I had promised awhile ago that I would treat JongIn to pizza after her midterms. Scheduling conflicts and language barrier issues delayed the pizza outing till this weekend, when SanMi could join us. I've heard a great many a things about Korean style pizza, like toppings such as corn and sweet potato, and had consequently kept my expectations low. An American Seogwipo friend had receommended "I Want Pizza", but when JongIn heard "pizza" that translated to "Mr. Pizza", a more expensive Korean pizza dine-in chain. I let JongIn and SanMi choose the pizza, and they chose...
...the Beselo.
The Beselo, the name extra short for Best Seller, which refers to its origin: it's a combination of the bestsellers Mr. Pizza pizzas of previous years. Each piece has one of the special Beselo toppings: chicken, crab, shrimp, or potato with ham (2 pieces each, 8 pieces total). Other ingredients include cheese, corn, bell pepper, sausage, BBQ sauce, sweet potato, mayo....among other things...
My standard criteria for pizza are three-fold: (1) a good crust, (2) tomato sauce, (3) cheese. As far as pizza go, the Beselo had cheese. However, if you judge the Beselo without the pizza criteria, if you judge it not expecting it to be a pizza, you would compare the Beselo to a quesadilla. That's right--Mr. Pizza may have accidentally stumbled upon Mexican food. In your mouth, all it is is corn, cheese, meat, and a thin flour crust, which is more like a tortilla. And this is one expensive quesadilla--regular size is 25,000won (about $20). I thought the crust would be the saving grace for the Beselo as a pizza, but don't let appearances fool you. American pizza makers like to put a little something extra, usually cheese, in the crust, and Korea caught the trend; there's sweet potato in that crust.
The Beselo was not my piece of pizza; I won't be going back. But this was a treat for JongIn and SanMi, and they enjoyed it, so all is well! Generally, as far as Western food in Korea goes, I keep my expectations low. No restaurants or stores here are trying to authenticate Western food; instead they take the idea and have created whatever would sell best to the Korean palate, which is what they should be doing.
Dad--I miss YOUR pizza!
My standard criteria for pizza are three-fold: (1) a good crust, (2) tomato sauce, (3) cheese. As far as pizza go, the Beselo had cheese. However, if you judge the Beselo without the pizza criteria, if you judge it not expecting it to be a pizza, you would compare the Beselo to a quesadilla. That's right--Mr. Pizza may have accidentally stumbled upon Mexican food. In your mouth, all it is is corn, cheese, meat, and a thin flour crust, which is more like a tortilla. And this is one expensive quesadilla--regular size is 25,000won (about $20). I thought the crust would be the saving grace for the Beselo as a pizza, but don't let appearances fool you. American pizza makers like to put a little something extra, usually cheese, in the crust, and Korea caught the trend; there's sweet potato in that crust.
The Beselo was not my piece of pizza; I won't be going back. But this was a treat for JongIn and SanMi, and they enjoyed it, so all is well! Generally, as far as Western food in Korea goes, I keep my expectations low. No restaurants or stores here are trying to authenticate Western food; instead they take the idea and have created whatever would sell best to the Korean palate, which is what they should be doing.
Dad--I miss YOUR pizza!
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