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COMPASS MAGAZINE April 2012

A. B.

Pisa Pizza (Zhong Ming Branch) (04) 2375-6698 400, ZhongMing S Rd, West Dist. Hours: Mon-Thu 4-9 pm, Fri-Sun 11:30 am-9 pm Take-out available. English/Chinese menu. Credit cards not accepted. No service charge. Pisa Pizza's second Taichung branch is owned by Quebec, Canada native Mathieu Ducharme, who offers 14 kinds of hand-tossed, thin-crust 12-inch pizzas, all prepared in a wood-burning pizza oven. Diners' favorites are the Pesto (NT$300), Hawaii (NT$260), Seafood (NT$280) and Margherita (NT$200) flavors, although the owner personally likes the Stagioni (salami, mushrooms, olives, onions). There is also a Smoked Chicken or Spicy Chicken Caesar Salad (NT$130), very cheap beers (starting from NT$50) and wines. --By Douglas Habecker, translated by Angel Pu A. Pisa's newest and most fascinating new pizza flavor is the Chinese/Japanese-style Takoyaki (NT$300), topped with tomato sauce, cheese, onions, green and red peppers, pineapples, squid, sweet mayonnaise and dried bonito fish flakes. Customers already call it the "dancing pizza", as the fish flakes quiver and undulate in the heat after it's served in a spectacle that delights children. B. Owner Mathieu removes another pizza from his wood-burning pizza oven. C. The two-floor restaurant has a comfortable, warm and attractive ambiance.

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