Pizza is our guilty pleasure. No matter how big a health nut you are there is always this moment when you have to give in to the deliciousness of this happy pie. The warm crust, the gooey cheesy top with a sprinkling of pepperoni and salami, a bite that goes on and on with stringy cheese pulling stretching out from the slices.... Just typing this is making me crave a bite.

One of the places where we actually like the pizza at is Papa John's. I could have their double cheese pizza and be happy as a clam. So when we got an invite to learn more about the ingredients that go into the pizza and the quality they aim to obtain, we were game.


We visited the Papa John's at Phoenix MarketCity, Viman Nagar and were warmly welcomed. The place is quite spacious and cosy. The good thing about the joint is that there is a glasses alcove looking into the kitchens where you can look at your dough being beaten into shape and rolled to perfection and shaped into perfect circlets by hand. Its fun to watch your pizza getting ready while you wait. Also it means that the pizza bases are baked at the premises and are not pre-baked versions.


We were informed that the ingredients are the fresh as they can be. The sauces and the cheeses are all imported from the kitchens of Papa John's from the States. The Papa John's signature pizza sauce are made from sun-ripened tomatoes and then they are sent to all it's stores in different countries. This ensures that the taste of the pizza is same everywhere and so is the quality. The mozzarella cheese is imported too and they guarantee it's 100% genuine. Well, it does taste absolutely amazing.

One of the things about a see through kitchen is that you can see the way your food is being prepared and how it is handled. The outlet's kitchens are just as spacious as the seating area. The food is handled with utmost hygiene with the kitchen staff wearing required gear at all times. The waste disposal management is handled efficiently which we think is also an important aspect to judge the hygiene of a place.


The dough balls are come to the outlets from the centralized kitchens and are untouched. They are cured at the outlet itself and are hand-tossed as you can witness yourself. The bread sticks are baked on the spot and vegetables are procured after a round of quality testing.

After garnering all this information, we were sufficiently convinced that having a couple of pizza was the right choice and that we could take a cheat day that day. So feeling substantially less guilty we ordered for the house special GARLIC PARMESAN BREADSTICKS, ALL THE MEATS PIZZA (yes yes, we are unabashed carnivores), ZAFFRAN PIZZA and FAJITA PIZZA.

While we waited we ordered rounds of Diet Pepsi hoping for even a tiny bit of redemption from the Gym Gods considering all that we had ordered.

The GARLIC PARMESAN BREADSTICKS arrived the earliest and the portion size was quite generous even for 2 people. Of course if you are not hogging on so many things it might be just enough for 2. The garlic parmesan sauce was cheesy and garlicky and sublime. The bread sticks were soft and warm and the sauce made all the difference.


ALL THE MEATS PIZZA was a meat lover's delight! It has almost 5 types of meat including spicy salami, grilled chicken and chicken sausages on top of a bed of the Papa John's signature tomato sauce. A generous layer of mozzarella cheese makes this pizza the perfect Kukkad pizza we've had in quite some time!


The FAJITA PIZZA was a bit tangy with all the fajita seasoning. It had grilled chicken and fresh veggies like onions, capsicum, sweet corn, mushrooms and jalapenos. The cheese and sauces were spot on and though it was a bit on the spicier side but we really loved this.


The ZAFFRAN PIZZA was more Indianized in taste. It had a topping of chicken keema and chicken tikka. The red onions and capsicum were toped with a sprinkling of the Zaffran sauce. It was definitely hotter in spices. Go for it if you want a Indian taste on your pizza.


We rounded up our wholesome meal with a dessert of MOLTEN CHOCO LAVA CAKE (since we have already sinned, what's a little bit more). The cake stood up to our expectations. It was warm and soft on the outside but gooey in the inside. Perfect end to a pizza dinner!


After all the serious hogging we are sure of this: Cheat days are fun and Papa John's pizzas are definitely impeccable with their ingredients. It makes lot of difference when you see it first hand. No wonder their core philosophy is: "Better Ingredients, Better Pizzas"!

Amen to that.