Delivery dilemma: Who to call when the pizza pangs hit
By David Eyerly
JAKARTA (JP): Thinking back over the last century, one is struck by the advances humankind made in all areas of life. Think penicillin, the personal computer, pizza delivery.
Pizza delivery? That's right. Imagine if someone hadn't come up with the brilliant idea of employing someone to jump on a motorbike, weave through traffic and ring your doorbell, with a hot pie under his arm.
Maybe this wasn't what the Italians, if the Italians invented pizza, or maybe they just stole it from the Chinese like they stole spaghetti, had in mind for pizza, but who has the time or the know-how to make their own pie (never fear, see accompanying article and we will show you how; it's up to you to make the time).
Pizza was meant to be eaten at home, from the cardboard box it was delivered in. Ideally, you should be in your boxers, feet up on the table and a game of some kind on the tube. That was how, I would imagine, the inventors of the glorious pie envisioned their creation being savored.
The only question is, with not all delivery pizza being equal, who should you call when struck by the taste for a few slices? To answer this question and help our loyal readers make sure they get the best delivery pizza possible (and because we were hungry), we at The Jakarta Post ordered up some pies from four different pizza places. Below are the results of The Great Jakarta Post Pizza Taste-off. So, let's get ready to rumble.
The Contenders: Roundtable Pizza in Kebon Jeruk (tel. 5836976); Pizza Hut in the Park Royale (tel. 5717201); Papa Ron's in Senayan (tel. 5739565); and Pizza Express in the Apartment Kusuma Chandra (tel. 5154143).
The Rules: All of the delivery pizzas were regular size (much to the disappointment of some judges, who were looking forward to a real orgy of pizza eating). And all the pies were all-meat, though they go by different names at their respective restaurants. Pizza Hut calls their all-meat pizza a Meat Lovers, and Papa Ron's a Meat Eaters, which sounds more than a little dirty. The pizzas were rated from 1 to 5, with one being the lowest and five being the highest.
The Tasters: Seven dedicated staff members of the Post, who took time out of their busy work schedules to sneak downstairs and eat free pizza. They were all asked to fill out a form rating the pies on various aspects, which they all agreed they could be bothered to do for the free pizza.
Round 1: In this round the contenders duke it out to see which pizza is delivered at just the right temperature.
* Roundtable: An average score of 2.5, with a high rating of 3 and a low of 1.5, by someone who found the pizza rather tepid. The general consensus was that the pie was hot enough, just.
* Pizza Hut: An average score of 2.5. The ratings here varied more noticeably, with a high of 4 from someone who found the temperature almost perfect, to a low of 1 by a taster who said it was like the cold leftover pizza that tastes so good for breakfast.
* Papa Ron's: An average score of 3.5. This pizza received all threes and fours, and one taster said the pizza was like it was fresh from the oven.
* Pizza Express: An average score of 3.7. One taster gave Pizza Express a perfect 5, while the low score was 3.
Round 2: Now the tasters test the pies on their toppings. Are they lean or lush?
* Roundtable: An average score of 2. A low score of 1 and a high of 3, with one taster conjecturing that maybe Roundtable had run out of toppings. The general agreement was that for a meat pizza there was not much meat, and the cheese was a little thin as well.
* Pizza Hut: An average score of 3. This pie was a little better received by the tasters, though some questioned the processed sausage.
* Papa Ron's: An average score of 4.3. Two tasters gave this pizza perfect fives, the others gave it fours. Everyone thought there was enough meat, and all were impressed by how cheesy the pie was.
* Pizza Express: An average score of 4.5. There were three fives for this pizza and a 4.5. The tasters were impressed by both the amount of meat on the pie and the amount of cheese.
Round 3: In this round, the pizzas' crusts are put to the test. This round turned out the closest to call, and the judges' cards showed that when it comes to crust, personal preferences vary wildly. Which is why there are so many fights when people try and order pizzas together.
* Roundtable: An average score of 3.4. Scores ranged from a 5 down to a 2. One person though the crust tasted like raw dough, and another thought the crust was delightfully chewy.
* Pizza Hut: An average score of 3.3. Again, the scores ranged from 5 to 2. Some tasters loved this crunchy crust, others described it as eating cardboard.
* Papa Ron's: An average score of 3.8. Once more this pie received a high score of 5 and a low of 2. Some thought the crust was doughy, but not overly so, and nice and chewy. A few thought the crust was a bit too greasy and oily.
* Pizza Express: An average score of 3.7. This pizza received a high score of 5 and a low of 3. The general consensus was that this was a good crust, striking a pleasing balance between thin and thick.
Round 4: Now the pies really take off the gloves as they try and prove which one tastes best overall.
* Roundtable: An average score of 2.3, with a high of 4 and a low of 1. One person said the pizza had a strange aftertaste and another described it as eating leftover pie from yesterday. Of course, it also received a "yummy".
* Pizza Hut: An average score of 2.9. The scores went from a high of 5 to a low of 1. How's that for a range? This pie was alternately a "dud" and "excellent".
* Papa Ron's: An average score of 4.4. Nothing but fours and fives, with one taster moved to eloquence, saying this is a "masterpiece in pizza-making".
* Pizza Express: An average score of 4.3. All of the tasters were impressed by this pie, particularly its generous toppings.
Round 5: In the final round, the contenders are rated on their value for money.
* Roundtable: An average score of 3. This pie cost Rp 30,000 and had eight slices, which impressed some, but not all. One person, unimpressed with the pizza's taste, said "I don't want to pay Rp 30,000 for this." It's a good thing The Jakarta Post paid for it.
* Pizza Hut: An average score of 2.7. This pizza cost Rp 27,000 for six pieces, which left most tasters unimpressed.
* Papa Ron's: An average score of 3.8. This pizza was also Rp 27,000 for six pieces, but because the tasters were more impressed with its generous toppings and overall better quality, it scored better than Pizza Hut.
* Pizza Express. An average score of 4.5. This pie was Rp 24,000 for six pieces. As the least expensive pizza and one of the tastiest, it naturally scored well in the value for money round.
The Decision: This was a two-way race between Papa Ron's and Pizza Express, with these two being ranked first and second on all the cards. And the winner is Papa Ron's, which was the favorite of four of the tasters, while Pizza Express came out on top on three of the cards. Fighting it out for third and fourth place were Pizza Hut and Roundtable, with the Hut just managing to nose out Roundtable.
But when all is said and done, the truth is that there is really no such thing as a bad pizza.