Cycle 3 – Item 159

12 (Tue) June 2012

Pizza Margherita

3.5

at The Corner Kitchen

-Oksu, Seongdong, Seoul, Republic of Korea-

with W and DJ (and IZ)

The Corner Kitchen is an Italian restaurant.  Specializes in Napoli-style pizza.

Pizza Margherita is an Italian dish.  It’s a pizza comprising tomato sauce + mozzarella + fresh basil.  Supposedly invented in 1889, in Napoli, in honor of the Queen Margherita.  The colors are said to represent the Italian flag.  At fancy Italian restaurants in Korea these days, pizza margherita is regarded as the most basic pie, the cheapest option, synonymous with cheese pizza.

The pizza was amazing.  Cooked for about 90 seconds in the oven, the crust is the chewiest and most delectable that I’ve ever had, certainly in Korea, perhaps anywhere in the world – almost too chewy, making me suspect that the recipe contains more than just flour, like glutinous rice powder.  In any case, it outdoes The Pizza Peel and The Kitchen Salvatore.  In fact, the menu contains a “D.O.C.” pizza that the owner conceded was a direct ripoff of Salvatore’s.  The tomato sauce and cheese were unremarkable but good enough.  The prices –  starting at 13,000 won for this basic margherita, up to 18,500 won with fancier toppings, and thankfully no additional VAT – weren’t absurdly high, though still not cheap considering the size of the portions, each pie just barely enough for a hungry adult male.  But totally worth it, whatever the cost.

(See also FOOD GLOSSARY)

(See also RESTAURANTS IN KOREA)