This pizza was purchased for me by my friend Rohini. We used to share an office, but then she moved off to New York City and I don't see her very much anymore. When she comes back to visit, she buys me food out of guilt...and because I invite her to stay at my place. I don't know that is usually worth offering food for, but it really is a nice futon.
The Location
Angellino's is an italian restaurant that is right near my apartment. It's a classy joint for small-town Italian. They have a few locations, scattered across Connecticut. Angellino's seems to believe that The Olive Garden is its main competition and sets out to do what Olive Garden does, only better. I will say that, while this goal doesn't seem particularly ambitious, Angellino's really succeeds. It's not fine dining, but it beats the pants off of most box restaurants or family restaurants.
The Pizza
Oh boy am I excited to tell you all about this one. This was a thick crust buffalo chicken pizza. Buffalo sauce was used as the base and bleu cheese was mixed into the mozzarella. Speaking of the mozzarella, it was magical. It was stretchy and stringy and gooey, like you see on tv commercials. Except, it wasn't a commercial, it was real life. That never happens in real life but somehow Angellino's made it come true.
The pizza included red onions and chicken that...well...
The Chicken
Here's what really impressed me about this pizza. They used the chicken parmesan chicken. It was white meat, pounded flat, breaded and fried. They took the flattened cutlet, sliced it into chunks--dipped them in buffalo sauce--and then scattered them on the top of the pizza. As a result, the chicken was flavorful, crunchy and meaty all at the same time. Hands down, the best chicken.
The Sauce and the Taste
Again, delicious. The buffalo sauce they used was mild, so it had a hint of heat but a whole boat load of flavor. The combination of the buffalo, the red onion and the bleu cheese was fantastic.
Overall
I am trying to think of something bad to say about this pizza and I cannot come up with anything. It was satisfying, tasty and smacked of quality. I have no idea if it actually was quality. The chicken parm meat may have come out of a freezer bag. I don't care. It FELT like quality and it tasted amazing. A+.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
North End Treats (B+)
This was another treat provided by my brother and his wife when I visited them last weekend. We had a lovely family evening of watching the baby and the tv while eating some tasty pizza.
The Location
North End Treats is a pizzaria and bakery in...the north end of Boston...clever, no? We got this particular pizza from their location in Framingham, MA.
The Pizza
The pizza itself was lackluster. The crust was too chewy/crusty and the cheese was not the most pleasant. I ate a couple slices of the pepperoni pizza, just for comparison, and found it to be lacking as well.
The BBQ Chicken pizza used barbecue sauce as the pizza base and had chunks of chicken and jalepenos on top.
The Chicken
The chicken was big, healthy chunks of fresh white meat. It was hearty and delicious.
The Sauce and the Taste
The barbecue sauce at North End Treats was pretty tasty. What really made this pizza stand out from the competition was the fiery jalepeno heat. No other BBQ pizza has included that kind of spiciness. It was a bold move. If the heat had been greater, I might not have appreciated what I was eating. In the end, I decided that the heat was just right, and the flavor that it brought was unique and interesting.
Overall
I really appreciate the quality toppings and the boldness of the jalepenos. However, I was disappointed by the pizza itself. I give North End Treats a B+.
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Pat's Pizza (C-)
The Location
Pat's Pizza is a Maine institution. The original Pat's is located in Orono, just blocks from the UMaine campus. It has been serving pizza to college students for decades. Many Mainers will tell you that Pat's is THE pizza to eat and that the Orono restaurant is THE place to go. Many others (including me) will tell you that it's totally overrated.
The Pizza
The one thing that Pat's does better than any other pizza place is crust. It's sweet and flaky and fatty...vegans beware, it's made with animal fat. The sauce and cheese are pretty 'meh' but the crust is excellent. The pizza I received was a Pat's pizza with chunks of chicken dunked in BBQ sauce. No more, no less.
The Chicken
There were chicken cubes on my pizza. Not bad, not good...there wasn't really any flavor at all.
The Sauce and the Taste
What sauce? The chicken had been dipped in something vaguely barbecue-y but the flavor had all baked off in the oven. There was no BBQ under the cheese or drizzled on top. Really, there wasn't any flavor anywhere. It was blaaaaand.
Overall
Good old Pat's delivered what it always does: over-rated bland crap on top of a flaky, delicious bread. It gets a C+ for the crust and for the nostalgia value. I've been eating Pat's pizza since I was a small child, a fact that I cannot overlook.
Pat's Pizza is a Maine institution. The original Pat's is located in Orono, just blocks from the UMaine campus. It has been serving pizza to college students for decades. Many Mainers will tell you that Pat's is THE pizza to eat and that the Orono restaurant is THE place to go. Many others (including me) will tell you that it's totally overrated.
The one thing that Pat's does better than any other pizza place is crust. It's sweet and flaky and fatty...vegans beware, it's made with animal fat. The sauce and cheese are pretty 'meh' but the crust is excellent. The pizza I received was a Pat's pizza with chunks of chicken dunked in BBQ sauce. No more, no less.
The Chicken
There were chicken cubes on my pizza. Not bad, not good...there wasn't really any flavor at all.
The Sauce and the Taste
What sauce? The chicken had been dipped in something vaguely barbecue-y but the flavor had all baked off in the oven. There was no BBQ under the cheese or drizzled on top. Really, there wasn't any flavor anywhere. It was blaaaaand.
Overall
Good old Pat's delivered what it always does: over-rated bland crap on top of a flaky, delicious bread. It gets a C+ for the crust and for the nostalgia value. I've been eating Pat's pizza since I was a small child, a fact that I cannot overlook.
Monday, December 26, 2011
Paddy's (B)
The Location
Paddy's is a restaurant pub in Portsmouth, NH that my friends introduced me to. The atmosphere was classy, the food was decent and the beer selection was also decent. Overall, I would say that the restaurant was classier than its clientele. Located away from all the tourist areas, Paddy's seemed to be full of townies...or the Portsmouth version of Townie's. As far as my friends were concerned, it was the best new place to chill after work. Of course, it helps that Paddy's is just around the corner from the Barnes & Noble where most of my friends are employed.
The Pizza
What I ordered was a buffalo chicken flatbread. What came out was pretty damn tasty. It had a mild buffalo sauce as a base, cheese, chicken and ranch dressing drizzled on top. The flatbread itself was unexciting, but better than other flatbreads I have had. The cheese was perfectly fine.
The Chicken
I was a little disappointed to find chunks of leftover chicken on the pizza, which were a little chewy. It wasn't bad, mind you, but wasn't exactly fresh or exciting.
The Sauce and the Taste
I usually get bleu cheese with my buffalo wings. I may change my tune after this flatbread. The combination was delicious. It was a little spicy, a little salty and a little creamy. The texture was fantastic--spongy and chewy.
Overall
I really enjoyed this flatbread. I give it a B! The only penalty it received was for the generic frozen flatbread and the leftover chicken. Neither of those things was enough to take away from the experience, it was still very satisfying!
Paddy's is a restaurant pub in Portsmouth, NH that my friends introduced me to. The atmosphere was classy, the food was decent and the beer selection was also decent. Overall, I would say that the restaurant was classier than its clientele. Located away from all the tourist areas, Paddy's seemed to be full of townies...or the Portsmouth version of Townie's. As far as my friends were concerned, it was the best new place to chill after work. Of course, it helps that Paddy's is just around the corner from the Barnes & Noble where most of my friends are employed.
The Pizza
What I ordered was a buffalo chicken flatbread. What came out was pretty damn tasty. It had a mild buffalo sauce as a base, cheese, chicken and ranch dressing drizzled on top. The flatbread itself was unexciting, but better than other flatbreads I have had. The cheese was perfectly fine.
The Chicken
I was a little disappointed to find chunks of leftover chicken on the pizza, which were a little chewy. It wasn't bad, mind you, but wasn't exactly fresh or exciting.
The Sauce and the Taste
I usually get bleu cheese with my buffalo wings. I may change my tune after this flatbread. The combination was delicious. It was a little spicy, a little salty and a little creamy. The texture was fantastic--spongy and chewy.
Overall
I really enjoyed this flatbread. I give it a B! The only penalty it received was for the generic frozen flatbread and the leftover chicken. Neither of those things was enough to take away from the experience, it was still very satisfying!
Monday, December 19, 2011
Domino's (C+)
The Location
People like to trash on Domino's pizza. I do, too. The stuff is vile. At the same time, it's one of two things that I can get delivered to my door at 10PM. Also, if you get the right toppings it can be pretty tasty.
The Pizza
I ordered two pizzas, this time, for two reasons. First, I want to have some alternate pizzas to compare the BBQ chicken to. Second, they sucker you into it with an online coupon. It was just cheaper to get two mediums than one large. Anyway, I ate some of the other pizza (which had pepperoni and sausage) and found it to be pretty nasty. I do like the seasoned crust that Domino's started using a year or two ago. However, overall, piss poor showing. On the other hand, the BBQ chicken pizza (which I ordered with onions) turned out to be fairly tasty. So I will say that our delivery-inventing friends at Domino's lose points in the overall pizza quality...but that's only one part of the BBQ chicken evaluation process.
The Chicken
It's white meat and recognizable, which is a step above some places. It's frozen, though, and was obviously sliced in some kind of industrial process. It's factory chicken. It wasn't chewy, though, I will give it that.
The Sauce and the Taste
The sauce was used as the base of the pizza, which I will admit that I like. Unfortunately, it has a chemically sort of taste that gets in your nostrils. That's not...necessarily a bad thing. I think a lot of barbecue sauces taste like chemicals. Hell, they ARE chemicals. At the same time, Domino's is impressing no one with their sauce.
At the same time, I will say that something about this pizza really worked. I think it was the combination of the chemically sweet sauce, the naturally sweet onions and the garlic salt on the crust. For some reason, all those flavors worked really well together.
Overall
I can't tell you that this was a good pizza. You wouldn't believe me and I wouldn't believe myself. However, I also can't stand here and tell you I didn't enjoy eating this mass produced monstrosity. I did enjoy it. I fucking enjoyed it. There was something satisfying about my gooey, salty-sweet mess of protein and sugar. I enjoyed it. I also enjoyed that it arrived at my door. I give Domino's a C+.
People like to trash on Domino's pizza. I do, too. The stuff is vile. At the same time, it's one of two things that I can get delivered to my door at 10PM. Also, if you get the right toppings it can be pretty tasty.
The Pizza
I ordered two pizzas, this time, for two reasons. First, I want to have some alternate pizzas to compare the BBQ chicken to. Second, they sucker you into it with an online coupon. It was just cheaper to get two mediums than one large. Anyway, I ate some of the other pizza (which had pepperoni and sausage) and found it to be pretty nasty. I do like the seasoned crust that Domino's started using a year or two ago. However, overall, piss poor showing. On the other hand, the BBQ chicken pizza (which I ordered with onions) turned out to be fairly tasty. So I will say that our delivery-inventing friends at Domino's lose points in the overall pizza quality...but that's only one part of the BBQ chicken evaluation process.
The Chicken
It's white meat and recognizable, which is a step above some places. It's frozen, though, and was obviously sliced in some kind of industrial process. It's factory chicken. It wasn't chewy, though, I will give it that.
The Sauce and the Taste
The sauce was used as the base of the pizza, which I will admit that I like. Unfortunately, it has a chemically sort of taste that gets in your nostrils. That's not...necessarily a bad thing. I think a lot of barbecue sauces taste like chemicals. Hell, they ARE chemicals. At the same time, Domino's is impressing no one with their sauce.
At the same time, I will say that something about this pizza really worked. I think it was the combination of the chemically sweet sauce, the naturally sweet onions and the garlic salt on the crust. For some reason, all those flavors worked really well together.
Overall
I can't tell you that this was a good pizza. You wouldn't believe me and I wouldn't believe myself. However, I also can't stand here and tell you I didn't enjoy eating this mass produced monstrosity. I did enjoy it. I fucking enjoyed it. There was something satisfying about my gooey, salty-sweet mess of protein and sugar. I enjoyed it. I also enjoyed that it arrived at my door. I give Domino's a C+.
Red Rock Cafe (B+)
The Location
The Red Rock Cafe in Mansfield, CT is a confused little restaurant. The name 'red rock' conjures up images of the american southwest, but the restaurant is set up like a beer pub and the menu is all italian food. I cannot really complain, because the food is halfway decent and the beer selection is pretty good. I wouldn't say that any of the food there is great, or anything, but it's edible. I will confess that I don't remember this pizza very well, on account of the fact that I was exhausted after a long day at work and I had two beers before the pizza even arrived. I was a little tipsy, tired and hungry when that fucker was slid onto the table. Hunger, being the best spice, had me swallowing slices whole.
The Pizza
Red Rock makes thick crust pizza. It's a nice, thick, doughy sort of meal with lots of cheese. I've heard rumors that their regular cheese pizza isn't particularly good. I have to say that I really enjoyed the crust.
The Chicken
I don't know exactly what kind of chicken was on this pizza. I remember being very pleased, though, so I know it wasn't frozen or chewy. I suspect it may have been shredded. It was quality, anyway.
The Sauce and the Taste
The sauce tasted like Magic Hat #9 since--and I think most pretentious beer drinkers will agree--the taste of #9 follows you for hours after drinking. Again, I remember being pleased by this pizza, so the sauce could not have been bad. It may not have been good, but it definitely wasn't bad.
Overall
All discriminating thought was lost in that moment of hunger and exhaustion and inebriation. I don't honestly know if the pizza was all that good but it really, really hit the spot. I walked out of that restaurant feeling completely satisfied. Let's give it a B+.
California Pizza Kitchen (D-)
The Location
This one was made right in my very own kitchen. I grew up on Tony's frozen pizzas and I will admit that I still love them. In the past decade, though, there have been some serious advances in the world of frozen pizza. Some companies have tried to break the mold by bringing premium pizzas to the freezer section of your local grocery store. One is called California Pizza Kitchen...which seems to be playing on that leftover ideal that California is (1) the place to go if you want to fulfill fantasies of manifest destiny (2) the center of glamour and excitement and stardom in our country (3) a healthy place to live.
The Pizza
I am going to go ahead and admit something before we get going. I overcooked this pizza. I forgot to set the timer, got distracted by a video game and I overcooked the damn thing. I don't think it did a lot of damage, as it looked very similar going in as it did coming out. The pizza was sparsely topped, terrifically thin and crunchy as hell. It was so insubstantial that I kind of felt like I should be eating the cardboard circle underneath. The crust, admittedly overcooked, splintered into shards in my mouth. I'm pretty sure my gums were bleeding.
The Chicken
Chicken cubes!
The Sauce and the Taste
The sauce was pretty good, except there was none on the pizza. I got a little dab of flavor on one of the slices, but it was pretty dry and tasteless overall. What I will concede is that the onions, even overcooked, turned out to be pretty tasty. They were thinly sliced crescents of red onion, cooked to sweetness.
Overall
I would save your money and eat cardboard instead...or save some money by picking up a Tony's frozen pizza, instead. This pizza was saved from an F rating by the onions and the fact that I overcooked the damn thing. Maybe it would have been decent, if I had followed the instructions. Maybe, but I suspect not. D-!
This one was made right in my very own kitchen. I grew up on Tony's frozen pizzas and I will admit that I still love them. In the past decade, though, there have been some serious advances in the world of frozen pizza. Some companies have tried to break the mold by bringing premium pizzas to the freezer section of your local grocery store. One is called California Pizza Kitchen...which seems to be playing on that leftover ideal that California is (1) the place to go if you want to fulfill fantasies of manifest destiny (2) the center of glamour and excitement and stardom in our country (3) a healthy place to live.
The Pizza
I am going to go ahead and admit something before we get going. I overcooked this pizza. I forgot to set the timer, got distracted by a video game and I overcooked the damn thing. I don't think it did a lot of damage, as it looked very similar going in as it did coming out. The pizza was sparsely topped, terrifically thin and crunchy as hell. It was so insubstantial that I kind of felt like I should be eating the cardboard circle underneath. The crust, admittedly overcooked, splintered into shards in my mouth. I'm pretty sure my gums were bleeding.
The Chicken
Chicken cubes!
The Sauce and the Taste
The sauce was pretty good, except there was none on the pizza. I got a little dab of flavor on one of the slices, but it was pretty dry and tasteless overall. What I will concede is that the onions, even overcooked, turned out to be pretty tasty. They were thinly sliced crescents of red onion, cooked to sweetness.
Overall
I would save your money and eat cardboard instead...or save some money by picking up a Tony's frozen pizza, instead. This pizza was saved from an F rating by the onions and the fact that I overcooked the damn thing. Maybe it would have been decent, if I had followed the instructions. Maybe, but I suspect not. D-!
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