Places for pizza

[Aussie Mike]

The 15% is called a service tax/fee...
Novotel and Holiday Inn charge it.
I heard it is a scim (scim = scam+skim) that goes directly to the owners.

I hate the fact that I have to mentally calculate the extra and I have to pay it, even if the service is crap.
You can be sure that the fee doesn't go to the staff.

If you get a VIP card from Novotel, it actually costs a a bit less than the menu price.

[Aussie Mike]

Here's a hidden place that's worth a visit.

It's called "Let's Enjoy Pizza", I think.
It's near the "Mirror" Bar in Qin Lao Xiang. For those who know the mirror (Gay Bar).

When you walk inside, there is a table with 3 chairs in the window.
The main dining area is up stairs.  It has simple decor and is very clean and white.
The thing that struck me most is the lack of Chinese feel about the place.
The dining area is two small rooms, 1 with 1 table seating 6 and the other only has 4 tables,
2 x 4 seats and 2 x 2 seats.
English music was playing and the initial service was good and friendly. However their English was limited.
The toilet is surprisingly clean although it is a squatty potty not a Western throne.
The air conditioning was very comfortable.

I ordered a Pizza but wasn't sure what I ordered except it had beef and vegies.

While I was waiting, another table vacated and the staff had it cleared and clean quicker than I'd ever seen in China.

When my Pizza arrived, it looked good and smelt great.
The toppings were fairly generous and well distributed.
It was not too oily and the tomato sause base was good and not just tomato sause from a bottle.
The base was cooked to a golden crisp and the cheese had partial tints of golden brown patches,
just how I like it.

All in all, a great Pizza experience

They gave me a menu in Chinese so I'll get it translated and posted here.
The Pizza costs range from 19 - 29 RMB for the 7" and 34 - 50RMB for the 9"
That's about 10RMB more than the Pizza House on ChangJiang Zhong Lu
but I think it's worth it.

I'd rate this Pizza at 4.5 olives and the Pizza House at 4 olives.
===============================================================

Location
Near the temple and stone foot bridge in Bu Xing Jie near Parkson's.

Look for the red acrh shape sign with Let's Enjoy Pizza in English on the left hand side.

                          To the big Park                            Temple
______________|                |________________========______________________________


                                                                                bridge                                    To the Holiday Inn --->
______________________________________                        ____________________________
                                                                   |                      |  Best Beaui'ful
Parkson's                                                      |                      |   Night Club
                                                                   |                      |
                                                                   |                      |
                                                  Old Location|                      | Maya            Many small       Let's Enjoy            Mirror
                                                   of the PSB |                      | Restaurant    restaurants          Pizza                  Bar
                                                                   |                      |__________________________________________________
                                                                   |                            Qin Lao Xiang
                                                                   |                      __________________________________________________
                                                                   |                      | Many more restaurants
                                                                   |                      |
                                                                   |          To        |
                                                                       ChangJiang
                                                                        Zhong Lu

Bon apertit

[rgeczi]

Once again, great map Mike.  I know whereabouts to look exactly.  When you said the old PSB, right away I knew where all the other pieces were around it.  Also, great review.  I will surely try that place out when I have a chance, hopefully this week.

Thanks.

[Aussie Mike]

I managed to get to the Holiday Inn for Pizza.
Pretty good but limited choices. I was able to get a couple of toppings changed.
Still, quite expensive but nice pizza.

I'll probably go back to "Let's Enjoy Pizza" before I go to the Holiday Inn.

[rgeczi]

That's the thing with hotels I find, is that their pizza's are pricey, but it's a hit or miss when it comes to their quality.  To be honest, I found "hotel pizza" not that great.  I only tried one place, but it has soured me a bit on pizza made in hotels.  I do have to get my butt over to Let's Enjoy Pizza.  I can't believe after the review you gave Mike, that I still haven't went there.  Now, I have a ton of time, so I will surely go there during this week, and report back with my review.

In a beautiful world, I would just like to find one amazing pizza place here, possibly talk with the heads of Hefei Expat, and try to work out a deal of discounts for the users of this site.  That would be great, but the problem so far, is that I haven't really found anything outstanding yet. 

[Aussie Mike]

Well, if the money comes my way...
I was a pizza chef in Australia, learnt at Pizza Hut in Brisbane
then owned 2 shops at different times in my life.
Only closed them because I had the need to travel.

[rgeczi]

Wow.  A good map drawer and a "pizza guy".  To me, you are a "jack of all trades".  I also worked in pizza shops back home, but only in a driving capacity, but I did have a chance to check out how they made the pizza.  I don't know about where you worked, but for me, near the end of the night, if the pizza what was put out for slices weren't sold, we could take them home.  God I miss working in pizza places, just for that reason. 

[rgeczi]

I just came back from "Let's Enjoy Pizza", and I have to say, this might be the best pizza in Hefei.  Mike, great find.  I won't go into my usual details for my review because Aussie Mike hit it dead on.  I had a chance to speak with the lady owner who was very nice.  My Chinese is not so great, so I didn't extract as much info as I would have liked to, but it was still nice.  She said the place has been open for about 1 year, and that her and her husband opened it because they loved to eat pizza.  I asked about delivery, and she told me that I am out of their delivery zone.  I asked her to write her delivery zone on the back of a paper, and after my wife gets back from Shanghai, I will get that info posted.  Also, I will note any minimum's they might have for delivery. 

I told her about Hefei Expat and said if she ever had specials or new food items, to please post it on the site.  Maybe get a friend of hers or whatever to post it here.

REVIEW.......great pizza!  I don't have an official rating system like Aussie Mike, but this place.....is tops in my books.

***Forgot to add that I ordered a 9" meat lovers pizza, I guess you can call it.  Take-out.  20 minutes to make it.

[rgeczi]

To add to my list of places,

I went to a new pizza shop that is located on Jin Zhai Road, between Huan Cheng Road and Wuhu Road, on the east side.  Their pizza I would rate it as the same as Pizza Amici, or slightly higher.  It still can't unseat the current leader in my book, Let's Enjoy Pizza.  I ordered a "Supreme Pizza" you can say, with pretty much all the toppings, or at least slighlty leaning toward a meat pizza.  It was a 9" one, and you can also upgrade that in size to a 12".  They also have a 7" one I believe.  The listed price was 50RMB, but because they just opened (about 2 weeks old), they gave a special price of 40RMB.  It was good, but the only downside I think is that it was a tad on the oily side.  As well, they had a cherry in the middle, which threw me off a bit. ha ha  All in all, good pizza.

I also ordered garlic bread and fries.  Because this is a pizza thread, I will just say that if I were you, I would stick with the friench fries, of the two.

A little about the decor, if you ever been to Let's Enjoy Pizza, it's pretty much the same, "homey" kind of feeling.  I like the atmosphere, as well, it's quite big, with some private rooms away from the main dining area, and the place is non-smoking.  I would recommend it for a try.

***Forgot to add that the name of the place is "Gold" something. ha ha  I couldn't get a clear translation from my wife, who said it wasn't the easiest thing to translate.  And by the way, there is no English or pin yin on the outside, so you really have to keep your eyes peeled, or bring along a friend who can read Chinese writing.  My wife new it was a pizza place by the Chinese wrtiing, but if I was by myself, I would have no clue.

***God my memory is bad.  I wanted to add another thing that I promised I would post here, but again, because it's a pizza thread, I will just post it briefly.  They only have one beer, bottled Tsingtao (sp?), for 8RMB, which I think is good.  I am not a big beer bar goer, but I think that price is quite reasonable.

[foodsearcher]

Today I found a very  good pizza shop called "Jin Zun pizza " , which is located in the oppisite of Dao Xiang Lou Hotel. It's clear inside the shop and it's very delicious.Maybe it's the best pizza shop I have been in Hefei.Its telephone No. is 2824608,and it can supply the take-away service. It is very conveniet for people who don't have free time,but still want to eat pizza. And it also has the steak and Italy noodles in there.
Have a try, you will not regret!

[junoir]

Pizza at carrefour, 4th floor would be a nice idea, there are a variety of pizzas less expensive than PIZZA HUT

[rgeczi]

Junior,

I agree.  I refuse to go to Pizza Hut for this reason.  I remember around 5 years ago, I ordered a pizza from them, and from that point on, I said no more.  Overpriced, and not as delicious as what I think either Pizza Amici is, or the other pizza shop that Aussie Mike and I both like (drawing a blank on the name).

[Tim S. Mercurio]

hows about domino's?

they make great pizza

[rgeczi]

Domino's in Hefei?  I didn't know there was one here.  Give me the contact details or address.

Thanks.

[Tim S. Mercurio]

no,

there is no domino's in hefei
how ever
in parkson there is now a dairy queen!