DEPENDING ON WHERE you live in the city, you’re likely to have a pizza allegiance.
If you’ve always wondered if you’re making the right decision though, we’ve taste-tested pepperoni pizzas from five of Dublin’s delivery chains, and put them through rigorous cheese analysis and stringent sauce surveys.
In the order they arrived (all pizzas were ordered for 6pm. Domino’s were about 15 minutes early. Mizzoni came at 6.25)…
Domino’s
With locations dotted around the city and country, and an app that tells you what preparation stage your pizza is at, Domino’s is the go-to chain for many.
But how did it fare?
Looks good, I approve.
It’s not soggy at all, really fresh.
The base is a little dry.
The cheese is a good consistency of melty.
(‘Good consistency of melty’, of course, is an approved pizza rating phrase)
The Dominos pizza was deemed to have travelled very well, but was thought to be a little on a salty side.
The famed Garlic and Herb sauce received several thumbs down, mostly due to its watery consistency.
Mainly happy customers all round though.
Four Star
Four Star pizza was deemed to be:
A bit tasteless.
It’s less salty than Dominos but the tomato has a very strong taste.
The cheese isn’t really melted enough.
One tester was firmly against it:
This pizza is fundamentally a bad thing.
While one was pleasantly surprised:
I think this is nicer than Domino’s. I didn’t think I even liked Four Star.
Apache
First impressions of the Apache pepperoni pizza was the grease, which was leaking slightly from the box.
But what of the taste?
The pepperoni is a bit bland. It’s nicer than I thought it would be though.
The base and tomato sauce is good though.
There’s a good ratio of cheese to pizza.
But what of the elephant in the room?
That grease is hugely problematic.
A ringing pizza endorsement came from one tester though:
This would be really satisfying if you had a hangover. It’s just about bland enough and the texture is really enjoyable.
A portion of bbq sauce which accompanied the pizza was deemed to be ‘vile’.
Papa Johns
Papa Johns was the fourth pizza to arrive and was said to look like “it has been hanging around for a while”.
Thoughts?
Not mad on it.
It’s incredibly salty.
The base is nice enough, but the topping is falling off. It’s almost like they’ve been cooked separately.
It hasn’t travelled very well, it’s quite cold.
One tester was also perturbed by the pepper which accompanied the pizza, calling it “upsetting”.
The Papa Johns pizza was accompanied by a thick garlic mayo which was deemed to be the “redeeming feature” of the meal. It was also referred to as “superior” and “sensational” with one participant saying “I’d nearly order it just for the sauce”.
Mizzoni’s
Mizzoni’s pizza didn’t fare too well with testers either, with comments varying from:
It’s bland.
It’s a bit thin and rigid.
to
If you dropped it it might bounce.
and
It’s grand, but you might order it if all the other pizza places were closed.
https://vine.co/v/eLjlEqLApiH
The accompanying garlic sauce was deemed to be “okay”.
The verdict
So with all pizzas devoured, our testers chose their favourite.
Domino’s came out on top, with Apache in second and one vote for Four Star. Mizzoni’s and Papa Johns failed to impress.
