Friday, August 31, 2012

Riya's pizza - another groupon adventure

I got lazy cooking today so I suggested to Jordan that we use the groupon deal I've purchased for Riya's pizza to solve our dinner problem.
Being Jordan, he gladly agreed :)
(without knowing that the pizzeria is actually really, REALLY out of the way being on Dunbar near UBC... anyhow...)

I have purchased this groupon sometime near 23rd of August.
The reason why I want to use it so quickly is because, only after I have made my purchase, that I have realized that the pizzeria is of quite a low reputation among the fellow urbanspoon diners.

I am going to start my blog with a fair warning: we did not enjoy our experience there.

Before I mention why, here is what we got:

Butter chicken pizza - $17.95 - Flavoured Chicken Breast With Tasty Butter Chicken Sauce - 3.5/5

Butter chicken pizza - $17.95 - Flavoured Chicken Breast With Tasty Butter Chicken Sauce - 3.5/5

Butter chicken pizza - $17.95 - Flavoured Chicken Breast With Tasty Butter Chicken Sauce - 3.5/5
The butter chicken pizza was surely unique.
The chicken breast meats were marinated in curry powder and the sauce was a tasty butter chicken sauce.
I quite enjoyed the sauce although it was more marsala and sweet rather than tangy and buttery butter chicken - I guess I just prefer the butter chicken that way! (authenticity aside!)

The dough was just enough thickness and was crispy and chewy at the same time.  The herbs (Rosemary and Thyme) found in the dough provided enough flavour to make the dough enojoyable as it is.

My only complain would be that the pizzas were noticeably lacking in cheese. 

The meat madness pizza - $17.95 - Loaded with Pepperoni, Genoa Salami, Italian Sausage, Ham and Bacon - 2.5/5
The meat madness pizza was really salty - which is normal because it is generally loaded with cured meats such as pepperoni and salamis.  


The meat madness pizza - $17.95 - Loaded with Pepperoni, Genoa Salami, Italian Sausage, Ham and Bacon - 2.5/5

Again, the pizza itself was alright.
The dough was the same as the butter chicken and the tomato sauce was only passable.

It was an average pizza and certainly not worth $17.95 (at its regular price) - not a LOT of meats and certainly lacking in cheese!!
The meat madness pizza - $17.95 - Loaded with Pepperoni, Genoa Salami, Italian Sausage, Ham and Bacon - 2.5/5

The meat madness pizza - $17.95 - Loaded with Pepperoni, Genoa Salami, Italian Sausage, Ham and Bacon - 2.5/5
Now the reason why I said I did not enjoy our experience here...

It all starts with the options offered on groupon.  
There were essentially two options:
you could either purchase $19 for 2 large pizzas and one 2L pop Or...
$20 for $40 worth of food items.
I didn't want the pop, so I went for the second option of $20 for $40 worth of food.

When I called to place my order, I was NOT informed that there was no chicken wings available.
So when I got there ready to pay, the girl at the cashier told me that they didn't have anything else available other than pizzas.

She even told me that others who's purchased $20 for $40 groupons have opted for drinks so she semi-forcefully asked me to pick a drink instead.

Look, if I wanted the drink, I'd purchased the $19 groupon deal.

I got really frustrated trying to explain to her about the 2 different groupons that were offered.  At the end, she offered cash-back which I have gladly accepted.

Food - 2.5/5 - on average at the best.  I wouldn't pay regular price for their items.... just seems way too much of a rip-off!
Ambiance - N/A - a very small take-out joint.  You wouldn't expect yourself to be eating in!
Service - 1/5 - really poorly managed.  wouldn't recommend returning!


Riya's Pizza on Urbanspoon

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