A New King?: Royal Pizza (Old Strathcona)
Before we start, a massive thanks from the PizzaMonsters to everybody who has liked us, tweeted to us, subscribed, sent messages and recommendations, and also to the newspapers and radio stations for their interest. The response has been overwhelming... Kingston was absolutely blown away, and so was I! So thank you, thank you.
To business. Whilst Royal Pizza is located in a strip mall, as was the location of our first review, it doesn't suffer from the lack of character and atmosphere that Slice Pizzeria does. Although having a packed house as Royal Pizza did when we were there, versus the two filled tables at Slice (of which we were one) certainly plays a part in the atmosphere.
This is one of those places where the smell hits you as soon as you walk in the door, and you just know it's going to be good. Though the restaurant is quite large, it still retains a cozy feel and provides a healthy number of booths and tables in a very clean environment. We chose a spot right in the back where with the tall booths we were a little out of sight, but we were quickly spotted by our Server, who turned out to be the owner's son and was great and very attentive throughout.
Royal is definitely a more family friendly kind of Pizza Joint, which was reflected in their clientele that night (Friday, 7pm). They do provide crayons and a colour-able Kids Menu which certainly helps distract hungry 6 year olds and helps pass the time as you wait for your pizza to bake. Speaking of which...
The Grub
1x Medium (10") Donair Meat & Mushroom Pizza
1x Alexander Keiths (Bottle)
1x Orange Fanta
The Damage
$24.00 (-tax & tip)
Kingston
The Place: 4 - It smells reallllly good. It's huuuuuuge in here! We got to sit right under a castle and I got to colour.
The Crust: 4 - Yes. It's a little bit crunchy and I think I like Deep Dish now. Can we have more like this?
The Sauce: 3 - I think it needs more, but it's yummy sauce.
The Cheese: 4 - There is so much cheese! It's chewy and I can stretch it...
The Toppings: 3.5 - I could tell these mushrooms were mushrooms and they were good. The meat is good too but not my favourite.
The Drink: 4.5 - It has the power of like, 100 orange sodas in 1 orange soda!!
PizzaMonsters Verdict: 3.5 At first, i thought it looked weird and like a pie, not a pizza. (I think we eat a lot of thin crust style pizza, and so this more of a Deep Dish style threw him for a loop -Steve) But it was really good and the cheese was my favourite, soooo good. I would eat pizza here again.
3.5/5 PizzaMonsters
Parmesan Cheese & Chili Flakes were provided at the table.
Steve
The Place: 4 - While it won't win any style awards, it was roomy, cozy, clean, and smelled great.
The Crust: 3.5 - Crunchy, yet soft and quite delicious. Cooked to a golden brown. Quite deep... though it has to be to handle all that cheese!
The Sauce: 3 - I'm starting to think I might be an "extra sauce" kinda guy. It was good but needed some more.
The Cheese: 4.5 - This is cheese done right! A very generous amount, baked perfectly. Chewy and delicious.
The Toppings: 3.5 - Donair Meat (an Edmonton favourite) and White Mushrooms - The thinly sliced Donair Meat had a good kick to it and was plentiful. The large mushroom slices were moist and tasty.
The Drink: 4 - Ice cold bottle of Keiths. They do have a couple of beers on tap too.
The Leftovers: 4 - Great as cold leftovers, even the mushrooms which aren't great on old pizza usually I find. Perhaps the under the cheese layering was a factor.
PizzaMonsters Verdict: 4 Very good pizza, the fundamentals were all very much looked after. Crispy golden crust, check. Good sauce, check. Slathered in gobs of stretchy cheese, check. This is only review #2, but the crown is in Royal Pizza's hands so far. Who can challenge them Edmonton?
4/5 PizzaMonsters
As the weeks & months go on, the PizzaMonsters will explore those pizza places and munch our way through their best pizzas to try and find the Magic Golden Super Best Pizza in Edmonton! Stay with us...
