The Frozen Pizza Challenge: Part Two

Having experienced relative success with the last Top Valu brand pizza (and having nothing better to do on a Friday night), I've decided to continue the grand cross-cultural experiment. You could say that the previous pizza was something of a safe bet, as it was comprised of mostly recognizable ingredients. As such, I decided to branch out a little today and try the shrimp and squid pizza. You know how the old saying goes. When in Rome, eat shrimp and squid pizza.

Brand: Top Valu
Toppings: Ebi to Ika (Shrimp and Squid)
Price: about $4


I wasn't expecting to like this pizza so much, I really wasn't. But wow, was it surprisingly satisfying. This time I left it in a bit longer, so the whole thing was pretty uniformly cooked yet not burned. All of the elements on this pizza were well balanced and the chewiness of the squid really added something in terms of texture. I noticed this time around that the sauce is quite garlicky but it actually kind of works. It even had some cracked pepper sprinkled on the top for an extra bit of kick. Just about the only bad things I can say about this one are that the cheese was a little bland and the crust was about the same as the previous one (that is to say, soft on the underside).

Final Grade: B+
Aside from the unfortunate crust (which seems endemic to Japanese frozen pizza), I can't really say anything bad about this pie. Clearly the best one yet.