Papa John’s
Lower Ground, Raffles City
268 Xizang Road
Shanghai, China
???–
Was keen to check out a pizza joint that’s close to our service apartment… and Papa John’s looked really promising because they’re a large chain around Shanghai. Something odd I have to point out though – pizza is bizzarely expensive in Shanghai. Technically, it’s really cheap to make, but the menu prices are always sky high. A regular pizza is basically 3x the price of a very decent (and filling) meal in other places. I don’t get it.. and it’s totally unfair ‘cos I want mah cheap pizza! *whines*
Um. Where was I?
OK, so Papa John’s has this familiar, cheery interior that’s casual and inviting. We settled happily and were delighted to find an English-friendly, fully pictorial large menu. Awesome! Their star dish is, obvously, their pizza. But we kinda made the mistake of only ordering 1 pizza and got 2 entrees to go with it. In retrospect, we should’ve just skipped the entrees ‘cos they were… ermm… not good.
The Goulash soup – “juicy beef, plump tomatoes, fresh potatoes and zety onions make this a hearty feed” sounded really enticing but was only average in reality. A thin, tomato broth with little bits of kinda tough beef (definitely not “juicy”) and slivers of tomato (not “plump” either) and what looked like a tumble of that frozen potato/carrot/pea mix (and sooo not “fresh”). To be frank, it was just like some canned soup – total meh.
The Baked stuffed mushrooms – “plump, garden-picked mushrooms and juicy flavour-filled minced pork baked with mozzarella cheese and mushroom sauce” was a bit strange. It was just weird to have some hard pork lumps stuffed into the mushrooms.. and the cheese/mushroom sauce was basically floating in oil. It was OK when it was hot, but it was positively yuck when it went cold. Don’t think I’ll be ordering that one again 😉
But their Super Papa’s pizza – “pepperoni, Italian sausage, ham, onions, mushrooms, green peppers”. Oooooo. It was fabulous! A nice, thick, filling crust.. and very tasty ingredients. I did wish they’d put half the amount of cheese though.. the sheer amount overwhelmed the rest of the ingredients and it was wet with oil. Still, very tasty and next time, we’ll just head straight for the pizzas instead 😉
Papa John’s
Check out their totally enticing menus!
Goulash soup – juicy beef, plump tomatoes, fresh potatoes and zety onions make this a hearty feed
Baked stuffed mushrooms – plump, garden-picked mushrooms and juicy
flavour-filled minced pork baked with mozzarella cheese and mushroom sauce
Super Papa’s pizza – pepperoni, Italian sausage, ham, onions, mushrooms, green peppers
Mmmmm cheesy goodness
A 50?-off voucher they gave me, at least I presume that’s what it is?
Can someone please help translate what this is and how/when to use it?????
oh boy that is some sad looking ….tomato soup with bits of something… and the mushrooms were just gunky looking but the pizza looks NOM NOM !
Definitely go for the pies! The other stuff looks sorry 🙂 Enjoying the posts from china 🙂
Yeah was a shame.. but thankfully the pizza was good.. going back on Fri for lunch with some colleagues!
oh boy that is some sad looking ….tomato soup with bits of something… and the mushrooms were just gunky looking but the pizza looks NOM NOM !
Definitely go for the pies! The other stuff looks sorry 🙂 Enjoying the posts from china 🙂
Yeah was a shame.. but thankfully the pizza was good.. going back on Fri for lunch with some colleagues!
Chinglish?
I’m interested to know if the waitstaff speak English in these places with Chinese/English menus. Or do you just need to point to the menu, hehe (that’s what I do now in Japanese restaurants in Sydney!)
Re: Chinglish?
Only English.. so we basically point or use sign language.. heh!
WOW! HAHA Papa Johns! That’s my favorite fast food pizza! Interesting on the soup and baked stuff mushroom. We don’t have that here in CA. Just pizza but we DO have Cinna Swirl sweettreats
(TOO sweet), chococolate pastry delights 
.
OMG both look really really goooood!! Why oh why don’t we have ’em here??
The goulash looks like it came out of a can! My rule for pizza restaurants is to only order pizza and garlic bread for this very reason.
We should’ve followed that rule too… next time for sure!
I love Papa John’s pizza. They have the best crust.
Was pretty impressed with it but man I wish it was cheaper (it’s $ compariatively here)!
Hahaha I always get the Super Papa’s too! It’s great with the jalapeños!
Not such a fan of their sides too. The BBQ wings were always so-so!
Btw, how do you manage to access Livejournal in Shanghai? I could never do it!
Yeah it’s the best I reckon, like a super supreme… hehe
Ahh a VPN always works 😉
Chinglish?
I’m interested to know if the waitstaff speak English in these places with Chinese/English menus. Or do you just need to point to the menu, hehe (that’s what I do now in Japanese restaurants in Sydney!)
Re: Chinglish?
Only English.. so we basically point or use sign language.. heh!
You’re making me crave a pizza.
me too know, think i’ll have some this wkend 😉
WOW! HAHA Papa Johns! That’s my favorite fast food pizza! Interesting on the soup and baked stuff mushroom. We don’t have that here in CA. Just pizza but we DO have Cinna Swirl sweettreats
(TOO sweet), chococolate pastry delights 
.
OMG both look really really goooood!! Why oh why don’t we have ’em here??
The goulash looks like it came out of a can! My rule for pizza restaurants is to only order pizza and garlic bread for this very reason.
We should’ve followed that rule too… next time for sure!
The pizza looks yummy 🙂
Adding to what rongie has said:
You can’t use the voucher in conjunction with other promotions/set meals. The voucher is also deemed invalid if you cut off the corner.
Thank you hon! I think it’s an awesome deal.. might have to go next wk 😛
China seem to price all types of “western food” higher because they feel western food are more exotic?
Gist of the voucher –
You have to spend 100yuan and above in a single receipt before you can use the voucher. The voucher has to be shown before you order, the expiry date is 13/03/2009 and valid only for outlets in hua dong area except for those in wu han, xia men, fu zhou, wen zhou, ning bo (not too sure about this) and chang zhou.
Pizza… exotic… those 2 words just don’t seem to go together, lol! But I do think you’re right.. because McDonalds is relatively expensive here too. It’s crazy!
Thanks HEAPS for the translation.. hey that’s actually a super good deal!!!
Also, you can only use one voucher per meal and can’t use it in exchange for cash. It is not valid if photocopied, there’s no stamp or the edge is cut off (the edge where there is writing and a dotted line with scissors on it). And the company retains the rights to vary the use and conditions of the voucher during the valid period 🙂
There you are, seems like normal legal jumbo, but that’s the sort of stuff I like to point out 😛
My cousin told me that when pizza hut first opened, people lined up out the door and were shelling out about 50 yuan per large pizza. It’s still going for at least 25 yuan or so. And still full of customers 🙂
Ahhh.. cool, thanks – i’m surprised it’s such a good deal!
Heh the pizzas here are 100yuan… it’s a bit insane :X
Wow. The PJ’s here in the US don’t serve any entrees. They only have pizza, wings, bread sides (which, might I add, while I prefer PJ’s pizza, the cheese bread pales in comparison to Domino’s cheesy bread) and desserts.
*sighs* Now I want pizza, but I can’t have it.
I saw lots of people eating the chicken wings and lil hashbrown things.. it looked good too!
I LOVE Domino’s cheesy bread.. mmm… it doesn’t exist here though 🙁
I love Papa John’s pizza. They have the best crust.
Was pretty impressed with it but man I wish it was cheaper (it’s $ compariatively here)!
Hahaha I always get the Super Papa’s too! It’s great with the jalapeños!
Not such a fan of their sides too. The BBQ wings were always so-so!
Btw, how do you manage to access Livejournal in Shanghai? I could never do it!
Yeah it’s the best I reckon, like a super supreme… hehe
Ahh a VPN always works 😉
You’re making me crave a pizza.
me too know, think i’ll have some this wkend 😉
The pizza looks yummy 🙂
Adding to what rongie has said:
You can’t use the voucher in conjunction with other promotions/set meals. The voucher is also deemed invalid if you cut off the corner.
Thank you hon! I think it’s an awesome deal.. might have to go next wk 😛
China seem to price all types of “western food” higher because they feel western food are more exotic?
Gist of the voucher –
You have to spend 100yuan and above in a single receipt before you can use the voucher. The voucher has to be shown before you order, the expiry date is 13/03/2009 and valid only for outlets in hua dong area except for those in wu han, xia men, fu zhou, wen zhou, ning bo (not too sure about this) and chang zhou.
Pizza… exotic… those 2 words just don’t seem to go together, lol! But I do think you’re right.. because McDonalds is relatively expensive here too. It’s crazy!
Thanks HEAPS for the translation.. hey that’s actually a super good deal!!!
Also, you can only use one voucher per meal and can’t use it in exchange for cash. It is not valid if photocopied, there’s no stamp or the edge is cut off (the edge where there is writing and a dotted line with scissors on it). And the company retains the rights to vary the use and conditions of the voucher during the valid period 🙂
There you are, seems like normal legal jumbo, but that’s the sort of stuff I like to point out 😛
My cousin told me that when pizza hut first opened, people lined up out the door and were shelling out about 50 yuan per large pizza. It’s still going for at least 25 yuan or so. And still full of customers 🙂
Ahhh.. cool, thanks – i’m surprised it’s such a good deal!
Heh the pizzas here are 100yuan… it’s a bit insane :X
Wow. The PJ’s here in the US don’t serve any entrees. They only have pizza, wings, bread sides (which, might I add, while I prefer PJ’s pizza, the cheese bread pales in comparison to Domino’s cheesy bread) and desserts.
*sighs* Now I want pizza, but I can’t have it.
I saw lots of people eating the chicken wings and lil hashbrown things.. it looked good too!
I LOVE Domino’s cheesy bread.. mmm… it doesn’t exist here though 🙁