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Good Morning, Vietnam: Pizza In Ho Chi Minh City
A Saigon Pizza Kick: Freelance journalist Graham Holliday has been scoping out the best pizza Saigon (aka Ho Chi Minh City) has to offer and reporting about it on his blog, Noodlepie. Above are photos from his first round of Vietnamese pizza reportage, delivery from Cappuccino Ristorante.
Saigon-based freelance journalist Graham Holliday has been searching for the best pizza in the city that was once referred to as the Paris of the Orient. Click on the pizzeria names below to visit his blog and get the whole scoop.
CAPPUCCINO RISTORANTE
Location: 86 Bui Vien Street in District 1; 39 Vo Vuong Toan Street in District 2
Phone: 089203134
POMODORO ITALIAN RESTAURANT
Location: 79 Hai Ba Trung, District 1
Phone: (84-8) 823 8957
Pieman, aka Graham Holliday, is a freelance journalist living in Saigon. Though his weblog is called Noodlepie, he probably wouldn't mind that we at Slice read a pizza reference into his nom de blog. That's because Pieman alerted us a couple months ago to his entries on pizza in Vietnam, thinking we'd be interested in sharing his quest for the best with you.
Of course we were. So let me cut to the chase. Pieman has visited two pizzerias so far, Cappuccino Ristorante (his favorite) and Pomodoro Italian Restaurant ("the best service of any restaurant I have visited in Vietnam," he says). I could recap his findings, but let's let him speak for himself:
In my experience, bagging a decent pizza in Saigon has been more miss than hit. [Cappuccino] churn[s] out the best I've found thus far. Tonight we're talking Pizza Chorizo, No. 98 on the menu. Pasted in among the mozzarella are bell peppers, chorizo and olives. Cappuccino pizzas normally arrive slightly moist and greasy on the surface, which I like. For some reason tonight's was dry. I do like my pizza with a burnt underbelly. Hint of char adds a scofftacular harshness to the cheese and other toppings. Simple seems to work better than all-singing-all-dancing pizzas in Vietnam. I was a fan of this joint's Pizza Mexico, No. 88. It came oozing with Chill con carne, bell pepper, onion and served with salsa, guacamole & sour cream on the side. Fab, fat scoff, but you should be able to turn a good pizza over with none of your topping heading southwards. Try that with a Pizza Mexico and you'll end up with your breadbase in one hand and something resembling a placenta splat down below....You get one piece of 'seasonal fruit' free with every order - bananas appear to be in season year round. Order a large pizza and you also get a free Coca Cola. This (large) Pizza Chorizo will set you back 61,000VD or around $4 including delivery, although a tip is polite for your motorbike boy. The most expensive pizza on the menu is a Pizza Pepperoni for 71,000VD. One last hint - There are two phone numbers for Cappuccino. If you don't speak Vietnamese, use this number only (Tel: 089203134). Never had to repeat anything to this guy. Not only the best pizza I've found here, but the best English speaking telephone delivery service.
Two months later, Pieman tried Saigon's Pomodoro Italian Restaurant:
... there's not a whole lotta blindin' pizza action going on in downtown Saigon. However, there's far worse to be had in this town than the Pizza al Gorgonzola pictured [below left] that had me choking on cheesy fumes at the popular Pomodoro Italian Restaurant at 79 Hai Ba Trung Street in District 1. The Pomodoro opened four years ago and serves 12 different pizzas along with pasta dishes, Parma ham with a spicy tomato chutney, a fab French onion soup and a decent wine selection. It also has the best service of any restaurant I have visited in Vietnam.
Carrying on the superlatives theme, the crust is the thinnest I have found in Saigon. It can be somewhat dry and over toasted around the edges resulting in an over crisp teeth cracking perimeter, but the all important char taste is ever present. Gorgonzola cheese, or any blue cheese to my mind, is a winner on a pizza and the Pomodoro slaps a healthy splodge of Milan's finest in the middle and lets the goodness spread over the mozzarella and crispy dough. Like the bread base, the topping is also on the thin side and the bizarre addition of tomato slices can be annoying. But, maybe that's authentic Italian style? I've no idea. This large size pizza is enough for one greedy guzzler to start thinking about unbuckling belts. It would do equally well for two on a diet. The salads at Pomodoro are patchy, so are the 'daily specials', but the pasta is good, the Lasagne al forno especially so, and their Italian espresso is the best in Saigon. Pizzas go from 40,000VD - 90,000VD. Here's the delivery menu and further restaurant details.
If Slice ever visited Vietnam, we'd probably stay away from pizza in favor of the native cuisine ... Oh, OK—we'd have to do at least one pizzeria, to oblige our readers. Now we know where to turn if that ever happens. We'll keep an eye on Noodlepie from here on out and will highlight the Pieman's future pizza entries.