Korean Job Discussion Forums

[digsydinner]

so I thought i'd give a try at "Pizzarium" in Itaewon today... all i can say is...you call that a pizza? thought for a moment they were selling sicilians...but for 5,000 you get a small rectangular 6x4in doughy piece of bread with a hint of pizza taste. i cannot believe they actually get away with selling this stuff for that much. definitely not going back.

[Bloopity Bloop]

Are all your threads going to be complaints about Itaewon's lesser establishments?

You know, for the right price, I'll send you a pie from the States.

[aphase]

pizzarium does suck completely. The pizza place that used to be there before was great (the one called Yellow Submarine). When i first ate at pizzarium I was surpised that it was pretty expensive for a pretty mediocre slice (and it wasn't even that big).

Every time I pass by there I keep thinking about how I hope it gets shut down.

[red_devil]

Honestly i'm not afraid to say that i like Pizza Hut and Papa Johns here in Korea. They're much better than in the states, if you stay with the more Americanized options instead of all the seafood ones, the price is reasonable. Pizza Hut i like the "Original BBQ Chicken" and the "Supreme".

[Adventurer]

I haven't eaten a lot of pizza in Korea. I guess I will wait til I go back to the US for that. I do like Pappa John's in Korea. It's decent. I also liked that Italian style pizza joint in Itaewon just above Krze Burger. I love Italian style pizza the best, but Chicago or New York Style pizza is something to miss. I haven't really tried Dominoes in Korea. How does it compare to the ones back in the U.S.? I passed by that pizzarium place several times and was curious about it. Well, now that I've read this thread, I somehow don't think I'll sample their pizzas.

[Robot_Teacher]

Most of the restaurants are only mediocre, but over priced or are crappy and either cheap or over priced. Must be a few gems out there.

[jkelly80]

La Bocca in Itaewon is fantastic. It's down the street towards Hangangjin across from Rocky Mountain Tavern. It's not cheap though, maybe 13k for a panini. It's a great panini though.

[Harpeau]

I've eaten at Pizzarium a couple of times. It's rather expensive and inconsistent. A bit doughy, but sometimes is pretty good. A few of the kinds are a bit out there. I give them full marks for being willing to experiment, but I think they need some brains in there.

[roadwork]

[Beeyee]

Papa John's is the king of pizza in Korea.

[ManintheMiddle]

If a pizza chain sucks in the U.S., you can bet your sweet ass it'll suck twice as bad in Korea. All the aforementioned chains suck because the vast majority of chains suck.

All pizza joints in Korea suck big time. Corn does not belong on pizza. Neither do pickles. Ketsup and canned tomato sauce doesn't pass for pizza sauce. And good luck getting much sauce anywhere without making a special order explained four ways and retranslated twice.

Good luck finding sausage, much less Italian sausage, or mushrooms that aren't canned.

But before the Korea apologists get too defensive, all pizza in Asia sucks. I just had a slice of pepperoni pizza at Shakey's in Hong Kong, an old American chain that's almost out of business stateside. Shakey's in the States about 30 years ago had some of the best thin crust pizza on the planet. Now it's brittle cracker crap with crap sauce and insipid cheese for 12 bucks.

Give me Rocky Roccoco's pan style pizza in Madison, Wisconsin with of course Wisconsin cheese, or Chicago deep dish, or NYC large thin slice or give me death.

Disclaimer: I seldom use the word "suck" but pizza fraud brings out the worst in me.

[brento1138]

Yeah, I tried Pizzarium, but here's my take on why it survives. I've noticed a few restaurants in Itaewon are "famous" amongst Koreans for some reason. I believe there is some popular magazine or internet site that hypes these places up. Since they display their pizza, perhaps it makes the place look better?

Anyways, I tried the pizza, and would say at least it has an original element to it. The pizza is pre-cooked, displayed, then re-cooked. The bottom is quite hard, and the dough on top too doughy. I wouldn't say it's a good bang for the buck, but it's not bad.

That's all I'll say. It's not bad, not great. It's 'meh.'

[Xuanzang]

[gangwonbound]

Papa John's Pizza was the freshest I had in Korea...

I also had (by Mistake) crab crust pizza...It tasted like garbage (the smell of garbage anyway) but I still ate most of it.

[itaewonguy]