Restaurant review: Pizza Maru, Causeway Bay - Korean fusion to the fore

Lovers of Korean culture, and especially those who like the country's food, will be glad to learn the newest addition to Hysan Place's food court is the colourful and welcoming Pizza Maru. With more than 600 franchises worldwide, it specialises in fusion flavours expressed through a range of pizza, pasta, and the ever-popular fried chicken.

I was hesitant when I saw a rather clumsy staff member trying to "hand toss" a piece of holed dough, which he then tried to mend and piece back together.

Still, I decided to try the shop's signature item, and luckily, our garlic chicken barbecue pizza (HK$58 for the six inch; HK$93 for the nine inch) was quite comforting, although it is not something you should order if you are trying to lose weight. The smoked chicken breast and bacon chunks on the bed of chewy cheese nicely match the drizzle of barbecue sauce.

We paid an extra HK$14 (the regular size is HK$18) to get the gold edge — a ring of two cheeses and creamy sweet potato, which added texture and sweetness.

You may feel less guilty knowing the soft, bread-like dough is made with green tea, chlorella (a type of green algae) and 12 supposedly healthier cereals including rye, black rice, barley and oats. Each pizza also comes with a cup of sliced pickled cucumber, which cuts through the greasiness.

The hot cream seafood soup pasta (HK$78) was disappointing. It had a generous amount of seafood (shrimps, blue mussels, and calamari), but the "carbonara" sauce needed to be creamier. The menu also featured Korean staples such as spicy seafood toppokki (HK$58) and kimchi bokkeumbap (HK$58).