SB and I were trapped in the retail hell that is Causeway Bay on the weekend because it was our last chance to buy presents for the family before he goes back on Friday. At around 7pm he turned to me and very abruptly asked what we were doing for dinner. Uh oh.
I am very familiar with that tone of voice; it is the prelude to the raging storm of hunger. It is a very discomfiting tone because often appears without warning and when it is too late to change the course. We were entering a hunger freak out.
Luckily Slices Pizzeria opened its doors very close to where we were and we quickly hoofed it over to the shop. SB really likes Slices. He thinks the pizza crust is the best in Hong Kong. Being a carb addict, he grades pizza not by the quality of the toppings or sauce but by the crust. The toppings and sauce are good enough but the crust is what makes the pizza at Slices. It is very close to a New York pizza crust rather than the thin char of my beloved Napoli style or the fluffiness of the Roman style. The Slices crust is thin with a crisp outer layer and chewy center. When we were last at Slices the owner told us that he uses a special flour from Italy. Or at least I think that was what he said over the sound of SB trying to inhale his pizza.
The owner of Slices is often around, moving between it and his other enterprise, the frozen yogurt shop across the street. He is always to be found with a smile on his face and willingness to chat about food. This time he was not in the pizzeria. Instead were some sweet looking, young women. SB thought they were clueless while I wondered if they were high. SB placed an order for their largest sized pizza with pepperoni and green peppers. This did not compute and they tried to explain to him that they didn't have that topping in their display of ready to eat slices. He explained that he wanted to order a whole pizza with two toppings. "You want to order a 22 inch pepperoni pizza?" "Yes, with green peppers. I want pepperoni and green peppers." He repeated this at least three times. I was talking on the phone but after hearing him repeat his order over and over again I walked over to the counter to see if there was a problem. I was concerned about his hunger but he was behaving himself. His last repeat seemed to have worked and they rang us up for a pepperoni and green pepper pizza.
Fifteen minutes later we sat down with our order to discover a pepperoni pizza. No green peppers. I thought his head was going to explode but he calmly took the pizza to the counter and pointed at it, then showed his receipt for the pepperoni and green pepper pizza. The shop girls looked at each other helplessly. Perhaps they could add some green pepper, I suggested. They finally agreed and placed a few peppers on the pizza and put it back in the oven. After two minutes SB asked them to take the pizza out of the oven. He needed to eat. Pronto.
His beloved crust was overcooked from having been in the oven twice but at that point he was so hungry that we would have eaten baked cardboard. Once he finished eating I rushed him out of the pizzeria. When he gets into the state of ravenously hungry + delayed from eating he will continue freaking out for another hour after he has been fed. The sweet young things at the counter waved goodbye, oblivious to the raging stomach beast that was trying to break free and kill someone.
If we were in the States I would be absolutely convinced that they were high. My high school friends who worked in pizzerias back home were all stoners. They would get baked with the pizza. I used to worry about stoned pizza delivery drivers but apparently pot makes you move slowly as opposed to alcohol where you are reckless. This must be why pizza always takes 45 minutes to be delivered in the States. It takes less than ten minutes to bake the pizza and the rest of the time is for the driver to creep along at 1 km/hr to your house while singing along to Phish.
Even overcooked, the pizza was great. We highly recommend it, especially when the owner is present. Or if you prefer the view, the sweet young things are very pleasant to look at.
Slices Pizzeria
Shop 4&5, G/F, 128-132 Leighton Road
I am very familiar with that tone of voice; it is the prelude to the raging storm of hunger. It is a very discomfiting tone because often appears without warning and when it is too late to change the course. We were entering a hunger freak out.
Luckily Slices Pizzeria opened its doors very close to where we were and we quickly hoofed it over to the shop. SB really likes Slices. He thinks the pizza crust is the best in Hong Kong. Being a carb addict, he grades pizza not by the quality of the toppings or sauce but by the crust. The toppings and sauce are good enough but the crust is what makes the pizza at Slices. It is very close to a New York pizza crust rather than the thin char of my beloved Napoli style or the fluffiness of the Roman style. The Slices crust is thin with a crisp outer layer and chewy center. When we were last at Slices the owner told us that he uses a special flour from Italy. Or at least I think that was what he said over the sound of SB trying to inhale his pizza.
The owner of Slices is often around, moving between it and his other enterprise, the frozen yogurt shop across the street. He is always to be found with a smile on his face and willingness to chat about food. This time he was not in the pizzeria. Instead were some sweet looking, young women. SB thought they were clueless while I wondered if they were high. SB placed an order for their largest sized pizza with pepperoni and green peppers. This did not compute and they tried to explain to him that they didn't have that topping in their display of ready to eat slices. He explained that he wanted to order a whole pizza with two toppings. "You want to order a 22 inch pepperoni pizza?" "Yes, with green peppers. I want pepperoni and green peppers." He repeated this at least three times. I was talking on the phone but after hearing him repeat his order over and over again I walked over to the counter to see if there was a problem. I was concerned about his hunger but he was behaving himself. His last repeat seemed to have worked and they rang us up for a pepperoni and green pepper pizza.
Fifteen minutes later we sat down with our order to discover a pepperoni pizza. No green peppers. I thought his head was going to explode but he calmly took the pizza to the counter and pointed at it, then showed his receipt for the pepperoni and green pepper pizza. The shop girls looked at each other helplessly. Perhaps they could add some green pepper, I suggested. They finally agreed and placed a few peppers on the pizza and put it back in the oven. After two minutes SB asked them to take the pizza out of the oven. He needed to eat. Pronto.
His beloved crust was overcooked from having been in the oven twice but at that point he was so hungry that we would have eaten baked cardboard. Once he finished eating I rushed him out of the pizzeria. When he gets into the state of ravenously hungry + delayed from eating he will continue freaking out for another hour after he has been fed. The sweet young things at the counter waved goodbye, oblivious to the raging stomach beast that was trying to break free and kill someone.
If we were in the States I would be absolutely convinced that they were high. My high school friends who worked in pizzerias back home were all stoners. They would get baked with the pizza. I used to worry about stoned pizza delivery drivers but apparently pot makes you move slowly as opposed to alcohol where you are reckless. This must be why pizza always takes 45 minutes to be delivered in the States. It takes less than ten minutes to bake the pizza and the rest of the time is for the driver to creep along at 1 km/hr to your house while singing along to Phish.
Even overcooked, the pizza was great. We highly recommend it, especially when the owner is present. Or if you prefer the view, the sweet young things are very pleasant to look at.
Slices Pizzeria
Shop 4&5, G/F, 128-132 Leighton Road
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