Kamakura Pasta

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So I finally made it to Kamakura Pizza and had the all you can eat pizza buffet, which I decided to take advantage of. I was fortunate that when I got here, I was the only customer there was just one customer leaving on a carryout order so I had the entire restaurant to myself. I decided to order three pizzas to start. 

The first pizza was a honey pizza; a pizza that I’ve grown quite fond of in Japan. The second pizza is a ham and cream cheese pizza. The final pie was a bacon and basil cream pizza. To drink, I went with the drink bar which contained pitchers of juice; sadly, no sodas except Calpis which lack any carbonation. I was glad that the waitress allowed me to order multiple pieces at once because each pie was only about 16 cm, or just under seven inches. 

For round two, I had a margarita, followed by a chicken, potato, and mayo. The final pizza consisted of a sweet potato pizza and then desert. I was too full to eat anything else. The pizza was so small that I folded and ate them like tacos.

I think despite the fact that my Japanese is terrible The staff couldn’t speak English communication wasn’t really hard thanks to once again my unsung hero Google translate. 

Overall, I found all six pizzas to be very very good despite their small size. The speed of service was very good with each pizza coming out very quickly. In fact I didn’t wait longer than about six or seven minutes for the first three pizzas to come out. Each subsequent pizza came out just as fast. Maybe because the kitchen wasn’t slammed. 

My grand total for six little mini pizzas and a macha ice cream desert plus drink bar—¥1617 including tax. This was an excellent value and I would definitely recommend this place. 

Pro: Lots of different pizzas available and cheap.
Con: The pizzas are no larger than an unfolded taco.
See the pies on insta at @thepizzabastard 

Kamakura Pasta 
〒734-0007 Hiroshima, Minami Ward
Minamimachi, 2 Chome−8−17 ゆめタウン広島 2F
082-250-2309
saint-marc-hd.com

Pizzeria Big Mouth

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My second day in Masuda, I decided to try Pizzeria Big Mouth, another regional pizza place that sells the same kind of pizza as Pizza-La, Dominos, or Pizza Hut. There was nothing that stood out as far as the front of house was concern aside from a table with five chairs for dine-in—that was a bit different. 

I went with a medium teriyaki chicken pizza (¥2500), which had things on it I hadn’t seen before and the menus didn’t really say what it was. I thought it was green onion but I think it was string peas. It took about twenty minutes as they were pretty busy. I had wanted to buy a drink but they apparently don’t sell carry-out bottled drinks. 

PRO: It was a decent pizza but just like every other chain pizza.
CON: No coupons so even a medium is a poor value. 
See the pies at @pizzabastard on IG.

Pizzeria Big Mouth
2-15 Akebonohonmachi
Masuda, Shimane 698-0026
085-631-2628
No website 

ESOLA

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Somehow, I still had a little spare in my stomach for pizza after eating at Pizza Napoletana UWOZA 10 minutes earlier, so I stopped in ESOLA after having passed them on my way to my first pizza. Frankly, I’m not sure how I feel at the moment.

It’s like a total repeat of my first Japanese pizza in Sapporo back in 2013 right down to getting the gaijin extra rush (food you didn’t order then get billed for as part of seat charge), and the half undercooked pizza dough. The pizza I got was a salmon and cream cheese pizza, but it had a tomato base. Overall, it was pretty good even though it was a little underdone and to be honest I’m not really upset about the extra ¥500 for the shave Parmesan and crackers that they gave me even though I didn’t ask. No, I was terribly upset with the ¥550 for the whiskey and Coke because it was pretty strong even though they didn’t use Jack Daniels.

Now the place was pretty slow. There was just two guys in a corner table bullshitting the whole time. I guess they look like they were probably either work friends or friend friends or something. The two staffers were both college aged girls though I think one was the owner so maybe she was a little bit older. Kinda struck me as like put a couple hot chicks behind the bar have them flirt with the guests so they keep spending money on booze. But that could just be my imagination or what not.

However they both seem more interested in bullshiting with each other so they didn’t bother with me at all But that just because I’m a fucking foreigner and maybe they probably didn’t soeak English so I guess they ignored the two guys that were budding around. Besides they just had nothing better to do than just chat with each other the whole time. Probably for the best too because the drink was pretty fucking strong so who knows what the hell I would’ve said. I could totally see the place being owned by yaks.

But I guess that’s kind of off being path. It doesn’t really have anything to do with the pizza any case overall I actually like the pizza was pretty good a little under done but I could live with the drink was good and strong even if it was ¥550, which is twice when I pay for a fucking jack and Coke in a can from 7-11 but truth is there was probably a lot more alcohol and a lot more soda in this cup than what I would usually get in the can anyway so again can’t complain. it

Overall the best part was the pizza was pretty damn cheap but they have all the awning outside. All PIZZA is ¥500 but the cheapest pizza there was like ¥790 or ¥690 or something like that mine was more than that but you know even ¥1000 is still a good bargain it was same size as what you get at almost every other place that selling Neapolitan pizzas in Japan. It tasted just like almost all everyone else’s Neapolitan pizza ins o yeah.

Pro: cheap pizza, strong drinks.
Con: you get the gaijin charge and half the pie was undercooked.
See the pies on Insta @thepizzabastard

ESOLA
205-2 Teramachi
Matsue, Shimane 690-0063
085-267-6779
shop.gyro.holding

Pizzeria de Napoli

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It was a wildly warm fall day in October when I stopped by Pizzeria de Napoli. It was a good mile walk down some very dark roads at night but it was well worth the trip. 

While the menu was. It in English and the staff spoke limited English, ordering was easy and much can said about Google camera translate which has same Japan much easier than my first trip over twenty years ago. 

I ordered the Pulcinella (¥1780), which consisted of mozzarella cream, ham, and oven-roasted potatoes—with it I had a bottle of Coke. First thing that won me over was a real WFO. I know if I’m gonna get a pizza out of a wood fire oven. I know it’s gonna be good.

I know this sounds odd, but the pizza actually reminded me of the ham and potato cream chowder Chunky soup from America. Not a bad thing I will admit it’s the first time and I can recall having a pizza where I actually had to use my knife and fork. That’s like really unusual especially for an American eat pizza with a knife fork. 

Any case despite the 2 1/2 km walk it was absolutely worth it. That’s one thing I have to admit about Japan. I can’t get a New York style pizza to save my life, but God I am grateful that I prefer Napolitan PIZZA and I can get that everywhere in Japan and usually the Japanese are really good at making them.

And thankfully, so was Pizzeria de Napoli. 

PRO: A lot of selection and very good ingredients, worth the walk. 
CON: the 2.5km walk from town along an unlit road (not their fault)
See the pies at @pizzabastard on IG.

Pizzeria de Napoli
13-3 Kamoshima Higashimachi
Masuda, Shimane 698-0046
085-625-7878
Pizzeria’s Instagram

Pizza Very’s

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OK, so this entry had another region from Japanese PIZZA chain just like so many other others. This one is in Okayama and I stop by in the middle of November to try the pizza. I know back walked a bit. I actually found this place back in late August early September on a train trip, but I just need to stop by.

It’s pretty standard fair most Japanese carryout pizza places the small regional shop strike Pizza Hut and Domino’s unique twist. This one was co-branded with a Korean fried chicken place, which is kind of unusual. I was really tempted to try the Korean fried chicken, but I just didn’t have the stomach for it. I only had so much time and I really didn’t want to try to eat too much between the pizza and fried chicken while in the field with nowhere to go.

Wasn’t too bad it was ¥2200 for a medium, which is still high but it was a 20% off carryout and that also included a Coke Zero so I can’t really fight too much. It wasn’t too bad of a way that got it right after they open as usual. I had to find a small park and then tried to find out what to do with my trash when I was done as always that’s always rough.

For this pizza, I went with a Hokkaido potato and bacon pizza. I was thinking about the shrimp pizza, but it was just too much. I need another step. I didn’t wanna go that route. Because this was potato bacon it was pretty sauce. It was pretty good. I can’t really complain too much about it. My biggest complaint the same complaint. I have every pizza in Japan and it’s like a medium pizza For 25 cm which is like 13 inches on a good day I think the price per size for pizza in Japan or atrocious but what can you do? It’s not New York.

PRO: it was a decent quality pizza and the 20% discount reflect what it should cost.

CON: it’s a bit pricy for its small size and was nothing different than any other regional pizza chain.
See the pies at @pizzabastard on IG.

Pizza Very’s
〒 719-1136 Soja
Okayama1 Chome-2-1 Ekimae
0866-93-0880
verysmix.blog79.fc2.com

Trattoria Gabacho

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After a long day at the Iwami Silver Mine, I dropped my stuff off at my capsule hotel in Oda and make a ten minute hike to the pizza joint. It’s more of an Italian restaurant. It was also pretty dead; then again it was a Monday. 

I ordered a glass of beer (¥580) and a pizza, (¥1580) which had a shrimp, avocado, and tuna pesto pizza. The decor was all over the place but I’ve come to expect this in Japan so I paid it no mind whilst waiting for my pizza. 

Overall their pizza, while small, was quite good and I think the avocado worked quite well with the beer. I thought about having a second pizza or ultimately, I decided against it. I ended up being kind of more full than I thought I would be. Overall, it was a good pizza. 

PRO: it was a tad high in cost. 
CON: no cons at the time 
See the pies at @pizzabastard on IG.

Trattoria Gabacho
ロ−１０５９−１１ Odacho Oda, 
Oda, Shimane 694-0064
085-483-7172
No website 

Joyfull

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It was a very rainy day when I visited Joyful with some friends in Kameyama. In fact, it was pouring so hard we could hardly see in the car which was why we stopped. Joyful, is a chain of family style restaurants, akin to Denny’s, Johnathan’s, Saizerya, Jolly Pasta, or Coco’s, with Joyful leaning more toward pasta and hamburger steak, and less than curry, or all-out Italian—all sharing a drink bar.

There were four of us Three of us had ordered pizza. There was only one option, the bacon pizza. I’ll get straight to the point; there was hardly if any bacon at on all it. I’m not even sure if there was any or not to be honest. I have noticed the size/price point varies widely among family style restaurants in Japan with Joyful being on the high price/small pizza end of the spectrum. The quality was on par with a semi-frozen supermarket pie from Fresta.

Overall, I wouldn’t go out of my way for one of these again.

PRO: They provided shelter from the rain for an hour.
CON: The pizza was small, and lacked bacon as listed.
See the pies at @pizzabastard on IG.

Joyfull
3 Chome-1-61 Kameyama,
Asakita Ward, Hiroshima, 731-0231
082-819-0158
http://www.joyfull.co.jp

Cafe Latino

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After a busy day at the cat café, some of my co-volunteers took me out for dinner. We went to Café Latino for Mexican which is a strange concept living in Japan. I had a Corona (with lemon inside of it for some strange reason) and a burrito.

After that I decided to order a pizza—a Mexican pizza. Their Mexican pizza consisted of a 14” tortilla dough topped with simply onion, bacon, shredded cheese, and sauce. It was pretty decent. Everything was cooked well, and the tortilla had a good mix of crispy out toward t he edges and softer in the middle.

Overall, it was a very ordinary pizza, and not particularly “Mexican” nor overly themed out like it would have been in the states. For ¥ 1200, it was a tad pricy, but overall, very good. But as bar food, this would get expensive pretty quick. Overall, I wouldn’t go out of my way for the pizza but rather the rest of the Mexican fare.

PRO: It was an interesting take on pizza.
CON: Maybe a bit small for the price.
See the pies at @pizzabastard on IG.

Café Latino
〒730-0033 Hiroshima, Naka Ward
 Horikawacho, 5−13 らくりんビル １Ｆ
082-247-0211
https://cafelatino.owst.jp/

Pizza Pockets

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So today’s pizza is after a hot steamy day in Sakaiminoto, I decided to grab some pizza at Pizza Pockets in nearby Yogano. I had a few regional area pizza chains already with this place so it goes without say that my expectations for this so-call “BBQ American” pizza were somewhat high. I guess I swear to kami the grilling park right I mean this is the first time I’ve ever had pizza that actually had like I don’t know hotdog on it, but at least admitted the corn because I just don’t give a shit what you say there’s no such thing as fucking corn on pizza in America. It’s not a thing. Officially, this is the pizza: onion, coarsely ground vorst (hot dog), grilled chicken, broccoli, red pigment, yellow pigment, special BBQ sauce.

Originally, I tried to order this online for delivery. It was the only place delivered to my hotel, but I couldn’t get the website to work. That kind of pissed me off a little bit. I couldn’t order online because it wouldn’t allow me to do cash and required me to do credit card when I try to do the credit card. It didn’t hash any of the numbers on top of that. I did not hash my credit card numbers on my CVV number, but also for the date it won’t allow me to end of the month in year even though that was required.

Additionally, I was annoyed that I didn’t get the ¥300 off that was offered on the website by ordering in the store. Semi regional chance, pizza, pockets, strawberry, cones, and pizza roll head seems to have really crappy websites. They all try to compete against Pizza Hut, Pizza-La, and Domino’s, be added phone number for this place at the front desk order it—I had to make a special trip by train to try it; which conversely meant that I had to find a nearby park to eat it and then bring the trash home with me which is always a PITA.

At the end of the day, it wasn’t a bad pizza but once again the freaking 14 inch medium surprise the shit out of me and it was too small so I ended up being hungry. What’s funny is that in the store it’s ¥1300 for a small ¥1600 for a medium ¥2200 for a large, but the website actually says 1600 for a medium but ¥300 off for carryout and a small was ¥1800 so I don’t get it. Any case I’m probably never gonna come back to this town and chances of finding another one of these Pizza Pockets is pretty slim so it is what it is.

PRO: well, I didn’t get food poisoning I mean, that’s something

CON: their website sucks terribly, and we didn’t honor their discount for carryout.
See the pies at @pizzabastard on IG.

Pizza Pockets
5 Chome-1-39 Yonehara
Yonago, Tottori 683-0804
http://pizza-pockets.jp

Fresta

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Today, I have grocery store pizza. Sadly, it was not freshly made in the store—at least I don’t think it was. I had been shopping at Fresta for months but had never seen this pizza for sale before, so I guess it’s a midday thing or a weekend thing. I decided to buy it on the off-chance, I found a kick-ass bargain

They only had 14” supreme pizzas which consisted of cheese, ham, pepperoni, corn, and I think a few strips of onion albeit I couldn’t taste it. The pizza came in a cardboard box with a clear plastic window and held shut by the price label of ¥599. Ironically enough, the white box had the word “PIZZA” written on it in big red letters.

It was cold when I bought it, so this pie required heating in my trust toaster over. Ussing the sky-blue pizza cutter that I got four months ago from the pizza vending machine, I cut the well-cooked pizza and ate it within a few minutes. Overall, for what comes out to about $3.5o is US dollars, I have no complaints, and it was a bit better than the ¥328 semi-frozen pizzas.

I might buy this one again.

Pro: Decent pizza from the cost. 
Con: Not really a top shelf pie. 
Visit IG @pizzabastard for all the pizza pics.


Fresta
5 Chome-1-2 Otemachi
Naka Ward, Hiroshima
730-0051082-241-1083
https://www.fresta.co.jp/hiroshima