Last updated on December 12th, 2024 at 01:15 pm

SEARCHING FOR THE BEST PIZZA IN BANGKOK

See that photo above? That is me, and I am addicted to New York pizza. But I wasn’t in NYC when I took that photo. I wasn’t even in the USA. I was on the other side of the planet. Bangkok, Thailand to be exact.

And in my hand, a proper NY slice

For the past year, I’ve been reviewing pizzerias in Bangkok. I can tell you with certainty—this city’s got the goods. While most pizza restaurants in Thailand are leaning towards Neapolitan style, NYC-style pizza is slowly gaining traction.

I’ve made it my mission to eat and review as much pizza as I can in Thailand!

MY PIZZA QUALIFICATIONS

I grew up in New York City. Specifically on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. It’s the early 1980s, and back then, there were many local Italian pizzerias in and around my old stomping grounds

I still remember going to pizzerias with my dad, grabbing a couple of slices and a soda together. I don’t remember what we talked about—just two guys enjoying pizza. Those were good times.

When I was old enough to go out on my own, as if a rite of passage, my parents gave me .75 cents to get a slice for lunch. At the same time, avoid the possibility of getting beaten, stabbed, and robbed in that specific order.

I remind you it was the mid-1980s. Peak crack epidemic era. Crackheads everywhere. Also, a time when Chinese triads ran amuck looking to stop any Chinese kid with a funny hairstyle “on their turf” with .75 cents jingling in their pocket, just ripe for collection.

Back in those days, NYC was life and death I tell you. It’s a miracle I’m still alive. I remember walking alone to Gino’s Pizza on Catherine Street, Richard’s Pasta and Cafe on Pearl Street, Famous Ray’s Pizza (most of them), and Pizza Palace on Bayard. When I got back home I would relish my reward.

I can relate to Neatherdals going out in the wild hunting mammoths. Or a hyena back from a successful scavenger hunt. NYC was just that bad.

From then on I’ve eaten pizzas all over NYC’s 5 boroughs. Most taste the same. And then there are the pizzeria gems. Whether good or bad, pizza is pizza.

Though looking back and counting my lucky stars, it was a privilege to walk a few minutes from where I lived. And smell the sweet, sweet aroma of a freshly baked cheese pizza bubbling away inside a gas oven.

New York Style pizzas are thin and crispy. The outer crust is not fluffy but has a yeasty bite. A well-made cheese pizza with a generous sprinkling of garlic powder and dried oregano afterward. And a dash of spicy chili flakes is a must!

It’s the best I tell ya! THE BEST!

BUT I’M NOT IN NYC ANYMORE

I’ve been living in Bangkok for over 25 years now. It wasn’t until five or six years ago that NYC-style pizza started gaining traction in Thailand.

Before that, options for ‘Western’ style pizza in Thailand were limited. You could find Neapolitan-style pizzas in hotel restaurants, and Pizza Hut—Thailand’s first American pizza chain—arrived in the ’70s, but it wasn’t the same.

I recall there were a few small foreign-owned pizzerias near a red-light district in Bangkok. This made sense since those areas are popular spots where many foreign tourists go to drink and “socialize”.

Then there are the local Thai interpretations of pizza: a round piece of baked dough topped with mayonnaise and ketchup. With non-traditional toppings like imitation crab, squid chunks, and hot dogs. But I get it—the locals love their version of ‘pizza’ too, and I don’t blame them.

That’s not to say decent or pizza as close to as I know it was never around Thailand. Like everything else around the world that people are passionate about there is an origin story.

SO MUCH GREAT FOOD IN THAILAND, WHY PIZZA?

Pizza is in my blood. Cut me, and I bleed tomato sauce and cheese—mostly cheese. Just ask my doctor; it’s probably in my medical records. When you’re away from something you love eating for so long, the craving only grows stronger. You just want to be near it, to savor it, to become one with it. I hope I’m not coming off too creepy.

I’m sure there’s a Thai national who’s been living in NYC for two decades, still searching for the perfect Tom Yum Goong or Khao Soi in one of the boroughs—just the way they remember it from growing up in Bangkok.

I do love Thai food and even wrote a How to Order Thai foods in Bangkok guide.

A SHORT HISTORY OF PIZZA IN THAILAND

The fast food business in Thailand started slowly with a cold reception. As the founder of Pizza Hut in Thailand stated in this article, dairy in cheese form wasn’t popular with Thais. And neither was bread.

Times have changed and the Western diet is quickly taking hold in Thailand and most of Asia. Cheese is widely eaten and then some. Seems like many Asian countries are finding a whole bunch of reasons to add cheese to everything today.

For example, bubble tea and donuts. No, I’m not making that up.

Currently, there are 180 Pizza Hut Thailand restaurants and delivery outlets. Pizza Hut’s main rival The Pizza Company has 560 branches.

Domino’s Pizza Thailand has the least branches. They are quickly growing in popularity.

Today chain pizza restaurants spend heavily on flashy commercials that are advertised on social media, and traditional media. And it’s working. The younger Thai population is crazy about fast food pizza. Plus it’s affordable. Often you’ll find a buy 1 get 1 free promotion all for under 500B for medium-sized pan pizzas.

Fancy Pizzas in Thailand (Neopolitan Pizza)

Over time, restaurants serving Napoli or Neopolitan-style pizza—or as I like to call them, fancy pizzas—began to appear as well. Many casual Italian dining spots, often opened by foreigners, became popular, especially throughout Bangkok and Pattaya.

Even a famous NYC Neapolitan pizza restaurant Roberta’s has tossed their hat into the pizza ring in Bangkok! I haven’t had a chance to review them yet but it’s on my calendar book after I lose a few pounds.

THE ARRIVAL OF NEW YORK STYLE PIZZA IN BANGKOK

If I remember correctly I found SOHO Pizza through an advert on my Facebook feed. It looked legit with the classic New York style slice appearance. Matter of fact they sold pizza by the slice like they do in parts of America. And they had the name SOHO in it.

Soho (South of Houston Street) is one of those fancy-schmancy neighborhoods in Lower Manhattan, with many popular old-school pizzerias dotted throughout the area.

With SOHO pizza ads crammed in my face, I decided to try it out with my wife at their flagship restaurant on Sukhumvit Soi 11.

I gotta say, I was pleasantly surprised with the first bite. It was excellent, as close to NYC-style pizza as you can get halfway across the world.

The cheese, the crust, the zingy tomato sauce. And oh yeah, the grease. You know the grease that runs down your hand leaving a yellow-orange streak, down to your elbows if you’re not careful. Whether you like that or not it is a hallmark of a NY slice.

I looked into the background of SOHO Pizza and learned it’s managed by a powerhouse food and beverage agency called SOHO Hospitality.

They did a great job bringing my favorite style of pizza to Thailand. As of this writing, SOHO Pizza has 6 branches, all inside Bangkok.

Though for me, it’s corporatized pizza.

CHEF BING PIZZA

Then we got Chef Bing Pizza in Bangkok. First opened around 2019 serving up NYC pizzas in the Khao San Road neighborhood. He has recently moved to the Lumphini area, very close to central Sukhumvit Road.

I learned about the chef from watching Mark Wien’s videos.

The chef has a New York City pedigree. And he is a real chef. After working in top-notch restaurant kitchens for a while he eventually returned home to Thailand. Where he taught himself to make New York City style pizzas.

This reminds me of the story of Mark Iacono, a master pizzaiolo and owner of one of the most famous pizza restaurants in Brooklyn called Lucali. And I wish Chef Bing achieves the same level of success here in Thailand

His pizza has a very good char to it. Every bite I took there was a snap and a crunch, the cheese and the sauce, oh man! He had done NYC pizza justice and I am so proud he’s in Bangkok!

PIZZAS IN THAILAND TODAY

Today, if you want to eat Italian or American-style pizzas in Thailand, it’s easy to find them. Whether they’re authentic or meet your taste standards, however, is a whole different matter.

Just take for example if an Italian from Napoli traveled to Bangkok and tried a Napolitana at an Italian-owned restaurant will that pizza remind them of Napoli?

It depends on how well the Italian chef trained his cook. It depends on the ingredients the Italian chef used the same ingredients used in the Italian city of Napoli. Napoli pizzas use specific ingredients native to its surrounding region, such as tomatoes and mozzarella cheese.

That’s how serious the Italians are and there’s an organization AVPN that oversees the quality and integrity of Napoletana pizza around the world.

It’s the same way I look at it. Especially when I started making pizza reviews in Bangkok. And I can say for certain it is an exciting time!

As of writing, I made a few pizza reviews on Wally’s Travels and Eats which is my second YouTube channel. Go check it out and discover Bangkok’s pizza scene!

I’ve tried over 24 types of pizzas in Thailand so far!

Who Makes the Best NYC Pizzas in Bangkok?

I can also recommend Capone’s Pizza, also located in the heart of Bangkok near the Asoke/Sukhumvit intersection. Though they are more well known for their deep dish pizza, you can gather from the name Capone it’s got Chicago roots.

Then we’ve got Pizza Mania which is quite popular making deliveries straight out of their kitchen from the heart of Bangkok. I couldn’t find out too much about the owner of Pizza Mania but it’s all good, I highly recommend their pizzas in Bangkok.

The Best Fancy Pizzas in Bangkok

According to this online pizza publication https://www.50toppizza.it/ five of the best fifty best pizzas in Southeast Asia are in Thailand. That’s quite impressive. All pizzas are of the Neopolitan variety as those are the predominant variety in Thailand.

The main reason I don’t like Neopolitan Pizza is because the center is soggy. Some restaurants in Bangkok make it soggier than others. It really depends on the hands of whoever is making the pizza.

As the dominant variety of pizzas in Bangkok this post won’t be complete without mentioning my favorite margherita pizzas!

Ronin Pizza takes the top spot in my books. Ugly Dough is terrific, you will love their crust, that is when it’s not overloaded with sauce and cheese. Daniello makes yummy margherita pizzas around the Lad Prao area of Bangkok.

There are Thai cultural aspects to consider in the Thai food industry. Thais do not like to eat burnt food. Eating charred bits as a certain population of Thais believe is carcinogenic. Whether or not that is true I would say you have to do your research on the validity of such a claim.

Traditional pizzas have what’s called Leopard Spotting, where spots of dark char are visible under the pizza as well as the crust. It is typically more pronounced in wood and coal-fired ovens. If a local Thai sees many scorched marks on the crust it’s a big no-no in their eyes.

That said, most of the best Neopolitan pizzerias or Italian restaurants are written up on popular food websites. The names Pizza Massilia, Pizzeria Mazzie, and Peppina come up as the de facto best of the best

I have never eaten in any of those restaurants before. But it’s on my to-do list.

Instead, I went to Neapolitan pizza restaurants off the beaten path. And some sorta around the path.

Above is a photo of Ronin’s pizza. As you can see, it’s got some dark char on the crust, which I enjoy. Again, some Thais, depending on how old they are, might not be into it.

This is challenging for Thai pizzerias deciding to go the traditional route or make the taste palatable for locals. That’s a hard decision.

That said, there are so many pizzerias all over Bangkok, Pattaya, and Hua Hin that I can’t wait to check them out in the future. I just gotta lose some weight first.

Until then, I will eat as many pizzas as I can in Bangkok!

What’s your favorite pizzeria in Thailand or from anywhere else you’re reading this?