Best pizza in Kaohsiung - any recommendations?

Damn! If ya had the deep dish, I’d be over there every other day! I just can’t get enough of the sausage, one-piece rolled over the top of the whole pie. Mmmmmm… Cheese on the bottom, sauce on the top. I remember the first time I saw the “Chicago Pizza” pizza restaurant in Taiwan…I almost shat myself! Then almost shat on the restaurant once I saw what it really was.

Here’s a pic I took a few days ago of one of our Chicago stuffed pizzas.

Not Chicago deep dish, but it’s richer cousin.

Aye, while I’m originally from Idaho and never really had deep dish before, the Bayou’s pizzas are great and I really like their deep dish, especially the ‘hog wild’ pizza. Lucky enough while I was in the hospital last week a good friend picked one up and brought it to me, talk about hospital food :smiley:

My uncle owns Andy’s Pizza Garden. They’ve moved to 197 Minghua 1st rd.

I always hated going back home in a cab. Even when I gave them the card with a MAP on it, they still took me on a tour of the lake.

[quote=“haleyroach”]My uncle owns Andy’s Pizza Garden. They’ve moved to 197 Minghua 1st Rd.

I always hated going back home in a cab. Even when I gave them the card with a MAP on it, they still took me on a tour of the lake.[/quote]

As far as I’m concerned the new place is great, if no other reason it’s 5 minutes by scooter from my place.

[quote=“scoregonzo”]My pizza place is a little hard to find, took me a couple of weeks when I first moved in.

If you can find the baseball stadium next to the lake you’re not far. Coming from the front entrance to the lake, go past the hospital and stadium on your right. You’ll come to a big intersection with Tokyo City on your left. Go through it and turn left at the next light with a taxi stand, continue straight past the field and then left again. We’re the last house on the left. Don’t turn at the 7-11 with a taxi stand, we are one small street back.

If you’re turned around, call us at 0921232339 or 735 4076.
Thanks
Andy[/quote]

You may have some great food but why would one drive all the way out there? There are plenty of places in Kaoshiung proper that have decent food.

[quote=“Durins Bane”]

You may have some great food but why would one drive all the way out there? There are plenty of places in Kaoshiung (Gaoxiong) proper that have decent food.[/quote]

You should really read the thread before yo post…

That’s where the old Panchos used to be, BTW.

marboulette

Just to let everyone know we have opened a second place down town rather than out on the beach at ChaiShan. Part of the reason behind this is we found a lot of our customers like our pizza but are unwilling or unable to make the trip to our place on the beach every time they would otherwise eat our food.
Our new place is in the HanShen (sometimes spelt Hanshin) department store on ChengGong Road (ie the old HanShen). It is in the B3 food court. We still have pizza with the same toppings etc like out at the beach but the sizes are different. The cost is a little lower reflecting that we don’t have the high operating costs of being on the beach area and that being in the food court we don’t serve you at the table etc. The pizzas are available in a small size so they start at NT$149 but still use good proper pizza cheese (ie white soft stuff, not the shredded cheap junk used by many chains for the lower cost). We also have pasta, risotto etc but not all of the dishes available at the beachside Escape.

Where is The Bayou?

Ming Cheng 1st rd #226
310-7293

We open at 6:00 and reservations are generally a good idea.

Here’s a pic I took a few days ago of one of our Chicago stuffed pizzas.

Not Chicago deep dish, but it’s richer cousin.[/quote]

I had one of those recently. Bloody fantastic!!! The Bayou has some of the best food I’ve had in Kaohsiung. Actually, some of the best food I’ve had ANYWHERE in the world. If you’re in Kaohsiung and haven’t been there, do yourself a favour…

Thanks for the kind words!

[quote=“trapjaw”]The Bayou has some of the best food I’ve had in Kaohsiung. Actually, some of the best food I’ve had ANYWHERE in the world. If you’re in Kaohsiung and haven’t been there, do yourself a favour…[/quote]I have to agree. The Bayou is awesome. They have a very talented, hard-working cook with excellent taste. As for the service, the servers are trained to be on the ball, and Cindy, the owner (co-owner?), is almost always on the floor making sure things are running smoothly.

It’s the only place in Kaohsiung where I have eaten many, many times without ever having a single complaint. You just can’t go wrong with that place.

PS: I forgot to mention that the pizza is good. Among the best in Kaohsiung.

[quote=“RobinTaiwan”]

It’s the only place in Kaohsiung where I have eaten many, many times without ever having a single complaint. You just can’t go wrong with that place.

PS: I forgot to mention that the pizza is good. Among the best in Kaohsiung.[/quote]
Maybe you’ve just been lucky! Thanks for the kind words, it makes all the work worth it.

Here’s a pic I took a few days ago of one of our Chicago stuffed pizzas.

Not Chicago deep dish, but it’s richer cousin.[/quote]

Barraco’s provide the best pizza ever in Chicago :popcorn:

At risk of being a real jerk, I’m gonna take a walk and say I think there isn’t much good pizza in Kaohsiung. There are some decent pies, but nothing like what I’ve had in say, New York, Philadelphia, Maine, or (I know, I know:) Rome. The right ingredients are near impossible to find for toppings, but that shouldn’t be the end-all. Sweet basil is absolutely impossible to find (or so my experience tells me. If anyone found sweet basil on this island PLEASE let me know. I’d take a road trip for a few sprigs!), so say goodbye to the classic Margarita. But the essentials ARE here. There are good tomatoes, good yeast and flour, the cheese is okay, and people do have proper ovens.

I’m not a big fan of deep dish pizza, so Bayou doesn’t impress me too much with their pie, and the last time I had Andy’s I took a calzone to go, the bottom was completely uncooked, so I had to chop it up and pop it in my toaster to finish it. There’s also another brick oven pizza joint in Central Park near the corner of Minghua and Wufu, but they screw the whole operation up with Taiwanese ingredients (chopped hotdogs on a “Bavarian pizza” isn’t doing much for me). Free entertainment though, and the owner is nice. They also sell bread, but its not the crusty stuff I often look for- its some “German style” bread.

Interestingly, nobody has spoken about my favorite pizza joint- Tavola, on BaoJing and ZhengXin. It serves the best thin crust pizza I’ve had in Taiwan and the prices are decent. There are some Italian items on the menu that made me happy and nostalgic, notably the calabresi salad. They have a napolitano (oregano, sardines, capers), and a good sausage they throw on their meatier pies. If anyone hasn’t found their fix yet, or even if you have, you should definitely check this little gem out.

The truth is, I’m very sad to have to lower my expectations for just about every food group here in Taiwan. I’m not saying the food is terrible, I’m just saying that its terribly hard to find traditionally prepared foods. In my humble opinion, its one of the hardest parts of living on this island.

That being said, I fully respect the Bayou, Andy’s, Mr. Greek, CalBurger, Tavola, Black Dog, Linda Thai, and Lighthouse for their efforts to make the food from the heart. Keep it up!

Sweet basil is actually pretty easy to get. We use it for our pesto. If you want some, let me know.

I second Tavola. They make, in my experience, very decent Italian style pizza. It is very consistent, light and fresh tasting.

It is not the best pizza that I ever had, but it is up there among the best.

V.

Pleeeeeease? I’d love to know where to find this stuff.

We get it from an organic farmer in Tainan. He supplies us with all of our fresh herbs and the baby greens we use in our salad. We get our order every Friday so we should have some tomarrow. Stop by and I’ll give you a handful or two.

1 Like