Stop Over Pizza: Gem of the Midnight Mercato

I consider myself a pizza lover.  By no means am I an expert – no, I leave that to the Italians and the people at Pizza Hut (jeje) – but I know what I like.  Lots of cheese, freshly baked dough, quality ingredients – this is what I look for in a pizza.  Now I’m relatively easy to please.  If the ingredients in the pizza are fresh – and believe me, I’ll know – then chances are I’ll like it.

While going around Midnight Mercato, I found myself in front of a brick oven with a festively plump purveyor of pizzas, always a good combination.  But wait.  His cheeks were ruddy but he lacked the requisite mustache usually associated with fat and festive Italians I see on television.  Looking into his slitted eyes with my own, I realized this guy was Asian.  Wait, Asian?  Asians don’t know pizza.  It’s like asking a vegetarian what steak he’d recommend.

Still, I listened to him talk about his pizza.  I did this because he had a gregarious, engaging personality, and also because he was built like a truck.  And so I came to learn about Stop Over Pizza.  The concept is easy enough to grasp; pizzas with flavors from all over the globe.  I’ve got to tell it like it is, I was not convinced.  Asian guy talking about bastardizing pizzas with global flavors?  I didn’t like it.  Still, I gave it a shot.

The first pizza we tried was the Terimayo Chicken Pizza.  Inspired by Japan, it’s a pizza with the flavors of teriyaki sauce and Japanese mayo.  Now I don’t like change.  I like my pizza with cheese and tomato sauce.  I don’t want chicken on it, I don’t want BBQ sauce on it, and I don’t want mayonnaise on it.  I actually picked this thing because to be frank, I WANTED to be disappointed.  I wanted to blog about how bad it was, and rag on it and just destroy it on my blog, representative of all nouveau and fusion-inspired cuisine, but food gods saw it fit to screw me over and actually make the thing taste GOOD.  Alright, I said it.  It’s a pretty good pizza.  Screw it, it’s a GREAT pizza.  The ingredients tasted fresh and crisp in my mouth¹, and the flavors were just spot-on.  It’s about as Japanese as pizza gets.

We also had tried the Four Cheese Pizza, a pizza favorite I hold in high regard.  Now even with the surprise of the Terimayo, I didn’t see how this one could measure up to my high standards.  One bite, and my doubts were answered.  The cheeses – proprietary blend² – worked beautifully together.  Nothing too strong or powerful, just a perfect combination of flavors.  What really set it apart from most cheese pizzas is that it wasn’t greasy.  I’ll chalk that up to the brick oven.  Bottom line – fantastic cheese pizza.  I’m sure the Pizza Hut people would approve jejeje.

Here at FPJ, it might seem like we write a lot of negative reviews, almost to the point that it seems like we enjoy it.  That isn’t true, although admittedly, they are infinitely easier to write, and they come with less risks.  If I write that something is awful and you like it, you’re an ignorant, boorish moron who should stick to fast food fare.  If I give something a positive review and you don’t like it, I’M the idiot.  But hey, I like Stop Over Pizza, and I’ll come out and say it, risks be damned.

Stop Over Pizza: Gem of the Midnight Mercato 2011-12-31

consider myself a pizza lover.  By no means am I an expert – no, I leave that to the Italians and the people at Pizza Hut (jeje) – but I know what I like.  Lots of cheese, freshly baked dough, quality ingredients – this is what I look for in a pizza.  Now I’m relatively …