FatManSeoul

Pizza Mall is pretty darn low on the totem pole of pizza parlors here in Korea. With fancy-schmancy international chains like Pizza Hut, Dominos, Papa John’s, and California Pizza Kitchen alongside domestic divas like Mr. Pizza, what’s the neighborhood tomato smasher to do? Pizza Mall has stayed in the game by offering very domestic interpretations and lower prices than the other chains, and skipping delivery. Of all the pizza joints in Korea, Pizza Mall is the one that keeps things low-key and cheap while still having a neighborhood dine-in vibe. These dynamic play out in one of their newer pizza offerings: The Seafood Rice Pizza.

Topped with shrimp, squid, cherry tomatos, peppers, and curry-flavored rice sprinkled in the cheese and sauce, the Seafood Rice Pizza is their newest premium pizza. And while it may be covered with some of those objectionable and unidentifiable “bulgogi”-style sauces, clocking in at a meager 13,000 won per pizza, this ain’t a bad deal. In fact, that’s around half the cost of most of the pizzas served up at the major chains, and well below the cost of most of their premium pizzas. The squid may have been dry and chewy, but there was something compelling about the grains of rice in sauce that puts this pizza in the category of objectively gross, but still, kinda yummy.   Enjoy some low-key pizza in chill, cheap ambiance and give your fancy-schmancy brick-oven hand-tossed flatbread with cheese place a rest.
Pizza Malls are everywhere, but this one came from Gangnam. Go track it down next time you have a cheap Italian food itch to scratch.