The Royal Pizza features slices of kebab, a tzatziki-like sauce and a little shredded lettuce. Photo: SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS, KIN MAN HUI / San Antonio Express-News
Posted on 03/31/2011 9:48:12 AM PDT by Responsibility2nd
When it comes to pizza, we all know about the styles from Naples, New York and Chicago, but what about Sweden?
Yes, there is such a thing as Swedish pizza and it's pretty tasty. Reading some blogs from Americans living in Sweden or by homesick Swedes in this country, these places seem to be as ubiquitous there as taquerías are in San Antonio.
There's only one place in the city that serves this specialty; it's one of very few, if any, in Texas and seemingly one of only a handful in the country.
It's Royal Pizza, tucked away in a strip mall not far from the UT-San Antonio main campus.
So what, exactly, is Swedish pizza?
It starts with a thin crust, but it's not shatteringly crisp like the style from Naples. It's slightly soft, but not greasy in the slightest, like some New York versions (no disrespect intended to the food that sustained me while living in New York, but just a touch of grease, usually from pepperoni, is part of what makes that style wonderful).
Instead, the thin pies are slightly bread-like and never soggy. Perhaps what makes this style of pizza parlor uniquely Swedish is the mind-numbing array of combos that these places offer. Here, there are 56 options, each bearing the name of a different European city.
They range from the basic and very satisfying Italian margherita, with tomato sauce, mozzarella and basil leaves (No. 2, if you're interested) to the Barcelona (No. 27), with shrimp and clams on top of the tomato sauce and mozzarella to the Nice (No. 46), which features thin beef slices called “fillet of steak,” along with onion, tomato sauce and mozzarella.
In a couple of visits and after tasting nearly half a dozen different varieties, it's hard to make a bad choice. They're all nicely done. Sure, the margherita could have used another few seconds in the oven, but that's a minor quibble with a very good dish.
The unique versions feature kebab meat. In this case, we're talking about Döner kebab, the meat that looks like that found on gyros, but with different seasonings. A few slices of this kebab meat, on top of the pizza with the tomato and mozzarella, then topped with some tzatziki after it comes out of the oven — it's a different taste that quickly can turn addictive.
Don't want the kebab meat on a pizza? No problem, just get the kebab on a pita, as part of a combo plate. The fries that accompany the kebab plate are pretty forgettable, so focus on the meat, veggies and tzatziki.
All the pizzas begin with a “pizza salad,” another term from Sweden. It's shredded cabbage and green bell pepper in a vinegar dressing with either mustard or caraway seeds. Maybe it's not exactly a traditional coleslaw, but it's pretty close.
At this place, ordering takes place at the front counter, and it may take a few moments to get through the menu and make a selection. A cooler filled with soda cans, water bottles and a few bottled teas sits next to the counter.
There's no liquor license, but the owners have no problems with customers bringing their own. If you are going to bring wine, it's best to bring your own glasses, too.
This place doesn't serve dessert, but chances are you'll be too full of pizza to even think of it anyway. It's not that this is the best pizza in the city, but it is very good and a totally new cultural experience, and that's worth a lot of praise and plenty of return visits.
And you thought Sweden was all about meatballs and Ikea.
The Royal Pizza features slices of kebab, a tzatziki-like sauce and a little shredded lettuce. Photo: SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS, KIN MAN HUI / San Antonio Express-News
Saw this review and since it’s lunch time, I’d thought I’d share this drool-worthy info with my fellow FReepers.
Yumm!
Swedish Ping
I think it is kind of a stretch to call it pizza.
The Bern pizza features artichokes and basil at Royal Pizza, which brings Swedish pizza to San Antonio. Photo: SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS, KIN MAN HUI / San Antonio Express-News
I’d hit it.
Hold the luddefisk please.
Do Muslims eat pizza?
Do Muslims eat pizza?
When I'm in Sweden, I usually just go with the quattro staggione...typically ham, mushrooms, little shrimp, and artichoke, all on their own quarter of the pizza, not mixed. After getting canned mussels as one of the staggione in Vastervik, though, I always read the menu.
I wouldn't call it "bread-like", so much as just not cooked to a crisp.
Don't forget, they're never sliced. You get the whole pie and eat it with knife and fork...same way you eat a burger in Sweden.
Smörgåsbord!
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