Restaurant: Alleycat's

By Max Woodworth
STAFF REPORTER
Friday, Mar 19, 2004, Page 19

Try a lemon with your pizza. PHOTO: MAX WOODWORTH, TAIPEI TIMES:

Even though Alleycat's is hidden in a small basement off bustling Yongkang Street, it would be hard to overlook this new pizzeria for the buzz it's been generating since it opened at the end of January. It's the brainchild of South African transplant Alan Pontes, who wanted to make a living without having a boss, and he could have done far worse than deciding upon opening this pleasant eatery.

The sign at the entrance promises thin-crust pizza and that's essentially all you're going to get here, though for variety Alan can fold the pizza in half and bake it into a calzone. Stepping into the crowded ring of pizza offerings in town is a bold undertaking, because discriminating palettes will rightly be on the lookout for every detail when a 12-inch pie with four toppings hits their wallets with a NT$425 punch. But, while Alleycat's stumbles in some areas, the pizza puts up an excellent fight.

Alan's suggestion for a representative slice of Alleycat's pie was the 12-inch with feta cheese, onions, sausage and sun-dried tomatoes. He works on the build-it-yourself principle of pizza making, whereby diners select a size (10-inch for NT$175 or 12-inch for NT$225) and then add toppings of their choice from a list of about 20. Toppings add NT$50 to the basic pizza price. In this case, the selections were pretty tasty. The feta cheese, always prone to overpowering the other flavors on a pizza, was there but not overbearingly so. The plentiful sausage and onions added some zest, while the sprinkling of sun-dried tomatoes gave its distinct tang. Always the clincher in a pizza is the crust, and in this category Alleycat's does well, but it could have been just a tad crispier so that it hadn't become soggy by the last slice.

For a well-rounded meal, consider starting off with the chicken Caesar salad (NT$120), for its generous helping of chicken breast and the tasty homemade dressing. There are also a regular Caesar salad (NT$90) and a Greek salad (NT$120) to choose from, or garlic bread and pizza crust with olive oil for appetizers.

Wisely, Alan has picked from the best of available beers in Taiwan, putting Hoegaarden on tap at NT$100 for a half pint or NT$150 for a full pint. Try it with a slice of lemon (not lime) and you can almost feel it cutting through the pizza grease. For a similar digestive effect, try the coffee. It may be the most pipe-hitting brew in Taipei.

The Spartan decor is Alleycat's only downside. The soft-toned red walls are a start, but some flowers, perhaps a few pictures of Tuscany, a space divider and more attractive place mats would go a long way.