Pizza Hut

Ever wonder what Pizza Hut is like in China? Well, wonder no more. D and I have done the investigative research for you.

First things first: Pizza Hut is not the red-neck hangout that it is in the U.S.A. Rather, it's a place where the nouveau riche bring their one child for an over-priced meal. And the decor reflects this. The interior is all stone and glass and shininess (kind of like the lobby of a fancy hotel). Also, there's a lot more staff around to do odd things -- like hold the door open for you when you enter and exit the building.

Second: the menu is both strange and familiar. While they do have pizzas (including their classic Pan Pizza), some of the pizzas are weird. Like the special that they were running on a stuffed crust shrimp pizza. Which sounds good. Until we realized that there were raisins and mayo on the Pizza. And don't count on ordering bread sticks here. Most of the appetizers are tailored to a different palate. Like these lamb cumin meatballs (inexplicably served with a side of salsa) that we ordered:



BUT, we did also find waffle fries on the menu (Spicy Western Waffle Potatoes) which were served with genuine Heinz Ketchup! See how happy I am! (And yes, what you see on the plate is the whole serving):



We were conservative and ordered the equivalent of a Supreme Pizza. The only weirdness was the addition of pineapple. Here, D happily serves me a piece:



Pizza Hut in China also has the same Nazi-like rules about the salad bar that Pizza Huts in the US have. That is, they allow only one trip. Native Chinese folks, however, have made an art out of sticking it to the man where this one trip business is concerned. They've developed a an impressive skill of putting as much food from the salad bar as possible into one bowl. It was fascinating to watch. First, a ballast layer of carrot sticks or something else sturdy goes down. Then, slowly, ever so slowly, other layers are built up into every sturdier walls of melon, cucumbers, or more carrots. Then, the middle is filled to the brim with other goodies. (The people here don't seem to distinguish between vegetables and other stuff where salad making is concerned. Crutons go on top of melon. Melon gets salad dressing. And so on.) And everyone does this. It takes them about year to make their bowls up. One fellow was especially skilled. He was quite proud, I think, that we wanted to photograph his handiwork:



Impressive, no? (His wife thought that it was hi-larious that we wanted to take a picture of this. All we could do was give a thumbs-up in support of his masterpiece, which he seems to understand perfectly).

The meal was insanely expensive (kind of like Pizza Hut in the U.S., no?) But since it was familiar, I didn't care. I don't usually enjoy Pizza Hut, but this was a treat. Interesting how context can change the value of something.

Cost for the Pizza Hut meal: 160 RMB
Average cost of our meals in China (at a sit-down place) 40-70 RMB (1/2 of which is usually the cost of coffee)