noodlepie

Leone D’Oro, 2 Co Tan Street, Hanoi

"Leone D’Oro is a delightful addition to this group. The restaurant is in a beautiful, old converted building located right across from the Hanoi Opera House, making it the perfect choice to grab a bite to eat following a concert or show. There aren’t many tables so the feeling is intimate, with light music and the faint hum of motorbikes harmonizing in the background. While inside, it isn’t hard to imagine Leone D’Oro tucked away on a cobblestone street in Italy with a Vespa or two parked out front. While we were there a group of Italian men happened to be eating at the table next to ours, adding to the effect. The menu is fairly extensive, covering everything from antipasti, soups and salads, to pastas, risotto, pizza and calzones. You would be hard-pressed not to find your favourite Italian standard on this menu, as well as some more creative choices," writes Sara Schapiro in The Vietnam News.

California Pizza Works

This is the Ozone, the Polo mint of the pizza world. Yes, pizza. At the California Pizza Works at 25B Tran Cao Van street in District 1 you can order from a wide selection of pizzas, even make your own from the central self-service section, or plump for a theme-topped pizza or, in the Ozone's case, theme-filled. The Ozone is more bread cake than pizza. Themed fills are named after cities on the menu. This Ozone pizza is filled with Rome; roasted garlic, roasted eggplant, roasted onions, roasted tomatoes, fresh basil, fresh oregano, olive oil, mozzarella and fontina cheese on ricotta cheese sauce. It's topped with poppy seeds and carraway seeds - way too many of the latter on this visit.

This is the medium size. It's a novel take on a pizza, but I found it mucho heavio. I guess the weight problem is because the pizza-with-the-hole has a higher dough quotient. And on a blisteringly hot Saigon day that's like taking a couple of valium for lunch. More satisfying, less doze inducing, is the design/build/eat section of California Pizza Works.

The ingredients list is immense. The overhead signage advises you against 'piling high'. The pizza above is topped with chorizo, roasted tomato, roasted onion with mozzarella and a 'classic' tomato sauce base. It's enjoyable, but the bread base is lacklustre. Overall, it's fresher tasting than the other Saigon pizzerias we've sampled, but it's not noticeably any better. But this pizza is very quick to arrive - from finish building to finish cooking took about ten minutes by my reckoning. Wow. The deisgn-your-own theme is fun and I'll be back for that alone. Plus it's a very kiddie friendly dining option - the only kiddie friendly joint I can think of in Saigon - there's drawing paper, crayons and a wee playground outfront. Here's a review from the local press. And more snaps.

NB: Just browsing through the Tran Cao Van Street tagged photos, reminds me there are some wicked dining venues on this wee street. La Phong, Bun Cha, Chao Long, Bun Bo Hue. All excellent.

Pizza prayer

Funny sorta week. Interviewed by four different people for a variety of reasons. A week that says, "It's Friday night. Get a pizza." I've said this before - almost a year ago - and I'll say it yet again. There is a gargantuan, great, gaping hole in the Saigon food chain. A hole that says shit hot pizzeria. Saigonites want stonkin' slice and they can't geddit. Yes, there's tonnes of barely adequate crap, but I'm talking the Schnorbitz's bollocks of a slice. It does not exist. There be cash in crust. And in topping. And in wood fire. Let the mozzarella sizzle. Hope Saigon doesn't have to suffer another year sans slice.

California Pizza Works, 25B Tran Cao Van street, D1, Saigon

"There are pizza restaurants all over HCM City, so what makes California Pizza Works so unique? The difference lies in the acronym – DIY – (do-it-yourself). From fashion to food, the do-it-yourself movement is all about taking control of what you wear, and what you eat. The restaurant’s customers are comprised largely of local Vietnamese. According to Michael Kloster, one of the managers at California Pizza Works, this is mostly due to the flexibility of choosing your own toppings and ingredients. "Vietnamese aren’t used to eating pizza because they think it’s too heavy and greasy," Michael says, "but here, the do-it-yourself part is really appealing because they can limit the cheese and other heavy toppings," reports Uyen Doan in The Vietnam News.

New pizza joint with added topping

Previously on 24 noodlepie we bemoaned the lack of a decent wood fire pizza parlour. Is this the answer? It opens today, although building work was ongoing last night. The name intrigues me - Pizza "n" Chick. I wonder if the 'Sale off 15%' offer applies to the chicks or the pizza or both?? Were the chicks trained by the Italian chef too? Do they have a 'Buy one get one free' offer. The SliceNY crew would go weak at the knees for a bit of pizza "n" chick action. Blimey.

Pizza piss

What do sore losers eat? Bad pizza. OK - Cappuccino was never ever gonna win at the World pizza championship, but they filled a monthly need adequately, if not stylishly. However, in recent months they've really gone to the dogs. Tasteless, or in this case, tastes bad. Delivery service remains efficient, but pizza quality is way inconsistent. This is their Rolls Royce pizza, the Pepperoni, the most expensive pie on the menu at 71,000VD. I needed a pick-me-up after the dismal Bloggies showing and instead I got this bring-me-down. Saigon needs a good, dedicated pizzeria. Enuff of this crap. For anybody with a bit of dough and pizza knowhow, build one and we will come. Quality pizza in this town is a goldmine in the making.

Luna d’Autunno, 11b Dien Bien Phu, Hanoi

By glowing candlelight, Brooke Lewy finds a smattering of Italy’s finest flavours without leaving Ha Noi. From The Vietnam News. Photo by Viet Thanh.

Sao Mai Pizza

Sao Mai, at 35 Dong Du Street in District 1, is deep in budget end Gallic territory. This place is heavily patronized by the French expat community. I'm not sure why that is, maybe the fact you can buy wine by the carafe and there's a vaguely French influenced menu? Sao Mai is still clinging (just) to a reputation built up over the years for the best sandwiches in Saigon. Although that received a killer blow with the arrival of the hyper-popular expat hang, Au Parc Deli & Cafe and its voluminous sandwich delivery menu. Heavy same street competition from Cafe Latin, Al Fresco's and Java Cafe add three more heavy duty nails to Sao Mai's coffin. However, it's quiet, child friendly and the service is pretty good.

There's an extensive menu; fish, beef, pork, chicken, lamb, salads, soups, charcuterie, crepes and... sixteen different pizzas. Those 'famous' sandwiches go for between 32,000VD and 69,000VD. On this visit, it's pizza-testing time and I plump for a Pepperoni and Bell pepper strewn 'Pizza New York' for 70,000VD. This makes it a more expensive option than Cappuccino. It's also far smaller and light, too light. Occasionally, I like a pizza that challenges me. One that says, "Have a go if you think you're hard enough." But, Sao Mai's a pussy. There's no danger of a hundredweight of cheese clogging my pipes or of hitting dough-fatigue. That's no bad thing, just nice to have the option. This is adequate and airy, nothing more.

Sao Mai's pizzas are fired in an off premises oven and delivered by motorbike. It's the only restaurant I know of that has to call in for its own delivery pizza. The manager told me the restaurant oven isn't large enough. Well, the pizza wasn't that big, so their oven must be weany. However, unlike the local competition, Sao Mai doesn't boast blaring television boxes, mini-skirted waitresses or rock 'n' roll vibes. The food might not be way-fab, but if it's peace and quiet you're after, this could be your spot. View the business card and reverse side info.

Underground Pizza

I posted a comment over at the obsessive pizza mecca SliceNY and thereby inadvertently reminded Adam to run a feature on our ongoing Saigon pizza search. Reminding SliceNY's fat bastard Editor-at-large, Adam, also inadvertently reminded me that there's a bunch of draft unpublished notes 'n' snaps floating around my Typepad account that need to run, including... more Pizza. So, enough inadvertent reminding already - time for pizza. That fat lot above didn't take too long to disappear during consumption on the terrace of the expat soaked Underground at 69 Dong Khoi Street in District 1. This is the 'Chris' Merguez & Blue Cheese Pizza - Spicy merguez sausage & a cheese that bites'. Underground pizzas come in three sizes, 'Personal' - 75,000VD, Medium - 85,000VD and Large 110,000VD. At the time of eating I was on a diet and so it's the Medium option we have here.

This is a little too tomato drenched round the edges for my sensitive taste buds, but the merguez/blue cheese headline act is a hit. The Underground's bread base has that 'desperate hick grandmother's attempt to please her hip city grandkids' rustic feel about it. It's not a bad attempt at all, if a little *too* airy. In fact this pizza ditches with tradition and weighs in, way down, at the wispy, flyweight end of the slice scales. So, you don't need to put your feet up and have a kip after you've done your worst to this handsome specimen. You could order another.

PIZZA NEWS JUST IN: Reader Shawn dropped a comment today to tell us that, among other things, there's "decent pizza at Al Fresco's" 27 Dong Du Street, District 1. One of the chefs at The Carmargue 16 Cao Ba Quat, District 1 tells me you can order pizza round the clock if your still supping in the bar there. One ravenous punter ordered their pie at 4:30am last week.

Political pizza

What came first the Pizza or the TV? Football, Grand prix, Rugby, Film premieres and UK and US Election nights have only one edible soundtrack - door delivered Pizza. We've dialled these guys before when we sunk our teeth into their Pizza Chorizo. Cappuccino still serve my pizzas of choice in this town. After previous bread-based disasters in Saigon (Annie's Pizza for one) I'll admit I'm wary of dipping my toes into just any old new dough in town. The latest addition to the pizza scene I've spotted is Pizza Inn at 8A/D5 Thai Van Lung in District 1. Prices start at 85,000VD and rise to 190,000VD and they only have a pathetic 8 pizza offerings. Cappuccino floor Pizza Inn with their 34 varieties. Cappuccino's most expensive large pizza is still cheaper than Pizza Inn's budget end regular pizzas. Plus Pizza Inn is always empty, and I wasn't gonna risk pizza-issues on election night. No siree. The wood-fired stakes were too high.

I thought a change would bode well for the evening - ...it didn't... just shows you can't trust in that feisty, bitch pizza god - I ordered the signature Cappuccino Pizza (Blue cheese, ham, mushroom and bell pepper, large size for 64,000VD). It arrived inside thirty minutes. Large pizza orders, as we've mentioned before, also come with a free Coca-Cola and seasonal fruit. No bananas this time, we get a sliced pineapple. Nice one. The pizza is just OK, veering sharply into soggy territory (Is that the mushroom, bell pepper combo's fault??). As a result, this was merely adequate scoff, nothing more and as an election night pizza pal, this provided little entertainment (or luck). I've now tried around six different pizzas from Cappuccino and I'd have to say the Pizza Chorizo is definitely the way to go.