It tastes like Doritos！This oversized 18T pizza is baked with cornmeal flour

Text and photos byLao K

This pizza place was discovered by Mei Ji online. She heard their crust includes cornmeal, which sounded super creative—how could we not try it? Plus, it’s located in Neihu. So, the three of us—Mei Ji, Lao K’s sister, and me—headed there together.

Even though it’s in Neihu, this place is really tucked away in an alley. From Ruiguang Road, turn into Lane 71, Jiangnan Street, then into Alley 16. Make a left when you see TIMAMA CAFE, then take the first right, and you’ll see it up ahead.

This place is truly residential XD. It was Lao K’s first time coming here.

There aren’t many seats inside. We happened to run into some college students celebrating a birthday—the pizzas here are really huge.

Let’s check out the menu on the wall. There are nine pizza flavors in total, which is a bit limited. But looking at the size of the pizza the college students were eating, it must be more than 12T, right? The staff said they had the 18T, and that the 18T can come with four different flavors—which sounded super appealing. We immediately decided to go for the 18T. Everyone discussed and picked the flavors.

You can watch the handsome head chef make the pizzas right in front of you. The chef is also a model, so if you’re into that, come for the pizza and the eye candy XD. The yellowish layer on the crust is the cornmeal.

Then comes the toppings. The four ingredients look really generous. The yellowish stuff on the table is also cornmeal. Lao K touched it—it’s ground very finely, almost like sesame powder, so no worries about biting into hard bits of cornmeal while eating the pizza XD.

18T Four-Cheese Combo Pizza (NT$900)
This thing is seriously huge. We used a bottle of Black Sugar Soda as a size reference—you can see just how big it is. The four flavors are Italian sausage, bacon cheddar, country-style, and spinach blue cheese. Getting all four in one go makes it hard to decide where to start.

Let’s try the spinach blue cheese first. At first, Lao K thought the green stuff was broccoli XD. But nope, it’s definitely spinach. Actually, all four flavors we ordered are pretty rich, but the spinach blue cheese is relatively milder. I was afraid it would be too creamy to eat, but it does have a stronger cheese flavor than your average pizza, though still within acceptable limits. The cheese taste is really rich.

The most special part is the crust—they serve thin-crust pizza, and because of the added cornmeal, it’s super crispy. It’s kind of like eating Doritos, those corn chip snacks. Lao K’s sister loves it, so she thought the crust was great. The staff even brought out their specially made spicy sauce. Dip the crust in it, and it’s numbing, spicy, and super crispy—like eating spicy hotpot XD. But I’d suggest dipping only the crust, because dipping the whole slice overpowers the pizza flavors, leaving only the numbing and spicy taste. They also offer a reheating service—if your pizza cools down, you can ask them to pop it back in the oven to make it extra crispy again.

Next, let’s try the Italian sausage. Since the pizza is so big, the slices are cut smaller, which makes them look a bit less impressive. Their Italian sausage isn’t super salty, which Lao K thinks is actually pretty suitable for pizza since the base flavors are already bold.

The country-style flavor is similar to the Italian sausage, but with added onions and olives. Lao K found the texture much richer—it was actually my favorite flavor of the day.

Finally, we had the bacon cheddar. Turns out cheddar is a type of cheese, which explains its yellowish color. The bacon here isn’t too tough, has a bit of bounce, and isn’t overly salty. But all these pizzas are pretty greasy, so pairing them with something lighter would probably be better.

Lao K’s Tips:
Never expected to find such a unique pizza in such a hidden alleyway. Using cornmeal as part of the crust is actually pretty good—if you’re a fan of corn chips, you should definitely give it a try. I (Lao K) personally don’t love it that much XD, but it’s still worth a shot. Three people can finish an 18T pizza and feel quite full. For girls, though, I’d recommend going with four or more people. They also have a special matcha tiramisu, using matcha powder instead of cocoa on top. The neighboring customers seemed to enjoy it quite a bit. Adventure-seeking foodies shouldn’t miss this.


Lao K’s Personal Rating (out of 10, higher is better)
Taste: 7.8
Value: 7
Ambience: 6
Price: 6
 

Little New York Pizza
Website:http://www.littlenewyork.com.tw/
Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/lnypizza
Address: No. 18, Alley 16, Lane 71, Jiangnan Street, Neihu District, Taipei City
Phone: 02-2658-3708
Business hours: Tuesday to Friday 11:00–14:00, 17:00–20:00
Saturday to Sunday 11:00–21:00 (Closed on Mondays)

Old K
Keep it going, Old K!

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