Restaurant Review: Choose your own toppings at Mad for Pizza

Bonding over food is a common activity for family and friends, and it becomes even more fun when you are trying out a new restaurant. That’s what my college buddies and I did recently when we met up for lunch at this new restaurant concept called Mad for Pizza. Like what the name suggests, the establishment serves the Italian favorite — but this one is better because you can actually customize pizzas to your preference. 

 

The casual dining place had a fun atmosphere with its diner-like interiors and loud music blaring in the background. My guy friend Aeus immediately noticed the glam rock sounds and asked the server if it’s the type of music that they normally play in the restaurant. He nodded and grinned when he got a positive answer. I guess lunch was off to a good start.

 

I, on the other hand, hardly paid attention to the cool songs and instead focused on making my own pizza creation. The server went to my side and gave me a slip of paper with dough (classic, garlic parmesan, herb, spinach) and sauce choices for my pizza order. I ticked off spinach dough and a combination of half white sauce and half red sauce. Once the base was done, they called me to go to the counter and choose from all the 40 toppings. 

 

There were so many vegetable selections, meat options, and cheese varieties — name it, they’ve got it. It was a bit overwhelming. I had to control myself and decided to think of a pizza theme to make things easier. 

 

I opted for Mediterranean flavors so I asked the guy behind the counter to layer on the artichokes, olives, mushrooms, spinach, feta cheese and mozzarella cheese on my pizza. I skipped the meat and made it a vegetarian pizza. It only took a few minutes to bake my pizza, which tasted as mouthwatering as it looked. I couldn’t believe that this toppings-all-you-can customized pizza cost only P280. Not bad at all.

 

I learned that the owners of the establishment thought of this restaurant concept a few years ago, even before the well-known competition was brought here from the US. “This is homegrown — all local,” according to Justin Chua, one of the owners. “We emphasized on the thought of giving value to the customers money.” 

 

Mad for Pizza was actually the brainchild of Cyril Reyes, who had years of experience in various restaurants and hotel chains in the metro. Reyes and the Chua siblings officially opened the restaurant in June 2014.

 

Other must-try meals

 

The pizza was not the only affordable dish on the menu; in fact, the most expensive was the Appetizer Sampler at P348 — the only item on the menu that was over P300. 

 

It included some fried calamari, chicken crispers, and fully loaded nachos, which is best eaten right away so the chips won’t get soggy. It didn’t come with a dipping sauce but we requested one from the server and she obliged. This dish was really meant for sharing. We were four in the group but we weren’t able to finish everything on that plate, probably because we knew that there were more to come.

 

To have a healthy component in our meal, we ordered some House Salad, a plate full of chopped lettuce, chunks of fresh ripe mangoes, tomato bits, boiled egg slices, which is topped with some lemon Dijon dressing. I must say, they did not scrimp on the dressing. I wished there were more leafy greens though.

 

To complement our pizza, we got a couple of pasta bowls — Spaghetti Bolognese and Spaghetti Carbonara, both of which had healthy servings of sauce. I liked the chunkiness of the tomato sauce in the tangy Bolognese, and the savory combination of bacon and mushrooms in the creamy Carbonara. I’m glad I was there with three other people, friends who didn’t mind sharing the calories.

 

To break the pizza-pasta monotony, we also ordered the Angus Beef Belly in Adobo Sauce, an original restaurant creation. The meat was tender and flavorful having been soaked in its marinade overnight. The semi-sweet adobo sauce added another depth of flavor. This dish was served with rice and a side of corn kernels. This menu offering was a good move so diners would have more options and not get tired of the usual pizza and pasta. Other main dish choices were the Tennessee Pork Spareribs and Classic Fish and Chips.

 

I washed down every morsel with a big glass of Frozen Iced Tea, a refreshing shake concoction of concentrated iced tea with the fruity flavors of calamansi and pineapple. My other friend opted for the Salted Caramel Milkshake, a rich beverage that was made with vanilla ice cream, and caramel sauce with salt infusion. I tasted it as well and I thought it would be best as a dessert rather than something to accompany your meal. There were a few other dessert options in the menu, but I highly recommend that you get the milkshake as your sweet ending. — JST, GMA News

 

Mad for Pizza is located at 2/F Il Terrazzo Building, 305 Tomas Morato Ave. corner Scout Madriñan St. Quezon City, 1104. Follow social media accounts: Mad for Pizza on Facebook and @MadForPizza both for Instagram and Twitter. For delivery and take out, call (02) 351-2621.