Hellaciously Good Pizza

I heard the blog-lovin’ masses calling out my name and to post something already, so I had to answer that call. Clinton is truly in the house now.

Can we talk about eats?  I’m in the mood for talking food. Kits residents and newcomers alike all know about the venerable Sophie’s on the corner of 4th Ave. and Arbutus. We’ve all witnessed and participated in those silly line-ups, waiting for the honour to be served up a big, hearty helping of breakfast. Well, on the off chance that you may not be in a lining up kind of mood, a sinister little establishment just a few units east will satisfy your hunger equally well, sans the standing around with thumbs a-twiddling.

I speak of Hell’s Kitchen.  Those who know already know, so that’s cool. I’ll be preaching to the neophytes who have yet to step through Hell’s gates. I have never done a pound-for-pound comparison of breakfast portions between Sophie’s and Hell’s Kitchen, but I will say that Hell’s is no slouch in any department. Their brunch menu offers up the usual assortment of edibles, ranging from a cost-effective “Breakfast from  Hell or egg bennies, to more substantial meals like their custom omelettes, Hell’s Hash and Hell’s Steak and Eggs. The only thing they might work on is to go easier on prefacing everything  on the menu with “Hell”. Like, we get it.

So the breakfasts here are a go. Everything’s priced to go and the quality is completely solid. But I’m bored of talking about the breakfasts. Their pizzas are to die for. It really is no surprise Hell’s Kitchen has been a recipient of Vancouver Magazine’s Reader’s Choice Award for Best Pizza in town.  Honestly, I find pizzas rather hum-drum these days. It’s hard to get excited over something that I’ve stuffed my face with all through out childhood and adolescence.  The same old crust, the same old toppings and same old, lame Delicio jokes.  But the pizzas at Hell’s Kitchen? They’ve gotten me excited for those grease saucers once again.

They like to do things thin crust, New York-style, which does away with bland filler and maximizes on the unique ingredient combinations. They offer a dizzying selection of 15 pizzas, with cheeky monikers like “The Naked Chef” and “Book’em Dan-O”, plus a regularly updated feature pizza.  I gobbled up the “Aphrodite” earlier this week, a mouth-watering combo of pesto, smoked chicken, sun-dried tomatoes, roasted almonds…  oh yeah, I’m having a very nice food flashback right now.

Aside from pizzas, you can order up ribs, burgers, steaks and their interpretation of kung pao chicken. Some of the entrees start ramping up into the $20+ range but I’d say you get very good value for what you pay for in Hell. To complete the picture, they have rather comely servers who are friendly and casual without being slow or sloppy.

Did I mention they do delivery too? So if you’re in the general vicinity, give Dominos a pass the next time you get a pizza craving and try out a few slices of thin crust heaven (from hell)!

 

Last modified: June 2, 2008