pizza, beer and hockey fights

Ok so there weren’t any fights between the actual hockey teams we saw but I’m pretty sure every knucklehead Caps fan in D.C. wanted to push me off the ledge of the Metro this past Christmas weekend.  I am a die hard New Jersey Devils fan and I went with some friends up to the Caps Devils game only to see the Devils fall flat on their face.  While many Caps fans in the Verizon Center mocked our goalie by chanting “MAR-TY, MAR-TY,” Brodeur wasn’t actually the weak link in the team’s performance that night, stopping 36 of 40 shots and foolishly trying to nab a high flying puck that didn’t have a chance at the net only to deflect it down behind him and into the net.

Devils won 3 out of the 4 games in the season series anyway, so fuck the cup-less Caps.

I digress.  This is not a hockey blog, though if you really want to read a Devils hockey blog you can head to In Lou We Trust.  Ovie would say “Sikk blog.”

Before the game I spotted a fairly fitting little place  near Chinatown for us to grab some brews and possibly try some of their pizza.  The sign says it all.

If you can’t tell from the blurry as funk picture it says Pasta Pizza Bar.  Perfect right?  Almost.  The beer is overpriced but thankfully we arrived in the midst of happy hour, where a draft beer (only choices are Peroni and Pilsner Urquell) is only $3.75.

Good man of the evening, Ryan, bought us all a CAPRESE which is mozzarella, fresh tomatoes, basil and tomato sauce.  $9.95 is pretty much what I’d expect to pay for a neapolitan-american pizza in D.C.

The pizza looks good, but I can tell at first glance it’s undercooked.  All the ingredients are there.  The cheese was a pretty mild mozzarella and the sauce a tangy fresh tomato sauce, but the crust was just a floppy, droopy mess, wet with moisture and absolutely not a good base for the cheese to cling on to.  I’m pretty sure everyone’s slices ended up not having cheese on them after we picked our piece.  The cornicione, or end crust, was pretty tasty, but this pie really could have benefited by spending more time in the oven.

The only thing I absolutely didn’t like were the raw, dirty feeling basil leaves on top.  You really couldn’t eat these things as they were as tough as some of the leaves that garnish a plate at a fancy restaurant.  Inedible and almost not meant for eating.

But hell, there’s no better friendly gesture than buying your mates a pizza pie before a hockey game.  Go Devils!