Not as vulgar as expected.....

Lets be honest, this place doesnt even come in the top ten pizza's in Beijing let alone first. However I will concede that for the crowd it caters for, it really has cornered the market.

I'll admit that having heard all the stories and the pomp surrounding this place, it put me off ever visiting the place for well over a year. Now I make at least a couple of visits a month to the Sanyuanqiao branch.

The food in general ranges from poor to ordinary. The pizza itself is your usual greasy cheese and budget toppings affair. I remember ordering the sliders once - actually loved idea behind the 'gotta have a burger' line but in reality they turned out to be a tspn worth of burnt ground beef on a very burnt bun. The sides are usual pub fayre and also very greasy. The salds look very big but not my thing so cant comment on the taste.

Food aside it is a great place to go with a few friends after work to split a pizza and have a few beers, and I can fully see why it is so popular. It's atmosphere manages to tread the fine line between lively and lairy and I can't really think of any other options like this in the area.

The pizzas of course are huge and are good value. I can usually shovel large amounts of pie into my gob, but two or three slices here and im finished. Be careful not too bump up the bill ordering side that are naff and not really needed.

The Tsingdao is 20RMB a pop which is 'reasonable' I guess, but it doesnt taste half as nice as drinking it for half that price round the corner at Home Plate.

Last thing....Does anyone else find the floor managers who hover by the cash registers a bit creepy? Reminds me of the dinner ladies at school on the look out for people flinging iced buns about.