I know the pizza lovers here say great things about AlleyCats so about two weeks ago me and my NJ roomate headed over there. And well neither one of us could taste our pizza.
The place smelled like a proper pizza place and we couldn’t wait to get our pizzas . I ordered a pepproni mushroom with extra cheese salavating over the thought of east coast pizza. My dreams and hopes were cruelly shattered when I bit into my first slice, the crust was nice but beyond oregano I couldn’t taste anything on the pizza. Neither could my roomate.
This can’t be right, I am sure someone would have noticed the oregano before and said something about it. right ? Maybe it was the chefs night off maybe they accidently knocked the oregano jar in our pizzas ? Aliens ? Sunspots ?
Please tell me this sounds like an aberration, I want to go back, I want something that resembles NY pizza. :help:
But like a man who has just been kicked in the nuts I am a bit gunshy so I am waiting to hear this was just a freak accident before heading back there.
Haven’t heard that one before. AFAIK, they sprinkle the oregano on right at the end, just before it goes in the oven, so it would probably be easy enough to just ask them to hold the herbs.
To my knowledge, NY-style pizza is not available here in Taiwan. Alleycats is considered the best for many reasons. If you find any better, please let us know.
Ok we went back again last night and asked them to hold the herbs. They did for the pizza but not for the calzone. Yes I agree it’s the best pizza in Taipei at least as far as I have had but it’s a far cry from NY style pizza.
I think I will stick with their calzones or try their pasta next time, the pizza is just not up to east coast standards but I am sure they would do well in CA.
[quote=“snafu”]Ok we went back again last night and asked them to hold the herbs. They did for the pizza but not for the calzone. Yes I agree it’s the best pizza in Taipei at least as far as I have had but it’s a far cry from NY style pizza.
I think I will stick with their calzones or try their pasta next time, the pizza is just not up to east coast standards but I am sure they would do well in CA.[/quote]
Just for interest. What is the difference between a NY pizza and a CA pizza?
Just for interest. What is the difference between a NY pizza and a CA pizza?
Do Bagels have the same problems?
How does the CA IQ compare to the NY IQ.
Or is it just their taste bud IQ.[/quote]
Well I am prejudiced so I would say NY pizza is good and CA pizza is crap (bread with tomatoe sauch on top a pizza does not make) with strange toppings like chicken, egg plant, creme fresh, caviar,…
I don’t think they have Bagels in CA, they have things that look like Bagels but the taste well the less said the better it’s just a sad story and I don’t want people crying in front of their computers.
As for IQ I would say east coast driving IQ is a lot higher but the west coast fun/relaxing IQ beats it hands down.
And yes pizza is Italian but in this case I was refereing to the NY style of pizza which I am told differs from the traditional Italian dish.
Really the pizza that this guy referes to sliceny.com/
[quote]Just for interest. What is the difference between a NY pizza and a CA pizza?
Do Bagels have the same problems? [/quote]
As I’ve said before here a big difference is in the crust of NY pizza vs. anywhere else. A little thicker and chewier than most but not disproportionately so to the cheese and toppings.
And mostly in the taste, which local NY lore has it comes from the water supply in the area. Anyone who leaves the NY/NJ area who grew up on the pizza there is inevitably disappointed by anyone else
I thought pizza was an Italian-American invention?
Anyway, never had a NY pizza or been to NY, but all I hear is people from NY think everything from NY is better. Frankly I’m dubious but vaguely open to it.
If you want to try crap pizzaz, I know just the place, fortunately for most of you it;s in HK. Unbelievably rank. How could anyone stuff up pizza so badly is beyond me.
In any case, I maintain Alley’s is the best I’ve had in either HK or Taiwan (Australia’s too distant a memory) and I will most certainly be chowing down on one while taking in the possie of good folks that fine establishment attracts this Friday night. You bloody beauty!
Christ, don’t get me started on California bagels. If you go to a chain bagel shop and ask for a plain bagel with creamed cheese, you’ll get a dinner roll with whipped cream on top.
[quote=“Huang Guang Chen”]I thought pizza was an Italian-American invention?
Anyway, never had a NY pizza or been to NY, but all I hear is people from NY think everything from NY is better. Frankly I’m dubious but vaguely open to it.
[/quote]
Never been to Italy. On the cooking/ travel shows the Italian pizza seems to be mainly bread with a little tomato paste and very little in the way of sprinkled on bits. Google backs this up as below.
[quote]
[color=blue]His genuine Italian pizzas, however, are regarded as somewhat austere by Australians.[/color]
“When I told them in Naples the kind of toppings we use here, they were just amazed,” he said. “They don’t mind if people outside Italy want to put pineapple or tandoori lamb or whatever on their pizza – but there is no way it could ever be a genuine Naples pizza.”
According to the Associazione Verace Pizza, a perfect Italian pizza should include the following: [color=blue]hand-kneaded dough, thin crust with soft edges, be cooked in less than three minutes directly on the base of a wood-fired, stone oven, and be topped with tomatoes, mozzarella and herbs.[/color][/quote]
What is really good in NY is the soup nazi dudes soup as in the Seinfeld show. The genuine guy, not the stupid soup nutsy knock off.
Those Nepalese poseurs have never had a beach or Hawaiian special, consequently their brains can’t extend to the full magnificence of a ham and pineapple after a good surf and a day in the sun! Humph!
As I’ve said before here a big difference is in the crust of NY pizza vs. anywhere else. A little thicker and chewier than most but not disproportionately so to the cheese and toppings.
And mostly in the taste, which local NY lore has it comes from the water supply in the area. Anyone who leaves the NY/NJ area who grew up on the pizza there is inevitably disappointed by anyone else
[quote]You hit the nail on the head, there’s something about the NJ/NY pizza and yeah maybe it’s the water, for years I looked for that same taste in CA and was never able to find it. It’s the sauce, cheese, crust combination that is just increadible.
But the bagels are a different story, while the pizzas outside of NY are ok the bagles are just horrible.
In any case I am glad I am not alone in my pizza obsession.[/quote]
No, not alone at all, there are several of us NY/NJ pizza obsessives here. New Yorkers are passionate about many things but pizza in particular, which makes me think it really is the best in the world. I have never run across people from Chicago who rave about deep dish pizza anywhere near the way people from NY feel about theirs.
It’s funny too that the very best pizza can come from the most unusual places. Never a big chain or a store in a tourist trap. It’s always some local neighborhood joint with a name like Louigie’s, with six non-descript tables, tacky travel posters of Italy and a counter with a cash register from 1965 and old framed photos of dead popes and John F. Kennedy behind it.
One of my favorite places for slices is in, of all places, in Penn station. Among all the Crispy Cream Doughnuts, deli’s and hot dog vendors is a little pizza-by-the-slice place. I think the name is Pepe’s but I’m not sure. Outstanding! It’s the first thing I get when I get off the train in NYC.
