I ventured out into Scarborough to Pizza On Fire the very same day I tried the dreadful Pizza Fiamma, and I'm happy to say this was a far more positive experience. Granted that's certainly a low bar, but this was truly the mirror universe version of that level of customer service. Or rather... Fiamma was the mirror universe version because that was really bad and this was... damn it I'm crossing the streams of my Star Trek analogies aaaaahhhhh!!!
Friendliness and complimentary garlic dips (cheers) will only get you so far if your pizza is meh, and while I do like a good bribe (who doesn't, honestly) I care too much about quality pizza (and my audience of course!) to straight up lie about something that isn't worth trying.
That doesn't apply here though, because smiles and kindness aside, Pizza On Fire is legitimately good. Very good. It's certainly one of the more unassuming pizza joints I've encountered: tucked away in the back of a maze-like plaza on the northwest corner of Ellesmere and Kennedy, the inside is likewise a boxy cozy counterspace with enough room for a couple of small tables and a fridge full of soda.
My order was a bit of a nostalgia play on the 2-4-1 pizzas my dad would always get us once a month: a pepperoni and pineapple pie (with modern me substituting sausage for the pepperoni). The toppings are the weakest link of the Pizza on Fire pizza here... pineapple is pineapple and the sausage had more of a generic chorizo taste to it. Plenty juicy enough, but very minimal flavour beyond the fattiness.
Fortunately, the rest of this pizza was simply marvelous... the mix of texture especially. The dough and crust reminds of an excellent pastry: light, buttery, still a nice bready flavour and it almost melts in the mouth.
That, combined with the heavy cheese (and this is a very cheesy pie), this pizza feels a lot like what Pizza Hut wishes it could be. This is on the oilier side with a light crust and very cheesy/heavy texture, but it never tastes overtly of grease or aggressively artificial like Pizza Hut does. There's just more taste and balance going on here, those flavours linger longer, it's cooked just right (Hut has always been overcooked anytime I've tried them), and while these aren't the fanciest of ingredients this certainly doesn't seem to be a place cheaping out on what they do have, quantity-wise. The finishing tiny sprinkle of herbs (probably parsley, there wasn't a whole lot they added beyond aesthetics) was a nice touch as well.
Honestly, I just loved the varying textures of this pizza. Gooey in spots, lightly crispy in others, enjoyable to eat in essentially every bite. Incredibly impressed and while they are located nowhere near anything (aside from the soon-to-be discarded Ellesmere SRT station), Pizza On Fire really is worth the journey... or at least a delivery should you be in whatever range they offer. This is an easy "B+" score from me. A (genuinely hidden) gem.
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