Steveston Pizza Co.

Restaurant: Steveston Pizza Co.
Cuisine: Pizza (Gourmet)
Last visited: July 30, 09

Area: Richmond (Steveston Village)
100 – 3400 Moncton Street
Price Range: $10-20

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 4
Service: 4
Ambiance: 1
Overall: 4
Additional comments:

• Specializes in gourmet pizzas in an unpretentious setting
• Fresh, gourmet & quality ingredients
• Toppings to the edges
• A bit pricier, but you're getting what you paid for
• Owner is Italian and a chef
• Unique pizzas, chef-created
• Take-out, a small bar to eat-in
• Opens at 5pm

**Recommendation: Flame Pizza, Japanese Pizza

It's easy to miss this local pizza joint. Located on the corner of Moncton and 3rd Ave, you wouldn't even notice it unless someone pointed it out. Enough to seat 4 people this pizza place caters to a take-out crowd. Familiar to locals, Steveston Pizza opens at 5pm and draws in a steady evening crowd. I've been here a couple times, and the first time we spent $75 on pizzas between 4 people. You're definitely paying more than usually for pizza, but its quite worth it for the quality of ingredients you're getting. They don't serve single slices and one pizza is a lot for one person, so it's best to go with a group of 4+ so you can order a variety and share them all.

On the table:

• Buffalo Mozzarella Salad 6/6
  
• Fresh ingredients - so you can't go wrong. Nice big chunks of fresh buffalo mozzarella and tomatoes. I had it with a simple balsamic dressing - technically it doesn't even need dressing becuase the quality is there. This is a pretty big salad though, meant to be shared.
• Water 4/6
  
• Shrimp, snow crab & basil pesto.
• A nice amount of baby shrimp on top, they don't skimp! Every bite you get shrimp. The crab is found underneath the cheese though, and it's all flaked. I tasted the texture of it more than the flavour. I wished the pesto drizzle was actually a pesto drizzle though - they mixed it with a mayo type filler which was a bit disappointing.
  
• Earth 3/6
  
• Brie, gouda, camembert, oven-dried tomatoes, roasted garlic and enoki mushrooms.
• This is definitely heavy on the cheese, the flavours all meshed together and the tomatoes were a bit on the watery side for me. The tomatoes brought out a tartness rather than a sweetness in the pizza. I think if you're using brie and camembert though you should really match it with something sweet rather than tart. The ingredients are still all really fresh - but the flavours just weren't very complementing. It sounded better than it tasted. The texture was all gooey so I could only eat 2 slices in a row before I needed a switch up - it was easy to get sick of. A bit oily too, becuase of the types of cheeses used - but that's a bit expected.
• **Flame 6/6
• BBQ chicken breast, pineapple, onion, green pepper and jalapenos.
  
• This pizza is less adventurous, and you could probably find any of these ingredients at any pizza chain. But the combination of these toppings is fantastic! The flavour of this pizza stands out amongst the others because its so bold. Savoury and sweet BBQ sauce, with a bit of tartness and another level of sweetness from the pineapple, and a hint of spiciness from the jalapenos - this hits all your taste buds, and in the right way too!
• **Japanese 6/6
  
• Wasabi-scented teriyaki chicken breast, enoki mushrooms, hokkaido camembert and sesame seaweed julienne (no tomato sauce)
• This is a truly creative pizza! Made for pizza eaters looking for a change and something out of the ordinary. Unlike the "Flame" toppings, you can't find these topping at any pizza chain. Definitely distinct in flavour; this is a must try if you're into trying new things.
  
• What would make it more perfect is if they went heavier on the enoki mushrooms and added a wasabi mayo drizzle on top! Enoki mushrooms need to be used liberally - otherwise you can't taste them becuase when they're cooked they just get soft and get overpowered by everything else. That's why they're served in bundles when you get them with noodles and soup. If you break them up from they're bundles and use them in a pizza - they are bound to get overcooked and lost in everything else...and unfortunately that's what happened. If they added more enoki to this pizza and went heavier on the wasabi it would be perfect. I still recommend it though!
  
• Black 4/6
  
• Honey glazed chicken breast, fig, gorgonzola and mascarpone mousse, walnuts and arugula julienne - $21 (Only available in a medium)
• I really enjoyed this pizza. This was close to getting a recommendation, except I felt as though the gorgonzola overpowered the other flavours a bit. I couldn't really taste the marcarpone mousse - which is a waste. The figs were nice and plump and it went well with the crunch of the walnuts. The honey was a great touch. Definitely enjoyable! I would order it again.
  
• Brown 2/6
  
• I tried this pizza the first time I went to Steveston Pizza - several months ago. They don't have it on the menu right now though. I think they might bring it back when the summer is over. Its definitely a hearty pizza, fit for colder months. The main ingredient is duck. The duck is poached in a red wine reduction and there's also tomatoes, caramelized onions and gorgonzola on it I think. A few other toppings of which I don't remember anymore. The duck pieces were a bit of on the fatty side for me - yes that could mean adding more flavour - but it just felt a bit heavy for my liking. Duck is usually fatty, but I could have done with leaner pieces.
• Again this one only comes in medium for $21 - and you should definitely share one becuase after 2 slices you need a switch up. It's filling!