Pizza Maru

Pizza in Korea really is a wonderful thing... depending on where you buy it and what you get on it. Just like everywhere else I supposed.

Korea has a few different major chains in two varieties:

1. Western Style Pizza
   
2. Korean Style Pizza
   

The two are not actually as different as you might imagine. Korea has most of the major pizza chains -- Pizza Hut, Domino's, Papa John's -- and many of their pizzas are not so unlike home. You must be careful though when you visit as some of the pizza toppings are very much so not what you would expect. In a nutshell there's a lot of fish and Asian sweet potato on pizza here. The western style pizza is also priced in the same price range as at home, which when you are used to shopping and eating in Korea is a ridiculous price to pay for anything... other foods here are so cheap that it makes pizza seem like a luxury.

This is where the Korean style pizza comes in. If you are a fan of a medium sized thin crust pizza for $5 with delicious toppings, then these are the kind of places for you. Most of them have English names, as pizza is considered a western dish, but they have become very Koreanized in some cases. Places like Pizza Maru, Pizza School etc. sell delicious and cheap pizza that I routinely take advantage of, perhaps a little more often than I should. :)

My favourite pizza chain that I have found so far is Pizza Maru which luckily (unluckily?) for me is approximately 3 mins away from my apartment, and I go there at least once a week with the girls from work. They have this really neat green crust, which sounds a little strange until you taste it and discover that it's delicious!

It's run by this kind man below and his family:

He's always soo busy when we are there, and seems to work really hard but always has a warm smile for us when we stop by, and the pizzas are delicious. Sometimes when we drop by after work, his kids -- two boys-- are there hanging out. He has an older boy (9-10 years?) and a younger boy (maybe 3). One day, when I got here first, the littlest boy had lots of boogies all over his face so I took a tissue and handed it to him -- or so I thought. Instead of taking the tissue I offered, he just leaned into my hand... and blew! As I guess it is perfectly natural for a three-year-old boy to do.