I’m a huge pizza fan (as in, I actually have withdrawal symptoms) and as a traveler it’s not necessarily easy to satisfy my cravings. In every country I go to, I try to find some nice places where to indulge. My tastes are really specific: I like thin-crust, Italian style pizzas cooked in a wood oven and with quality toppings. I value simplicity, although my favorite pizza ever is mozzarella on a base of tomato sauce, prosciutto di Parma topped with thin-slice parmigiano - with the heat the prosciutto becomes “trapped” between the 2 thin layers of cheese.
Unfortunately this nirvana is seldom on offer so I have to settle for lesser stuff. My favorite style is somewhere between the style from Roma (pizza of the rich: extremely thin crust and very generous on toppings) and the style from Naples (pizza of the poor: thicker crust, less toppings). I usually dislike pizzas cooked in a mold, either the crust is too dry or it’s soggy, and it has this kind of “fried” quality to it (not sure I should really be calling that quality). The lowest of the low for me is the Pizza Hut style (unfortunately quite common in the US), it’s basically a stretch of imagination to actually call that a pizza, it’s in the very loose sense of “some kind of dough with some kind of toppings”. A good pizza should never be oozing fat.
I’ll keep a list of recommended places from around the world, I’ll update the thread when I find new places.
Germany
It’s not necessarily easy to find a good pizzeria in Germany, but fortunately enough for me there were a lot of Italian immigrants in Frankfurt so it definitely made my life easier. My favorite pizzeria was just around the corner from where I lived, called Forno d’Oro 2 (Golden Oven 2), on Luisenplatz (one block from lower Bergerstrasse, U-Bahn Merianplatz or Höhenstrasse, in lower Bornheim part of town). The crust is quite thin, cooked straight in a wood oven (I despise the practice of putting the pizza in a pan and then putting it in a wood oven, it lacks the taste of wood fire on the outside of the crust). They use 2 types of cheese, I obviously prefer mozzarella but it’s true it doesn’t always work with all toppings. Very cheap (pizzas between 4.5 and 8 euros)
Peru
Food in Peru tends to be decent and it’s not hard to find a pizza that’s at least eatable. But one of the best pizzas I’ve had in my life were at Los Leños, Jerusalen 407, Arequipa. First of all this is a place with an ambience, people are welcome to leave their names (or whatever comment) on the walls, which are therefore full of graffitis. Second, the pizzas are excellent, made in a wood oven, nice crisp medium thickness crust and a large choice of toppings. The pizzas are of the rectangular style and portions are being cut as needed. The greatest thing I can say about the pizzas is that the toppings really tasted like they were supposed to - it’s hard to describe but it’s a great achievement for such a small, basic restaurant, and a quality that many upper eateries don’t understand they should have. It’s the difference between bad food and good food. Worth the detour.
Argentina
It should be pretty easy to find a good pizza in Argentina, especially since there were a lot of immigrants from Italy and half the restaurants in town are pizzerias (there are more pizzerias in BsAs than meat restaurants). Alas, the local style of pizza is the most horrendous I’ve ever seen. Usually the problem in Argentina (that they share with the UK) is that they have good quality products but no clue how to cook them. And in the case of pizza we’re not even there since they also have no idea what kind of cheese to use. In most cases pizzas (proudly labeled “a la piedra”) look like a super crunchy, deep fried crust topped with some tomato sauce and half a pound of crappy cheese on top - since the cheese gets cold after 2 minutes it feels like eating a glazed brick. I’m still on the lookout for better pizzas. Some places I tried:
- A place called Tonno at the corner of Thames and Charcas in Palermo has a decent selection with a wood oven and thin crusts. Not the best ever but at least it manages to look like a real pizza. Not worth a detour but handy if you are stuck in Palermo. The best is to grab a basic cheese pizza to go (13 pesos = $3.5) and a couple of slices of the best cured ham in a supermarket ($1) and that’s the best pizza money can buy in Buenos Aires.
- Another place I tried is called Angelin (Avenida Cordoba 5270, corner with Godoy Cruz), really small and with “ambiance” (most of the people either take away or eat standing at the counter), pizzas are alright, wood oven but too thick/crunchy crust, good toppings.
- El Palacio de la Pizza (Corrientes 751, esq. Maipu) is nice to grab a few portions, the cheese is over the top, it feels like eating some swiss cheese fondue spread on a deep fried pizza dough. Tastes nicely for what it is.
- El Cuartito (Talcahuano 937, more or less at the level of Av. Cordoba), I was told it was average and it is, same style as the previous one (fondue taste) but not quite as good.
- Pizza Guerrin (Corrientes 1368, between Uruguay and Talcahuano), supposed to be the best in BsAs. To be honest, it’s pretty good. The cheese is way over the top as usual, tough to finish a pizza for me since the cheese seems to make a huge ball in my stomach. At least it tastes good. Probably the one I’d recommend the most with Angelin.
- Tuñin (Rivadavia 3902, subte A - Castro Barros), for whatever reason it was recommended to me. Strong candidate to the WORST pizza in the whole of BsAs. The level of crap they manage is just incredible. I got a small one (6 slices) and could barely go through 2.5 slices. Got the 3 remaining ones as take away, put them in the fridge in the hostel labeled as “free pizza” and still nobody would eat it. I mean, seriously. And it’s expensive on top of it. Incredibly bad.
- Morelia (Humboldt 2005 in Palermo Hollywood, I think corner with Soler), so called pizza a la parilla, which kind of hints that it’s cooked over a bbq (?), cracker style base, very very crispy, way too salty, a bit weird. Quite expensive too. Probably worth trying just to try something different.
Uruguay
Uruguay has even more of an Italian influence than Argentina, or so it feels. If you are ever in Montevideo there’s really only one place to go to: Bar Tasende (Ciudadela 1300, corner with San Jose). It’s in the microcentro, not far from Teatro Solis and just one of my best pizza experiences - even though it’s not normally the style I appreciate. Wood oven but cooked in a pan, rectangular pizzas. They prepare the crust well in advance with tomato sauce on top, and then “water” it regularly with more tomato sauce. They can cook on order but the real customers sit at the counter and ask “¿que hay?” (what is ready?) and the daring simply say “lo que hay” (whatever is ready) and they get whatever is coming out of the oven. I spent hours there watching the guys prepare the pizzas. It’s an old building, the place has been around since 1931, there’s a real ambiance to it. The “rellena con longaniza” (kind of calzone with cured sausage) is excellent, but truth be told everything that comes out of the oven is great. Another specialty they have is the “tacho”, a kind of white pizza (no tomato). I had 5 meals in a row there last year!
I went back to Bar Tasende (Apr-May 09) and it’s still by far the best pizza I’ve had in South America (#2 is Las Leñas in Arequipa, #3 is Horno de Juan in Montevideo). I stand by my old recommendations. Rellena con longaniza and tacho con pancetta are the real thing. Damn, I wish I were still in Montevideo. A new one I tried is called Horno de Juan (John’s Oven) in Pocitos (En Martí entre Benito Blanco y Chucarro). It had been recommended to me in 2008 already as the best pizza in Montevideo, and since this time my hotel was only a few blocks away I decided to give it a try. Don’t be put off by the look of the place (really a hole in the wall that has a deal with the bar next door where you can sit), the pizza is really nice. Try the simple one with albahaca (basil).
US
No recommendations yet because it’s hard to find an Italian style pizza, most of the time it’s some kind of US style crap (did I mention fat is not supposed to ooze out of a pizza crust?). Last time I was in NY I like to go to some chain called Cosi, at least they know how to make a good crunchy crust - again not my favorite but better than nothing.
Egypt
I’d say forget about real pizza, I tried a few in Cairo (like Maison Thomas which was decent) but nothing really interesting. What was good, though, was the local version called Fiteer, it’s a bit like a puff pastry but much lighter, with ingredients inside. I liked the simple version with cheese and veggies. It quieted my need for pizza. Just ask anywhere for the closest Fiteer place. Of course since pork is virtually impossible to find in the Middle East it’s not like I could have got a real pizza experience anyway.
EDIT: 06 May 09: more recos on Buenos Aires and Montevideo.
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