#pizzaoille

I love pizza, it’s one of the most satisfying dishes that can come out of an oven. There’s something about the combination of white flour, cheese and a good tomato sauce that gives me an insatiable appetite. The first slice of pizza that I can ever remember chowing down on was part of the Cavendish Mall food court in Montreal called Cattleman’s Pizza and back then, it was the best pizza in the world according to what I knew at that young age. I was about five or six years old, and I can remember repeatedly telling my mom that I’d love to go help her with her pharmacy shopping only because after she was done I’d beg her to take me to Cattleman's so I could grab one of their large oily slices. Only then, I would be the happiest kid in the world. I sometimes wonder if it was actually good pizza because back then I didn’t know much, heck even Domino’s was incredible. As I got older and started traveling, I finally made it to New York where I tried some really memorable pies. Eventually I flew out to Italy and experienced how good pizza can actually be and how different it was from the North American style I was used to. The best places were in little alleyways that I would discover while wandering in Rome and it felt like I had found a hidden treasure. I always wondered how these places would survive because they were completely out of sight except for a small chalkboard stand that sat out on the street and pointed people to the alley where the restaurant was located.

I don’t want to bash the pizzerias in Montreal but let's be honest here, we’re not exactly known for our pizza. I decided to go to six places that people say are among the best in Montreal and compare them to each other to see which one would prevail.

The first place is Bar Deco, and they're located in Lachine. These guys were rated number one from a few sources, and they proudly display it on their menu. It’s a small corner bar that's been around for a long time and gained a pretty good reputation over the last few years. I’ve visited Bar Deco a while back and ordered their Brooklyn Style pizza which I found ordinary because the toppings tasted bland and so did the sauce. I wanted to give them another shot so I tried a simpler choice; a margherita with boccacino cheese and sun dried tomatoes (two of my favorite pizza toppings). After waiting almost half an hour, the pizza finally came out. I took my first bite and found myself still disappointed by its dull taste. They overloaded the pizza with freeze dried basil and oregano, and it completely overpowered the pizza. The sauce tasted like canned tomatoes and it didn’t do anything for the dough which was slightly overcooked. The mozzarella cheese that they used was also weak in taste, so the pizza ended up being disappointing on several levels.

The next place has three locations in Montreal, and they're called Pizzaoille. The one in Town of Mont-Royal is unique because it's in front of a train station, and it almost looks a small train car and is about the size of one too. I ordered a fairly simple pizza; cheese, red peppers and chorizo. The dough is light and fluffy and it's covered with sauce that doesn't taste like Prego or Ragu. The cheese was thick and flavorful and the chorizo and red peppers were fresh and complimented everything nicely. Though it wasn’t a great pizza by any means, it was fairly decent and a step above Bar Deco. Every time I drive by this place it's usually always busy and I can understand why, the pizza is really not bad compared to most places.

Elio Pizzeria won CTV news's best pizza and has been around since the 1960’s and I can’t understand why. They should be called Donini or Double Pizza (Well known Montreal pizza delivery places) because their pizza is on the same level. I ordered the vegetarian, and it's too bad because I could have gotten the same taste at Double pizza, but at Double I would have gotten a second one free for the same price. Elio's pizza was sub-par, everything was bland. I also decided to try their pasta which was amateur level at most. This was a big disappointment.

Things seemed like they were starting to become mundane. I needed something different so I went for a pie at Bottega, where a Vesuvian rock wood-burning oven hustles out Neapolitan-style pies in about 90 seconds which optimizes the flavors. Owner Fabrizio Covone has trained for two years in Naples to perfect his craft and came back with a new technique, recipe and oven, bringing the true taste of Napoli to Montreal. To decide on what I wanted to order I let my mind travel back to 2006 where I was roaming through Sicily and had my first pizza with eggplant. I saw that they offer it on La Siciliana. The pizza was fantastic. It was the closest thing to a pizza from Naples; thin crust, delicate fresh snow white Mozzarella and Italian San Marzano tomatoes topped with some basil. I heard people say they don't put enough cheese, but they feel this way because they never had Neapolitan pizza. It's a unique style that emphasizes the taste of the dough and sauce which may be too much of an acquired taste for pizza lovers who are used to American style pizza. Bottega's pizza was my favorite so far. The only thing missing was more basil.

Also following the tradition of authentic Neopolitan pizza is Pizzeria Napoletana, which is the very well known establishment in Little Italy that has been around since 1948. Many people call this pizza place the best in Montreal. I had the Caporale, which was number 3 out of 39 choices, and to make things interesting I ordered bacon on it. I must say that the taste was exceptional. The full-bodied oily meat and an almost neon red tomato sauce made a gorgeous looking pie, and not having enough cheese made the taste of the sauce and meat stand out. The problem was the dough; the pizza was paper thin so not only did it get cold real fast, there wasn't enough dough to promote what was on top of it. If you think Bottega's pizza is thin, wait till you see this one. So the end result was that their pizza was incredibly tasty, but the way they make their dough holds it back from being the city's best pie.

The last one was Restaurant Di Menna; a 60 seat restaurant in Saint-Leonard with a unique stone-wall ambiance that is reminiscent of a cozy European home. They have a great reputation and have been around since 1971. I loved that they have a fireplace and several chandeliers that give off some wonderful dim lighting which made it a great setting to enjoy a pie. The pizza was good, but not excellent. The medium sized crust was nice and crunchy, but the cheese was a bit bland, relying on the sauce to make up for it but it was just average. While I found it was still much better than Elio's, I'd say it was on par with Pizzaoille.

I've also eaten at Amelio's a few years ago, and while I did consider it decent for Montreal pizza, I found it only to be respectable. I am surprised that many people regard it as the best pizzeria in Montreal.