I eat a lot of pizza. It's safe to say that it's my favorite food, but it's also borne from necessity. Pizza places are generally always safe for the vegetarians. I don't think I've ever been to a restaurant which has pizza on the menu that didn't have at least one without meat. Pizza is the refuge of vegetarians. At least it is for this vegetarian.
Our last meal before moving was to get pizza at our favorite place in Vegas, Grimaldi's. I even took a photo and posted it on Facebook because I feared it might be the last pizza I would have for a while. Happily I was wrong. Saigon is filled with good pizza joints, so here's my totally biased and unscientific review of pizza in town.
Dominoes (Unworthy of address listing) - Even when we lived in the land of Dominos I didn't eat there. There was a time in the mid 1980s when Dominos was the only game in town. That time has passed. In the US Dominos is one of the biggest contributors to Focus on the Family, an evangelical Christian group based in Colorado Springs, CO. FoF's goals are generally consigned to persecuting gays and banning gay marriage. I haven't even set foot in a Dominos since we moved, and you shouldn't either. The new one on Le Thanh Ton is especially silly, since it's sitting within a one block radius of three other, much better, pizza places (4Ps, La Hosteria, and Scoozi)
Pizza Hut (stand on a corner and turn your head, you'll see one) - Not as bad as Dominos, but I've never liked their pizza. I can handle them politically but not palatally. Why would I eat at a place I've known my whole life? I don't and you shouldn't either.
Mekong Merchant (23 Thao Dien, D2) - I was all stoked to try their pizza after their Parma won Best Delivered Pizza when The Word did their pizza breakdown. I can't have the Parma because it has meat. I'm stuck with the Veggie Pizza and the Mediterranean. Neither are anything to write home about. There are two ways to do a vegetarian pizza: either put super bold flavors on it (pesto, onions, garlic, etc) or put cheese and a few complimentary toppings (goat cheese, tomato, basil). Mekong Merchant pizza has a ton of toppings. The Veggie sports spinach, pumpkin, peppers, mushrooms, pine nuts and a bunch of other stuff. There is little cheese to speak of, which is really what makes a pizza. The whole thing kind of mushes together into general disappointment because no flavor stands out. All the toppings are extremely mild and the mushrooms tend towards rubbery (I can't stand rubbery mushrooms). We still eat there because the atmosphere is fabulous and the wine is really good. The pizza, sadly, is not my favorite. Luckily, the Vegetarian Lasagna is pretty good (not as good as mine, but good and a lot less work). It takes about 45 minutes for it's clay pot to cool down, but it's tasty.
Sarpino's Pizza (125 Ho Tung Mau, D1 or The Manor) - I've eaten at both Sarpinos' and both are tasty. Sarpino's pizza probably comes the closest to making crust like we find in the US. Thick, but not Chicago Style. It's a nice change from the constant parade of thin-crust Italian pizzas most places serve (this is not a complaint, just the way it is). Sometimese they go a little light on the toppings, but overall it's good. The best part about Sarpino's is the size of the menu. They have about ten different non-meat pizzas. I haven't tried them all, but the one's I've had have all been good.
Bernie's (19 Thai Van Lung, D1) - It's not a pizza place, but they have some of the best pizza in town. The roasted vegetable pizza is fantastic. They roast their own vegetables, and the pizza, though not very big is loaded with toppings and cheese. The crust is crisp (as long as the power is on). They also have a margarhita pizza that's good, but not as good as the roasted vegetable. I also get the green olive pizza sometimes. It's supposed to come with salami, but they're always happy to make it without and it's great. Many times altering the pizza by removing the meat kills the overall experience. This one is an exception.
4P's Pizza (8/15 Le Thanh Ton, D1, or Behind Thai Express -walk up the alley to the right of Thai Express, turn left at the dead end and it's at the end of that street) - If you can find 4P's Pizza you're in luck. Despite being difficult to find and relatively new (only 3 months or so) we still had to wait 30 minutes for a table on a Saturday night. I was skeptical about Japanese Pizza, but I was floored at how good it was. They don't have many vegetarian options, only two that I can remember. There's a basic margarhita and one called four flowers. I tried both. Really really good. The crust is the best I've had in Vietnam, and possibly the best I've had ever for the style. The crust is fluffy and soft, not chewy like normal pizza crust. It was fabulous. I highly recommend the four flowers. It tasted different from any pizza I've ever eaten. It's both beautiful and delicious. I couldn't get anyone else to try it because it looked so weird. Too bad for them. More for me.
Scoozi (6 Thai Van Lung, D1) - If you're a sucker for Italian style thin crust pizza, then Scoozi is the place for you. It also doesn't hurt that they have 2 for 1 specials all day on Sunday. For the first six weeks or so after we moved to Vietnam we went to Scoozi every Sunday. While they don't have tons of vegetarian options, all are eligible for their specials. The ingredients are fresh and the tomato sauce is excellent. Probably the best tomato sauce in town. I'm not really a sauce guy so when I like your tomato sauce it's a big deal. It's a good thing the sauce is tasty because the toppings tend to be a little sparce for my taste. But I'm not going to complain too much about a pizza that comes with actual fresh mozerella on it. I'm particularly enamored with their Capiscum pizza, which is pretty damned spicy. You'll want to closely monitor your beer intake while you eat it.
Pendolasco (36 Thanh Huu Dinh, D2 or 87 Nguyen Hue, D1) - I've only been to the Pendolasco in D2. There's no reason to drive into downtown when we can walk to one of the best pizzas in town from our house. And here's the crazy thing: they only have one non-meat pizza on the menu and I've never eaten it. I created my own and now I eat it at least once a week. If you're a vegetarian in D2 looking for a pizza that will knock you on your ass, go to Pendolasco and order a Paesana pizza with Pesto instead of ham. They'll probably give you a funny look because you're not me, and then blow you away with their pizza. Like Scoozi, Pendolasco's pizza is thin crust, but they really pile on the toppings. When I ordered my altered pizza for the first time, it came with about 500g of pesto sauce on it. I was thrilled and I kept ordering it. Everytime it comes like that, tons of pesto, buttery spinach. All around YUM from start to finish. I ate this pizza (again) last night and it was so good, I had to write a whole pizza blog post. When you finish your pizza, get a shot of their homemade Lemoncello to finish off the meal. You'll be happy you did. Or, if you're like me, you can buy a bottle of Lemoncello in their adjacent shop and play I-Just-Finished-Eating-at -Pendolasco at home. It's not quite as fun at home, but it's still damn fabulous.
I'm sure the two of you who read this and live in HCM will disagree with everything I've said here. Feel free to do so and then tell me about your favorite Saigon pizza joint. I can never have too many places to stop for a slice o' pie.
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