Tan Kim Hock Durian Candy - $1.90

Some shop in Yong Peng, Johor Darul Takzim, Malaysia.

You’re gonna get a kick outta this post… Durian Candy! From a shop I normally visit to get Otak-Otak (I’ll post about that some time later) in Yong Peng, Johor. It’s about 125 miles from home, but whenever I go to Singapore I’d stop by Yong Peng for some otak-otak on my way home.

At $1.90 a pack with probably 20-25 pieces inside, it’s pretty expensive by Malaysian standards. This is also not the best durian candy I’ve tried. I’m no fan of durian but I’d at least like durian flavoured products to taste a bit like actual durian.  So no, this candy doesn’t have a strong flavour, doesn’t leave you smelling like durian after, there’s just nothing outstanding about this.

So in an effort to make this post worthwhile I’ll add some more pics from the night BEFORE I bought the durian candy. Stayed a night in Johor Bahru for the fun of it and bought the following for dinner: nasi lemak, keropok ikan (fish crackers), A Capricciosa pizza slice from Monty’s, and otak-otak.

You should know about nasi lemak by now, except this is the other way you find it; in a wrapped triangle. Banana leaf inlay and paper under that, wrapped into a little triangle, usually no more than 1-2 ringgit depending on size. This one I paid RM1.50 for, so $0.50 cents. But notice the serving is not exactly a full meal by your standards.

Nor mine of course, hence the Capricciosa pizza slice. I’m not gonna say much except that it’s a whole lotta bread and not enough toppings, I remembered it being much much better the last time I had this over 1.5 years ago, but that was the morning after some heavy drinking so maybe that’s why.

For sides I also got some keropok ikan or fish crackers, deep fried of course. Sorry for the lousy pics I was half high on a cheap bottle of Highland Park 12 year old scotch, and also starving so that’s the only pic of the keropok I got.

Anyways, last thing I got was some otak-otak. That’s basically blended fish and I’m assuming some spices cos it’s usually very slightly spicy. The typical way of serving it as you can see is to wrap it in between 2 banana leaf folds stapled on ends and grilled over charcoal fire. If I’m not wrong this is an authentic Malaysian dish, a Peranakan invention from north Malaysia. I think. It’s good shit. Fun fact: otak means “brain” in Malay, and in the language the same word said twice with a dash usually means plural…. So otak-otak would mean brains.

The end.

Pizza from Papa John's - $???

1162 Pulaski Highway, Bear, DE - (302)832-2600

My usual order for pizza is sausage & mushroom, but they happened to have a deal for three toppings so I added jalapeno so that the last topping wouldn't go to waste. I like that Papa John's throws in a little tub of garlic butter with each pizza. It really makes the crust more fun to eat.

Anyway, Papa John's is pretty reliable with their pizza - it's pretty standard fare. Don't know what else to say about it.

Bolognese Pizza from Pizza Volante - $7?

82 Session Road, Baguio City, Philippines

On the second day of our Philippines trip, we were at Baguio, a small highland city with a population size of a large one. Kinda killed the fun of being at a highland (where the weather is a nice 68°F, an awesome relieve from the average South-East Asian temperature of 80-88°F), as this means over-crowded streets, and major major polution.

Anyways, Session Road is where the action is, and I noticed it was packed with pizza joints, among other things. Yellow Cab, Greenwich, Pizza Hut, Shakey’s & Pizza Volante on the same street, about 2 blocks long. Now if they’re that passionate about pizza, they should theoretically rock at making it, so we had to give it a go as part of the Filipino experience.

First pizza was an 8” Bolognese. I know, pretty boring flavour, not my choice. Without trying to sound daft, it tasted like spaghetti on bread and a lotta cheese. OK so it does sound a bit daft, but hey, I write ‘em as I taste ‘em.

Next pizza is a 6” whutchamacallit. I forgot the name. It was beef something. Why I don’t remember is a combination of it being over a month ago and the pizza being very un-memorable. It was.. mehh.. it had a strong red wine taste to it and nothing else that stands out.

This was all the time I could afford for pizza in Philippines, but I just googled Pizza Volante and I see some people raving about how this is one of the better places to get pizza in Philippines. Based on that, I’ll have to say I was wrong about them rocking at pizza making.

Oh here’s a San Miguel Strong Ice that went with my pizza. It was, as with all other San Miguel beers, good but made better with the price being only $1. This is standard  throughout the country, prices ranging from $0.60 to $1.50 for bottled beer. Why drink Coke when you can have a San Miguel!

Thin Crust Shrimp Pizza from Giordano's - $15.85

119 South Main Street, Naperville, IL - (630) 428-2111

This price will get you the thin crust, medium, 12" shrimp pizza. Not worth it.

There are so many things wrong here. Firstable, what am I doing getting a thin crust pizza from a joint that specializes in deep dish? Secondly, that doesn't look like $4 worth of shrimp topping. Also, ordering shrimp from a pizza joint located in the Midwest isn't the greatest idea either.

But hey, sometimes you have to be adventurous to find that special dish. And it wasn't completely bad - the shrimp pizza was actually pretty good. It just wasn't worth the price.

NY Style Pizza from Sbarro - $3.99

4737 Concord Turnpike, Wilmington, DE - (302)477-9850

First off, I'm not sure exactly which Sbarro I ordered this from. It was at one of the rest areas on Route 80 in the middle of Ohio, but I threw down some address in Wilmington, DE instead just to have something there. The reason I brought this up is because rest areas are usually more expensive than other locations so $3.99 may be a bit inflated.

Anyway, as you can see from the picture, there's nothing in particular that makes an NY style pizza stand out from any other typical pizza. I mean, I guess it's big and has a thin crust, but so what? It's like ordering an extra large thin crust from any pizza joint. That's why I'll always prefer the Chicago deep dish.

There is one other style I've heard many praises over and that's the Connecticut style. Who knew? Anyway, I hope to one day try their pizza.

Deep Dish Pizza from Giordano's - $26.75

1040 West Belmont Avenue, Chicago, IL - (773)327-1200

Here's Chicago's trademark - the deep dish pizza. It's ooey, gooey, soft and chewy inside and crispy, crunchy, buttery crust outside. Gotta love it. Three slices of heaven is about all I can handle before food coma knocks me out cold... but you can bet I have a smile on my face.

There is one downer to this pizza however - it takes 40 minutes to an hour to create this beast of a pie. But as the saying goes, good things come to those that wait...

Chicken Alfredo Pizza from Olive Garden - $10.75

1279 New Churchman's Road, Christiana, DE - (302)731-5430

As you can see, this isn't your traditional pizza. It's topped with grilled chicken, Italian cheeses, alfredo sauce (instead of marinara), and scallions.

I'm disappointed that they skimped out on the chicken purely for looks, but the pizza itself was still okay. Personally, I enjoy a lot of red sauce, so a pizza without marinara already at a disadvantage.

The pizza also comes with your choice of soup or salad. I went with the mediocre pasta e fagioli. The best thing I can say about this soup is that it's hearty.