life & style // 16

  

The Intrepid Gastronomer:
The good slice

» A review of Pizza Garden

K.P. Davis
Contributor

he Lower Mainland is well-

known for its proliferation
of pizza shops. Everyone always
seems to be on the run from
one place to another, and we
often don’t have time to sit
down fora full meal. As such,
the range of restaurant quality
is vastly different. From the
greasy slabs of dough being
served at Seymour and Pender,
to the crisp, thin slices from
Uncle Fatih’s (Broadway and
Commercial), to the overpriced
gourmet pizzas of Flying
Wedge—there are as many
places as there are tastes and
budgets.

For this endeavour |
decided to visit Pizza Garden
in New Westminster. The
storefront was actually very
spacious, with lots of room
to manoeuvre. Well-lit, with
pastoral yellows and rustic reds
on the walls, it hinted at a cross
between a Vancouver coffee
shop and an Italian villa. I knew
I was in the right place when
I saw the centrepiece of the
restaurant: a large stone pizza
oven right behind the counter.

The pizzas were laid out
flat ona single level, taking full
advantage of the space given. It
was difficult to just select eight

: Slices to fill their extra-large

: pizza box. Visually each slice
: was as thin as its crust, with

: toppings laid out on a single
: plain and not piled high.

Pizza Garden makes the

claim that it serves Neapolitan-
: style pizza, and at first bite

: I cannot disagree. The crust

: was thin, but soft and heavily

: floured. In general the pizzas

: were delightfully dry, and

: not overly oiled or heavy

: like most other places. The

: only disadvantage of this

: wonderfully light crust is that it
: doesn’t hold the heat very well
: and begins to stiffen up after it
: cools.

The pepperoni was good,

with a nice bit of zing but not

: overwhelming on the spiciness.
: Most pepperoni that I try

: tends to be swimming in sauce
: but this slice was confident

: enough to let the meat shine.

: The Hawaiian slice let me

: down a little. It was good, and

: it’s hard to get anything out

: of simple ham and pineapple,

: but I felt that compared to the
: other offerings it just wasn’t as
: flavourful. Even something as

: simple as a little hint of parsley
: would have finished the piece

: off well.

Next was a slice with

: chicken, red onions anda
: wonderful barbecue sauce base; :

: the stars were the chicken and

: onions with the sauce being

: delicious but subtle enough to

: let the toppings shine through

: again. A capicola ham was next
: and I was thrilled to discover

: not just ham but a subtle

: undertone of mushrooms and

: garlic that rounded the slice out
: perfectly.

The slice of bacon and

mushrooms was piled high with
: delicious mushrooms and some
: of the most umami and tender

: bacon I’ve had from a slice. The
: ground beef was hands down

: the winner in my book—a

: delicious undertone of savoury

: cheese and beef that wasn’t

: chunky, but not over done like

: most places.

The vegetarian slice was

wonderful and just sang of

: succulent garlic and ripe

: tomatoes. The fungi balanced

: out perfectly with a garlic sauce
: and a beautiful hit of red onion.

The old adage says that

pizza is like sex—even when

: it’s bad, it’s good. If that’s the

: case, Pizza Garden is like a

: competent and caring lover,

: dry of wit, with good taste and
: some delicious surprises if you
: like to explore a little variety.

Pizza Garden can be found

at 255-800 Carnarvon Street,
: New Westminster.

Photograph by K.P. Davis

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