As much as I love to go out to eat, I often cook at home (as mentioned many times). However, when neither option is feasible, I do what many do - take out pizza. At one point, I would just get some Panago and that was that. But somewhere along the way, Panago became a "gourmet" pizza joint and prices just do not seem all that attractive anymore. Hence, I'd much rather hit up one of the many other less known pizza shops. So after picking up my daughter from her art class, I got some pizza and other things from Mr. Pan Pizza & Indian Cuisine.
I ended up choosing the "Family Special" that included two 3-topping pizzas, Lasagna (or Lizanga as it was appeared on the placard), Garlic Bread, Salad and 2-litre pop for $33.00. By the looks of it, the garlic bread and salad were definitely throw-ins as they were not that great. The bread was not toasted and wasn't very soft nor garlicky. Browning, lifeless and dressing-less, we didn't touch the salad. As for the Pizzas, they were acceptable with a pan-crust that was semi-thick and dense. It wasn't greasy at all and nicely browned on the bottom. There was no lack of cheese nor toppings including plenty of non-fatty bacon, pepperoni and mushrooms on the first pizza. The second featured an equal amount of bacon, ham and pineapple. We found the sauce to be mildly tangy and overly sweet.
The Lasagna was pretty typical of a take-out pizza place, but it didn't lack cheese on top (which was not burnt nor too overcooked). We found lasagna noodles quite soft and not seasoned. Hence, there was lack of depth in terms of flavour. All of it came from the sauce which wasn't too tart, yet very peppery. It wasn't enough to flavour the bland noodles though. To get a taste of the Indian food portion of the menu, I got a Butter Chicken with naan and rice. I asked for medium and it resulted in a spicy butter chicken. Beyond that, there was a significant tomato paste slant to the dish while still creamy enough to balance it out somewhat. The chunks of chicken were large and sufficiently moist and flavourful. This was a pretty decent butter chicken given the venue.
Even the Naan was half-decent being fluffy and chewy at the same time. There was a significant char on the bottom which added a nuttiness and slight smoky flavour. So in the end, the pizza was passable while the one Indian dish we had was pretty good. Given the pricing and the amount of food, we thought it was fair deal. For me at least, I would be more interested in going back to try their Indian food over the pizza and pasta.
The Good:
- Decent Indian food
- Fair pricing
The Bad:
- The garlic bread and salad were terrible
- Pizza and pasta were average
2 comments:
For a cheap, non-gourmet pizza, we have been ordering from Pappa Joes (Hastings @ Willingdon) for years. Decent pizza for the price, they usually get the pizza right and delivered quickly. They also offer Indian and Greek items, though I haven't tried them.
i have been ordering take out from here too, but strictly the Indian food. So far i have ordered take out from here about 8-9 times. The butter chicken seems to be just ok/meh...lately fairly watery sauce and small amounts of cheap chicken pieces. The rest of the dishes are good...lamb curry, korma, the veggie dishes, Ok naan bread (ive had much better )..friendly people and prices are decent. They really need to offer good beef samosas such as James STREET Grill on canada way/boundary BBY. The doughy tasteless veg/chicken samosas here at Mr.Pan pizza kinda suck ass.
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