DevilCraft, in Kanda, in Tokyo, Japan
As part of our list of the best pizza in Tokyo, I bring you this review of DevilCraft Kanda in the Nihonbashimuromachi district of Chuo City, in Tokyo, Japan.
As the Official Hakujin Pizza Czar of Japan, I can say (with weighty authority) that very few people have eaten as much pizza in Japan as I have. Almost no one has eaten at more pizza shops in Japan than the author of this post. With my continually amassing knowledge of the absolute state of pizza in Japan, the pizza I had at Kanda DevilCraft in Chuo-ku Tokyo, remains one of my favorite pizza experiences here in the Land of the Rising Sun.
Writing from my seat on my first visit:
“Let’s just say that 83.7% of the way through my first beer – and before I have even sunk my teeth into my first taste of their pizza – I already love this place.”
While DevilCraft is a brewery (they make their own beer), this is not just a place to get saucy.
When it’s done right, DevilCraft makes a pizza that is superior in its own right, and jumps out as completely unique compared to the over-populated Neapolitan style pizzas that are everywhere in Japan. A high-quality, American-style, Chicago pizza in Tokyo, absolutely tasty, and different from almost anything else you’ll find in this city.
I do love this place. Particularly this location.
Beer. And pizza. If God had a passion project, it might be the pure joy in a little kid’s laugh, first tracks in fresh powder on a snowy mountain, or very possibly, the cosmic inspiration that led to the truly heavenly combination of pizza and beer. DevilCraft does both, and does them both well.
The “craft” in DevilCraft is all about craft beer. And they have a monster collection, of mostly their own beers. Which is cool. Personally, I found the beers to be quite tasty.
As I lead up to getting all sentimental about the pizza, let’s pause for a minute and pay tribute to that first beer of my first visit to DevilCraft:
That first beer of the night (part of what put me in such a poetic and romantic mood as I wrote my original notes for this post), was a house beer called Double Red Revenge.
I sometimes think I am the only one that is specifically fond of red ales, but that Double Red Revenge was so good you could love it twice (and at 8%, it loves you back pretty hard). Double Red Revenge was a such a good beer, it makes me want to stand up and clap.
It takes a while to get your pizza at DevilCraft. If you’re smart, you’ll order your pizza right way, with your beer, and sit back let the beer go to work as you wait.
The DevilCraft pizza menu includes several options. As this is “American style” pizza in Tokyo, I knew I could get a pizza with some meat on it, and that was what I wanted. While the “Devil Works” was tempting, the Abe Froman called out to me…
I did get that Abe Froman pizza. I got a small. It was in fact, just that, basically a “personal” pizza, but a heavy, satisfying one. If you eat light, you could conceivably share it. However, if you’re the kind of person that could share a pizza that outrageously delicious, whoever you’re sharing it with should probably beat you up, and steal the whole thing for themselves. If that sounds just a little too savage, you have obviously have never had a pizza that delicious before.
DevilCraft is a Tokyo pizza spot, but it is specifically all about the “Chicago” style pizza – one of very few deep-dish pizzas in Tokyo. Because this is a thick, dense, proper pie of a pizza, it takes a while to cook. In stark contrast to “2-minute,” wood-fired pizzas all over Tokyo, a Chicago pizza can take 20 – 30 minutes to cook (if they’re busy, maybe even a little longer).
(SIDE NOTE: We can give the nod to a few other attempts at Chicago pizza in Japan. Butcher Republic Ebisu offers a Chicago pizza – and it is terrible. There is the Drunk Bears Chicago pizza next to Umeda station, in Osaka. And there is a weird imitation of a Chicago pizza at The Craft in Sapporo, which is off menu, but still available. More recently we had an unusual, but delicious Chicago pizza at Izakaya Ja Nai!!! in Okazaki, near Nagoya; that was a good pizza. And the Chicago pizza at BrewPub Starboard in Kobe is top-shelf, excellent deep-dish pizza.)
Because the pizza takes a while “bake,” you have plenty of time to work through a beer (or two) before the food shows up. If you know that in advance, and you’re not in a hurry (don’t come here if you’re in a hurry), the waiting becomes part of the experience. You might order one of their appetizers, just to keep the fire from all that beer in check.
While on that first night I was temped by that “Devil Works” pizza, I have since ordered tried it (at the Gotanda DevilCraft Tokyo location), and it is basically a “combination” pizza (with a lot of vegetables, many too many). If you’re looking for a recommendation: I liked that sausage-foward Abe Froman much better.
From my notes I took in the middle of that first experience:
“I just had another bite of pizza – which was as orgasmic, or perhaps more, than the first bite. You can’t fake this kind of love. There are things that I want to say about this pizza that would get me arrested, or thrown out of the country.”
We know two things when we read comments like that: That I cast my vote for DevilCraft as one of the best pizzas in Tokyo (and that it is). And, that that double red had some firepower.
This picture of the perfect, sloppy slice, the beer, the taps in the background – deserves a Pulitzer prize.
I had two beers over the course of that meal… I didn’t take any notes on the second one. They do have a great beer menu. And I’m impressed that so many of their beers are their own.
Back to the pizza to wrap up this review:
The Japanese do waaaaay too many Napolitano pizzas. While there are some very good, thin crust “fancy” pizzas in Tokyo (PST Rippongi was amazing, so was Sabasu in Akasaka, Famous Frey’s makes a tasty pizza, I’ll eat at Pizza Marumo and Seirinkan later this month), that genre of pizza is common, mostly generic, unremarkable pizza, and often totally overrated. Tokyo does have some pizza slice spots, but I’ll argue that a pizza slice is more about the experience than a genuinely good pizza. DevilCraft fills a void between low-brow, reheated slices and the hype of the Mandarin Oriental “chef’s choice” thing. It’s very good pizza, and basically in a class of it’s own.
And…
My father was a Hakujin Pizza Czar. And his father before him. And my grandfather before that. As I serve in my role as Pizza Czar for all of Japan, I will tell you – you should be able to pick up a slice of pizza. I gave their Chicago pizza the “pizza test,” and DevilCraft shows legitimacy there as well.
Okay, let’s sober up, and I’ll be a little bit critical about DevilCraft for a minute.
I’m posting this as a general caution (and a wakeup call to the owners):
I honestly can’t get behind DevilCraft. Their Chicago-style pizza is consistently cold in the center or lukewarm at best, and nothing like deep dish in America.
In my many years in the US, I have had a lot of fantastic Chicago pizzas, and the idea of a Chicago pizza that was cold in the center was shocking, but… I could imagine it. And then, on my first night at DevilCraft Kanda, I got a very hot, perfect Chicago pizza. A banger, amazing. But when I went to the Gotanda DevilCraft – the pizza was in fact cold in the middle. What the…
What the Redditor is saying is a legit complaint, and a bad experience for the customer. It was a bad experience for me as well when I went to the Gotanda location. So bad, I won’t go back there.
DevilCraft has such a good pizza (that Abe Froman, anyway), that it is completely ridiculous that they have a reputation for serving undercooked, cold pizza. It is even more ridiculous that it is true – and I can vouch for that.
I suspect they pre-make the pizzas, freeze them, and then cook them as ordered. Doesn’t have to be a problem if they are cooked enough, but it clearly is a problem. Shame, DevilCraft. You have a known issue, people are talking about it, it is fixable, and you need to fix it. My Gotanda experience was a “6.” Or a “5.” Shame.
I loved my experience at Kanda DevilCraft. But should I ever make it back (and I hope I do), I will specifically hassle the server to make damn certain the pizza is cooked. Customers shouldn’t need to ask for that, but apparently they do need to. Shame, shame, pizza shame on all the pizzas with cold centers.
So, I will completely trash the Gotanda DevilCraft when I review it (at another time). But at least for now, I will stake DevilCraft Kanda as absolutely worthy of a visit from any lover of pizza that can hold a pint in their other hand. If I lived locally, I would be there a lot.
Back to my notes from that first session at DevilCraft:
“I want to swear. I want to cuss. I want to offend everyone, in my beer-and-pizza fueled exuberance. There are so many good experiences in Tokyo, but DevilCraft shoulders in next to the best of them.”
It was true that night, at least. Every, single, bite… was an exclamation.
!!!
When it’s good, DevilCraft pizza makes God smile, and was my best pizza experience in Japan, until Marumo (that is a world class pizz). DevilCraft Kanda (but not Gotanda) is still Up there with the best pizza experiences of my crusty, hard-ridden life.
For more Tokyo Pizza see:
— Marumo Pizza in Ebisu, Tokyo
— The Mandarin Oriental Hotel’s Pizza Bar on 38th in Chuo City, Tokyo
— PST Riponggi Pizza in Minato City, Tokyo
— See the bluefin tuna pizza at Savoy Asabujuban, Tokyo
— Ripppongi’s Pizzakaya in Minato City, Tokyo
— Kevelos Pizza in Shibuya, Tokyo
— Sabasu Akasaka Pizza in Minato City, Tokyo
— Frey’s Famous Pizzeria in Rippongi in Minato City, Tokyo
— Naples-style pizza at Seirinkan in Meguro, Tokyo
— There is another DevilCraft near Gotanda station, that serves Chicago-Style pizza
— Komazawa Pizzeria da Peppe Napoli Sta’ Ca” in Setagaya City, Tokyo
— Butcher Republic Chicago Pizza in Ebisu, Tokyo
Pizza Slices in Tokyo
— Rocco’s NY-Style slice pizza in Kita City, Tokyo
— New York Tonyz Pizza Slices in Koto City, Tokyo
— Tokyo’s Nim’s Pizza in Asabujuban in Minato City
— The Cat Street Pizza Slice location in Shibuya, Tokyo