- I visited a Pizza Hut in Taipei, Taiwan, and it was so much different from locations in the US.
- The chain’s locations in Taiwan had some tasty and unique menu items, like a bubble-tea dessert pizza and a pie that’s covered in seafood.
- In Taiwan, Pizza Hut pies cost slightly more than they do in the US and delivery options are a bit more limited.
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Some chains are pretty ubiquitous around the world – but that doesn’t mean they’re the same everywhere you go.
Recently, I visited the international fast-food chain Pizza Hut while in Taipei, Taiwan, and I was surprised at how different it was from locations in the United States.
Here’s what Pizza Hut in Taiwan is like, and how it compares to US locations.
I recently visited a Pizza Hut in Taipei, Taiwan.
Much to my surprise, Pizza Hut was pretty crowded, and I learned that it’s because I visited during the Lunar New Year, which celebrates a new year based on the monthly cycles of the moon’s phases.
Like other places around the globe, Taiwan commemorates this occasion with week-long festivities and family gatherings.
My brother lives in Taipei with his wife, who is from Taiwan, and they explained to me that, since the Lunar New Year lasts for several days and is usually when large families come together, grabbing pizza is one of the easiest ways to feed everyone.
A popular choice is Pizza Hut, one of the few major fast-food pizza chains in the country alongside Domino's Pizza. Since Pizza Hut is so popular for the holiday, orders sometimes need to be placed weeks in advance.
In my experience, Pizza Hut costs more in Taiwan that it does in the US.
A large pepperoni pizza from Pizza Hut in America costs about $15. In Taipei, it cost 565 New Taiwan Dollars (NT), or about $19.
That said, delivery is much cheaper in Taiwan at about 49 NT, or just under $2, versus roughly $4 in America. The delivery service is quite different, though, because in Taipei the chain uses delivery bikes instead of cars.
I had to pick up my group's four-pizza order instead of having it delivered, partially because the bikes typically only have room for one or two pizzas and a couple of sides.
One of the biggest differences between the American and Taiwanese Pizza Huts was the menu.
For me, one of the most recognizable pizzas on the menu was the "Double American Sausage" (pictured on the left), which reminded me of a classic pepperoni pie I'd get in the US.
However, it was notably lacking in sauce compared to the Pizza Hut pepperoni pizzas I can get in the US (pictured on the right). It was also much crispier and the pepperoni was baked into the cheese instead of just being placed on top.
After trying this pretty classic pie, I decided to see what else the menu had to offer.
In the US, Pizza Hut allows customers to build their own pizza and customize it from crust to toppings. In Taiwan, the menu doesn't allow for many substitutions.
The most I was able to do is order one of the standard pizzas and add or subtract an ingredient or two.
I tried to taste pies I'd never heard of, so I started with this pizza that had pumpkin and vegetables on top.
One of the first pies that caught my eye is one that came advertised with pumpkin as a topping.
The US might have pumpkin-spice everything during fall, but Pizza Hut back home doesn't have pumpkin pizza.
This pizza cost 380 NT, or about $13, for a small, personal size. In addition to the pumpkin, the toppings also included broccoli, tomato, cheese, egg, and a vegetarian BBQ sauce.
To me, this was sort of like an exciting, Taiwanese version of an American vegetable pizza.
This pie won me over with its creamy white sauce that was slathered on in such a thick layer that it reminded me of a deep-dish pizza. The vegetables all tasted fresh, and the pumpkin was perfectly moist and soft.
The next pizza I tried was topped with chicken nuggets and mayonnaise.
Another pizza that caught my eye was labeled a "best-seller" on the Pizza Hut menu.
This pie was topped with fried chicken nuggets, mayonnaise, bacon, seaweed, pineapple, onion, and cucumber. In Taiwan, mayonnaise is a very popular topping on many types of food, so that didn't surprise me, but I was very excited to see chicken nuggets.
It cost 660 NT for the large, which is around $22.
I noticed that, like the vegetable pie, this pizza also had a white sauce, which seemed to be the standard at this Pizza Hut. In the US, traditional red sauce, or marinara, seems to be the standard pizza topper.
It's easy to see why this is a best-seller - it's delicious. Although the list of ingredients seemed a bit puzzling to me at first, they all blended together really well. The real highlight was the chicken, which was cooked perfectly and added a nice crunch to each bite.
Seafood was a very popular pizza topping, too, and you won't find it available at Pizza Hut in the US.
The Lunar New Year special pizza was a scallop pizza with a stuffed cheese-roll crust.
The pie was topped with seared scallops, mushrooms, peppers, white sauce, and Hokkaido cheese (a milk-based cheese from Japan). It cost 750 NT, or about $25.
All of the flavors went really well together, and it was fun to eat something as decadent as a scallop on a pizza. They seemed to have been carefully pan-seared before being put on the pizza, and they weren't rubbery at all.
This wasn't the only seafood-topped pizza on the menu, which is much different from Pizza Hut in the US.
Back home, some people order anchovy pizza, but it's a bit of a running joke in pop culture and is considered to be a less-than-delectable combination.
Plus you actually can't get anchovies or any seafood as a topping at Pizza Hut in the US.
However, in Taiwanese Pizza Hut locations, all kinds of seafood were available to put on a pie, including prawns, crab, scallops, shrimp, and even squid. This makes sense to me because Taiwan is an island, so fresh, locally caught seafood is readily available all over Taipei.
There was even a bubble-tea pizza for dessert.
It's widely believed that Taiwan is where bubble tea - the popular beverage containing milk, tea, and boba (tapioca balls) - was created, so it's not too surprising to me that some chains here turned the drink into a dessert pizza.
The standard, savory crust was topped with a tea sauce, shredded mozzarella cheese, a milk-sauce drizzle, and brown-sugar tapioca pearls.
This specialty pizza seemed to be limited edition, and it cost me 660 NT, or around $22.
Pizza Hut isn't the first chain to make this dessert pie - Domino's Pizza in Taiwan has a version of it, too - but I was excited to try it.
This pie may not look like much, but it was delicious. The savory crust kept it from being too sweet, and although it didn't taste exactly like I was consuming a bubble tea, the toppings all went really well together.
Plus, the boba was the perfect consistency, just chewy enough without being soggy.
Lastly, I tried two sides that were also quite unique to Taiwan.
In terms of sides, Pizza Hut in Taiwan has chicken wings as you'd find in US locations, but that's pretty much where the similarities end.
Popular Pizza Hut sides in Taiwan include items like corn soup (which is quite common throughout the country), mini custard tarts, fish nuggets, garlic cuttlefish rice, and kimchi cheese rolls.
I tried the corn soup and the custard tarts, and both were absolutely delicious. The corn soup was the perfect preface to pizza since it wasn't too heavy or thick.
Visiting a Taiwanese Pizza Hut was a great way to try new foods while still enjoying favorites from back home.
Overall, going to Pizza Hut in Taiwan was a great way to experience some of the local Taiwanese flavors and foods while still eating something familiar.
I've also realized that the pineapple-on-pizza debate is old news - we should really all be talking about putting scallops, pumpkin, or tapioca pearls on our pies.
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