US Pizza

I prefer US Pizza over the more well-known ones like Pizza Hut or Domino's Pizza. At US Pizza, the pizza feels more authentic and original, instead of being "adapted" for quick service restaurant (QSR) business.

There are two US Pizza outlets in Penang: Nagore Place and Green Lane. We visited the latter for dinner today. This outlet is located at the end unit of a row of shops next to Gembira Parade. Do not be depressed if you have never heard of Gembira Parade; it is a shanty run-down commercial building with a handful of never-heard-before tenants.

The US Pizza shop is not shanty at all. The dining area is decorated with American memorabilia such as vehicle license plates. As the kitchen occupies half the entire premises, there are hardly enough seats to accommodate 30 people.

Our dinner tonight is the Jumbo Deluxe Crust Pizza (RM32.95). This is a large 13-inch pizza with original hand-tossed crust. The toppings are beef pepperoni, ground beef, chicken chunks, mushrooms, pineapples, tomatoes, onions and cheese.

The crust suits our liking as it has the perfect degree of chewiness. It is also quite crispy towards the sides. As the dough is reasonably thick, the pizza is quite sufficient for two persons.

As for the toppings, the beef pepperoni is quite a delicacy. Cut into thin slices, the light crisp and slightly saltines make the pepperoni a nice add-on to the pizza. Another plus side is that the pineapples and tomatoes are fresh.

For sides, we had a serving of Crazi Garlic Twist (RM3.50) which comes with 4 sticks. Although quite oily, the sensation comes from the garlic butter spread, not from deep-frying (the garlic bread sticks are baked). This is quite a wonderful finger food.

The price is slightly more expensive than other pizza establishment, but this is because US Pizza uses more premium ingredients to prepare its pizzas.