The race for Sanlitun pizza supremacy heats up Dear readers, it’s time for us to draw a line in the sand. With The Kro’s Nest’s audacious invasion of Den/Tree/Rickshaw territory, expect the tomato sauce to fly. In the interests of trying to keep the peace–think of me as a well-fed UN peacekeeper–I went out into enemy territory, paying no regard to my personal waist line whatsoever, to deliver you with the scoop.

First the oldest, The Tree, home to mostly male expats over a certain age propping up the bar while enjoying an Italian-style thin crust pie. There’s a reason this place has stayed in business over the years–their pizzas are pretty damn good with just enough toppings and a crispy enough base. Sure, they are a bit on the expensive side for Beijing, but their upmarket offerings are worth the extra kuai.

Heading south is The Rickshaw: I love the burritos, love the party atmosphere, even love the slightly weird policy of ordering from one waiter and paying another (keeps people busy), but my pizza was not up to scratch. Compared to other venues’ offerings, the pizza was small and had way too much cheese. I tried peeling it off and was left with an off-putting tennis ball size of goo. Still, at least you can choose exactly what toppings you want and given that the pizza’s are for one person only, you don’t have to have any tiresome arguments with your other half over how he wants pineapple and chicken (which is just wrong).

It pains me a little to recommend The Den. I find the obnoxious staff as equally repellant as their late night clientele–but it cannot be denied: they do a pretty good pizza. Perhaps the answer is paying the extra 5 kuai to get a take away if the pumping sports action puts you off your pizza.

And so we stagger on, stomachs stuffed with cheese and dough, to The Kro’s Nest. A clutch of American students were practically high-fiving over the pizza when I was there, but really, I’m sorry–the place is great, the service exceptional, but the huge pizzas end up more like cheese on toast. It’s just wrong to have to eat a slice of pizza with a knife and fork to keep all the toppings from slide off onto your nice clean outfit. So boys? Size isn’t everything, and just a bit more time in the oven would change Kro’s pizza from mediocre to memorable.

-Helena Iveson