Among the many things Torontonians had to celebrate on Canada Day was the grand opening of Pizza Maru. Founded way back in the early aughts, the popular chain counts some 640 restaurants throughout Korea, not to mention a handful in Hong Kong, Singapore and Myanmar. But the location at Yonge just north of Finch is its first-ever restaurant in Canada.
There are a couple of defining characteristics that set Pizza Maru apart from its competitors. The first: despite its name, Pizza Maru is not actually a pizza joint, but a pizza and chicken joint. This means that you can simultaneously satisfy cravings for two classic fast food genres at a single location.
Pizza Maru’s other distinguishing characteristic is its super-healthy, not to mention delightfully jade-hued, green-tea “well-being” pizza dough. Devised at its Korean R&D lab, the patented dough is made with organic green tea and chlorella (a freshwater alga) along with other nutritious ingredients such as flax, black rice, barley, sunflower seeds, sorghum and millet.
While the dough of Pizza Maru’s pies is consistently uniform, the sizes, styles and toppings are impressively varied. Pizzas are available in a trio of sizes (10-, 13- and 16-inch) and in styles that include Classic, Chicago and Korean. You can even opt to have “golden edges.”
In terms of flavours, there are more than 20 to choose from. Among the more intriguingly unconventional are Holy Honey Sweet Potato (with diced sweet potato and sweet potato mousse). Korean Bolgagi, Galbi Burger, Signature Shrimbul and Crazy Chicken Shrimp (unsurprisingly for a pizza and chicken joint, many of the pizzas are topped with chicken in various guises).
As for the chicken, it comes both oven-baked with traditional rice cakes or in the form of crispy wings. Seasoned in all manner of hot, spicy, sticky, honeyed and barbecue sauces, it inevitably packs a punch. That said, for the wings, you can up the flavour quotient by resorting to dipping sauces such as Sriracha mayo, sweet ranch, garlic and teriyaki.
Meanwhile, if you’re feeling indecisive and just can’t choose between the two major candidates, pizza and chicken, there is indeed a third way. Pizza Maru also serves a trio of gooey, cheese-topped oven-baked spaghetti dishes as well as topokki, traditional Korean rice cakes simmered in hearty black bean, chili and carbonara sauces.
Pizza Maru is located at 6048 Yonge Street. Its (temporary) daily opening hours are from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and 4:30 to 8:30 p.m.
