time in New Jersey. The other owner is an Italian guy. He had an accent, too.

The place is across the street from the NTU Language Training and Testing Center, on the Xinhai Rd./Fuxing South Rd. side of NTU. Not far from the Starbucks, over by lane 118.

The boss at Amore is indeed Taiwanese (there’s no Italian guy here)–but do not let this put you off. James apparently spent more than 20 years in New Jersey, first working in and then running a number of Italian restaurants (you can check out the intriguing newspaper reviews posted on the walls). The man is incredibly dedicated to his craft and takes great pride in the quality of his work. Everything here seems to be made from scratch (he even makes his own sausage!). The pizzas are fine by me but the strombolis are off the charts and completely addictive. :thumbsup:

The restaurant is by no means a fancy space but there’s lots of room to relax and do your thing. And the food is simply wonderful.

Guy

Interesting. Been by there a bunch of times, but always figured it was “Taiwanese” pizza. Now that you’ve informed me otherwise, I’ll have to go check it out. What are the prices like?

To answer my own question, 9" pizzas are NT$159, and you can pay an extra NT$20 for a drink. There are also larger pizzas from NT$250-400, if I remember correctly, that you can share. Stromboli prices are similar. Very reasonable, I’d say.

Interesting I’ll be checking that out

I stopped by tonight. The stromboli definitely are good and the pizza is fine, too. This is Eastern American style local Italian pizzeria stuff we are talking about: Heavy on the meat till the grease drips down your fingers when you bite into it.

The sausage pepperoni stromboli was loaded with mozzarella, green peppers, onion and of course sausage and pepperoni. I went for the full boli at something like nt$300 and I have to say, I had trouble finishing it. They also offer “baby boli” which are about half the price, so I assume half the size. The anchovy black olive pizza was also loaded with toppings, though the olives were obviously canned, as that’s all that can be found in TW and I would order double cheese the next time around, but for a nt$300 pizza, it did not disappoint.

I recommend this place if you are looking for some neighborhood pizzeria fare that you would get from any Italian family pizzeria back in eastern North America. With about 15 different pizzas and stromboli on the menu, there is definitely a flavor that will appeal to everyone. Dinner for two with caesar salad, a ten inch pizza, a full boli and drinks was like nt$800 or so with half the pizza in the fridge for lunch tomorrow. Definitely good value for the appetite that I bring to the table! :thumbsup: Beer, (Corona, Heineken and TaiPi), are available, as well as red wine by the bottle for nt$600.

Stop in soon: Saturday night and we were the only people in the place. :astonished:

yay

I noticed this comment by Haokaiyang dated November 4 in another thread and thought it might be helpful to post it here (moderator: feel free to intervene if moving comments like this is not appropriate):

[quote=“citizen k”]
Stop in soon: Saturday night and we were the only people in the place. :astonished:[/quote]

I’m gonna try for Friday.

Kind of like NY pizza you say?
I find myself almost everyday thinking “Im gonna run across the street and grab a slic before work” cause thats what I do at home almost every day.
And then in .5 seconds it hits me that… I’m in Taiwan. And then the tears come. No pizza :cry:

Kind of…It’s hard to say something is like something when what that is is relative in itself. I know many a New Yorker who could expound and debate for hours what a NY pizza is. :laughing:

But if you do stop in, consider ordering a stromboli. They are definitely the highlight of the menu.

Anyone been here recently?

Yeah, I eat there about once a week. It’s still great!

Yeah, I eat there about once a week. It’s still great![/quote]

So there hasn’t been any portion/quality attrition since the original raves?

Would you happen to know if they take credit cards (their original Taiwanease listing says yes, but these things can change)?

I was wanting to score a 'brolie or 3 on the way home, but the Mrs. appears to have raided me wallet in the night :blush:

Not that I’ve noticed. The “baby boli” and personal pizzas get me 80% full for under NT$200, and the Sicilian pizza stuffs me for NT$250. And everything tastes great, every time.

[quote]Would you happen to know if they take credit cards (their original Taiwanease listing says yes, but these things can change)?

I was wanting to score a 'brolie or 3 on the way home, but the Mrs. appears to have raided me wallet in the night :blush:[/quote]
I don’t, unfortunately, I always pay cash.

Not that I’ve noticed. The “baby boli” and personal pizzas get me 80% full for under NT$200, and the Sicilian pizza stuffs me for NT$250. And everything tastes great, every time.[/quote]

Thanks very much for your kind information.

[quote=“haokaiyang”][quote]Would you happen to know if they take credit cards (their original Taiwanease listing says yes, but these things can change)?

I was wanting to score a 'brolie or 3 on the way home, but the Mrs. appears to have raided me wallet in the night :blush:[/quote]
I don’t, unfortunately, I always pay cash.[/quote]

Let me know if you’re interested in swapping spouses anytime.

I might take you up on that if I weren’t single. :wink:

The real reason I’m back here, though, is to say that my friend and I tried the cheesy garlic bread tonight, and it was fantastic! I highly recommend it, especially at the bargain price of NT$100.

They’re not open on Mondays!

This is a quick note to let people know that Amore Pizzeria will soon not be “by NTU”: they’re moving to a new location in the East District. The new address I’ve seen posted is this:

No 10, Lane 101, Zhongxiao East Road Section 4

I’ve not yet seen the new location (scheduled to open November 4!) but by my reckoning this should be just northwest of Zhongxiao Dunhua.

Those of us near NTU will be sad to see James leaving the old Xinhai Road location. But I believe that anyone who has tried his food and seen his commitment to his craft will wish him well in his new fancier neighbourhood!

Guy

Btw, I heard from James tonight that the last day the Xinhai Road location is scheduled to be open is this Sunday November 3. For those of you in this area, do stop by while you can.

Yeah, I was gonna say…what you describe doesn’t describe a pizza say at Sally’s or Pepe’s in New Haven.

Or even some of the better pizza joints in NYC. But if I’ve been drinking and I’m hungry, that does describe the $2 slice (probably dating myself) I would end up with.