Parktown Pizza Company’s deliciously hot Indian-inspired dishes had my untrained tongue yelping in pleasurable pain.
On Thursday, my partner and I ordered from the restaurant’s diverse menu, including classics like the butter chicken pizza and tandoori wings.
The fusion pizza menu includes a wide range of both chicken and vegetarian options for customers to choose from.
“We’re more busy now than when anyone could come in,” said Brandon Olson, store manager for the Milpitas location. “Pizzas are flying off the shelves.”
Olson said the large range of beers on tap were the restaurant’s draw before the pandemic, but now it’s the pizza that brings customers.
The restaurant, located off the Landess exit on I-680 and hidden away alongside an old Rite-Aid and desolate construction site, is accessible through a lone order window on a blackened glass wall surrounded with rustic barrels as outdoor seating.
I approached the window and had to repeatedly shout my order to the cashier who apparently couldn’t hear anything over the fans in the kitchen.
After promptly getting our order, we got home, washed our hands and immediately dove into our
midweek feast.
My partner and I decided to try the Bomb-Bay Pizza, the Curry Fries and the Indian Sampler, which we ordered through the Yelp app for dinner.
We chose the pick-up option because it was cheaper than delivery and allowed us to fully experience Parktown Pizza Company in one trip to the location.
We started with the Indian Sampler, which included samosas, hot wings and cheesy bread accompanied by a green chutney. It was a good-sized appetizer that wasn’t too small and two adults with big appetites could still fit in two slices of pizza afterward.
The samosas were decently sized and the wings were quite spicy. The chutney numbed my tongue with its peppery punch, giving off a good heat accompaniment to the appetizers.
Seasoned waffle-cut potatoes were the base of the Curry Fries while the raw onions and heavy amount of cilantro gave them a sharp, strong flavor. The potato curry dressing on top, however, had a consistency more like mashed potatoes rather than the dripping curry we had imagined.
The Curry Fries offered a different kind of spice from the samosas and the pizza. There was no cheese in this dish, but it would be an excellent addition.
The appetizers offered such a punch that by the time we got to the pizza, its full potential was lost.
By the time we opened the pizza box each piece had unfortunately solidified into a cheesy, bready and settled state. If we had eaten it right away while sitting in the makeshift outdoor dining space, it would have been a melty, gooey experience, rather than a solidified, lukewarm one.
The Bomb-Bay Pizza was loaded with showstopping, lemon-marinated chicken and thankfully not with some random low-quality, Subway-like chicken. The red onions provided an acidic crunch, while the diced tomatoes on top took a back seat in terms of flavor.
The garlic white sauce for the base definitely lent its strong garlic flavor to the experience, while the mozzarella cheese complemented the dish.
Heaps of cilantro blanketed the top with chutney drizzled in a swirl that kicked up the spice, taking the pizza’s heat factor to levels a spice-weakling like me could barely handle.
Overall, the food was salty on its own and is designed to be enjoyed with Parktown Pizza Company’s vast array of beers on tap.
There are so many options on the menu, especially from the vegetarian section such as intriguing offerings like various paneer cheese pizzas enticing us to go back.
Indian spice kicks with a beer on the side?
Sign me up for another round.
