Pizzakaya in Rippongi Minato City, Tokyo

Here we add a unique example to our list of Tokyo pizza restaurants; check out this review of Pizzakaya’s Detroit-style pizza, available now in Rippongi, in Minato City, Tokyo.  This is an amazing pizza, prepared in an unusual style.  Highly recommended.

The shop is called Pizzakaya; in Japanese katakana it’s ピザカヤ.  When I first heard the name, it sounded random, or “wacky.” I will confess that it was only much later I realized this is “pizza” + “izakaya.”  Durrr.  If this causes you to lose all respect for me, I would not blame you.

The tagline on Pizzakaya’s marketing is “California Gourmet Pizza.” I can’t say I know what that means, I haven’t tried it. We think the reason to know this shop is for their Detroit-style pizza.

Tokyo’s Pizzakaya is located in a big commercial building called Roppongi Grand Tower, way off the street, on the second floor.  It is a little hard to get to (best access is from the Nambaku line). If you’re meeting someone, give yourself an extra 15 minutes to find it.

The Roppongi Grand Tower is a business complex, with condos on the upper floor. Mixed together in a collection of relatively high-end commercial spaces, Pizzakaya is not a “neighborhood” spot.  As you approach, it’s almost feels like it’s in a mall, with floor to ceiling windows in metal frames. It feels like a chain store, or a pizza restaurant you might find in an airport. The vibe has no sense of Tokyo at all; a generically cosmopolitan afterwork, happy hour spot for corporate types. Imagine a 60 year old American white guy, talking in a too-loud voice to coworkers about “IT” – it’s exactly that.

While it’s not “cool” (at all)… they do make a special pizza.

This is not your typical, flat-round pizza. What you are looking at is a six-slice Detroit-style, pan pizza. While the flavors will be familiar, in the pictures below, you’ll see this pizza has a thicker, fluffier crust, and uses different cheese (in a different way) than the vast majority of pizza in this city.

Pizzakaya functions like a pub. It has a full bar, and other food, but does a reasonably good job of providing a casual place for pizza and beer.  They offer more of a craft beer theme than I was expecting.  I can’t remember if there was a printed beer menu, of if you had to access something online.

I wanted to try the Haneda IPA – in part because I was amused by the promiscuous mixture of a an “American” “India” Pale Ale (which itself is is a British concept), all wrapped in a Japanese name.  The lovechild of those influences may have been tasty, but I would not know… the server informed me it had just run out.

In place of that exhausted AIPA, that server made the recommendation of the Ise Kadoya Super Hop Punch.  “Punch?” (That didn’t sound good to me.) Looking for a way to reject that idea, I asked him for the ABV (alcohol by volume, as in “how strong is it?”). The server confidently declared, “it doesn’t have ABV.” Okay. Sure. (I looked it up later and Super Punch’s ABV is 7.5%). I decided to choose my own beer, and went with Revision IPA (a 6.5% ABV originating from Sparks, NV).

Tasty beer.

I don’t know if was necessary, but I had made a reservation.  They seated me in a odd, “wedge table” next to the door.  As my beer arrived, I was comfortable and looking forward to the main event.

Alright, let’s get to it:  What about the pizza?

We’ll quickly mention the California Style Pizzas.

12 “Classic” “California Style” pizzas (with California names like El Nino and Vegetarian Delight), plus 9 more “Distinct Pizzas” (the Santa Fe Pizza with Lime Chicken, a Taco Pizza, the Extra Hot Reaper Pizza).  If I had to choose off this part of the menu I would have gone with The Sausage Fest (-1 for that name, before you even taste it).

My guess is that they make a good “California” pizza, but I was exclusively interested in the Detroit-style options.

Detroit-style pizza dough rises thick and airy, and then crisps to perfection in the pan. The magic happens at the edges, where cheese meets steal, melting into a caramelized crown of burnt-edge bliss.
— From the pizza menu at Pizzakaya Rippongi Tokyo

There are seven Detroit pizzas on Pizzakaya’s menu. I went with the Detroit version of the classic “combo” pizza.

The All Pizza: All the meats and veggies of our Gourmet Combo on a Detroit crust.
— From the Detroit pizza menu at Pizzakaya

And there it is.  In case the pictures don’t communicate the scale of that pizza: I didn’t have a ruler on me at the time, but I’m gonna say the full Detroit “tray” is about 6 inches by 9 inches, and 2+ inches high.

The Pizzakaya Detroit Pizza is a thick, fluffy, bready monster of a pizza.  The slices are so thick; they look heavy, but the crust is airy and light (like focaccia) . That burnt cheese flavor – particularly in the corners, where the cheese is baked to a crunchy crisp – is wonderfully bitter.

That burnt cheese taste… oh yeah.  For another pizza in Tokyo that does that kind of flavor, you might check out the “not-so-Chicago” pizza at Super Pizza (in Bunkyo City, Tokyo).

Very, very good pizza. The combination of the flavor of the green pepper, the pepperoni, and the cheese (probably a cheese mix, maybe some cheddar?) is very “American pizza parlor.”  Absolutely hit the spot (and it is killing me to write about it, so hungry right now).

It was easy to show the bacon and sausage just falling off of each slice in these pics.  (Sausage seemed like it had a lot of breadcrumbs – spicy,  excellent flavor.)  The vegetables are underneath the meat, adding the taste of olive, mushrooms, and onion.

Ummm, bacon.  Always.  Oh yeah.
— From my notes during my meal at Pizzakaya

The pizza came to the table hot, but maybe a touch undercooked; very hot at the edges, but the vegetable in the center of the pizza were cool.  You can see it, also, as the slices of meat aren’t yet crispy, and could have used another minute or two. Even so, no complaints.

This pizza deserves a round of applause. Bravo.

I paid 3300 JPY for my pizza at Pizzakaya.  At the time of this review, the prices are up to 3400 JPY.  That is about 70% – 100% more expensive than a nice Napoletana pizza at many of the respectable “fancy pizza” places in Tokyo. It’s not cheap.  It hearty, thought, and would easily feed two reasonably-hungry people (possibly three less-voracious eaters).  Very good, and a rare treat to find this flavor in Japan.

“So, Pizza Czar, what’s the deal; can you pick it up?”

This pizza passes the patented Pizza Czar Pizza Test™: Even though she is more heavily loaded than a low-cost carrier flight on a holiday weekend, yes, you can pick up a slice of this pizza “a mano.”

Definitely one of the best pizzas in Tokyo.

My notes about the food from this night are so enthusiastic, almost ecstatic.  When I think of reviews I have written where I was this over-the-top, I remember my first time at Pizza Marumo in Ebisu, or that first red-ale-fueled Chicago pizza at DevilCraft Kanda. 

Locally, the DevilCraft Gotanda shop here in Tokyo does a Detroit pizza as well (maybe it’s only available on some days?? I have not tried it.). Nim’s Pizza Slices does a couple kinds of “Detroit” pizza slices (that are in no way near the quality of Pizzakaya).

For some other examples of Detroit-style Pizza in Japan, I have written about Craft Beer & Pizza Imazato (in Osaka), and (much) less enthusiastically about Mike’s Slice of Detroit Pizza (also in Osaka). In Nagoya, Tony Tony Pizza makes a “Pittsberg Pizza” that is vaguely similar.

As for music, a pop-jazz played overhead; like pop from the early 90s, like music from an ’80s shopping mall.

As I arrived, I was really underwhelmed by the “corporate” qualities of the location.  I had a chip on my shoulder, and I did not expect to have such a good experience; but I did. Their vibe is a hard to like, but that Detroit Pizza kicked ass.

Every bite of that pizza was fantastic, and the burnt cheese of the crust is unbelievable.

Highly recommended.

For more Tokyo Pizza see:

— Pizza Marumo in Ebisu, Tokyo
— Tokyo’s Pizza Bar on 38th at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel
— Excellent Neapolitan pizza at PST Rippongi in Minato City, Tokyo
— Sabasu Pizza in Akasaka, Tokyo
— Savoy Pizza Domi-LA in Asabujuban, in Minato City, Tokyo
— Devil Craft Pizza in Kanda, in Chuo City, and also the DevilCraft Gotanda, in Shinagawa, Tokyo
— Shibuya pizza at Kevelos, in Tokyo
— Frey’s Famous Pizza in Rippongi, Tokyo
— Seirinkan Pizza in Meguro, Tokyo
— Pizzeria da Peppe Napoli Sta’ Ca” in Setagaya City, Tokyo
— Chicago pizza at Butcher Republic in Ebisu, Tokyo

Pizza Slices in Tokyo

— Rocco’s Pizza in Ojihoncho, Kita City, Tokyo
— Some of the best pizza slices in Japan at New York Pizza Tonyz Tokyo in Koto City, Tokyo
— NY-style pizza slices at Nim’s Pizza in Azabujuban, Tokyo
— Tokyo’s Pizza Slice Cat Street is mostly a disappointment