PETALING JAYA, Aug 10 — When I think of pizza, I think of my neighbourhood Domino’s that stood on a corner for over a decade.
It had no tables, just a counter, a massive conveyor-type oven in the centre, and a fleet of motorcycles waiting outside.
Growing up, I remember walking past and being fascinated by the sight of pizzas being packed into insulated bags, each with enough pockets and velcro to rival any “gearing up” montage in a cheesy action flick.
The “Meat Lover’s” pizza was my introduction to the iconic Italian dish: sugary sweet tomato sauce, an unhealthy hit of sodium nitrite in the form of various deli meats, and unnaturally stretchy cheese slapped onto a chalky, thin-crust (but never frozen!) dough. And I loved every bit of it.
But that was more than 15 years ago.
Since then, pizza in the Klang Valley has gone from being limited mostly to commercial chains (with the occasional pizza at a fancy restaurant if you grew up lucky) to an artisanal endeavour, with speciality shops offering specific styles: Neapolitan is de rigueur at most of these places, but even Roman pizza has begun popping up recently.
In other words, we’ve just started taking pizza somewhat seriously.
So what does this mean for a new arrival from beyond our shores?
In May, 1MORE Pizza, a cult-favourite brand from Brunei, opened its first Malaysian location in Sea Park, Petaling Jaya.
Though it’s described as being in Taman Paramount, the address is officially in Sea Park, and the restaurant sits on the cusp of both neighbourhoods, right on the main road next to Hai Kah Lang.
Founded in 2020, 1MORE Pizza is part of a new breed of restaurant, one geared towards the needs and wants of a generation who grew up on Tumblr and Instagram, when the word #aesthetic simply meant something looked cool rather than an identifiable “aesthetic”.
It is a generation for whom Justin Bieber’s 2009 debut single One Time is considered a classic as it reverberates around the restaurant.
Walking into the packed dining room on a Friday night, I am reminded of an article in The New York Times by Priya Krishna from earlier this year, which discussed how ambience and branding matter as much and sometimes more to diners.
It found that today, “a restaurant doesn’t need to have a particular aesthetic — it just needs to have a memorable one.”
That certainly rings true here. They don’t miss any opportunity to slap the stylised typeface on everything, from pizza boxes to caps to tees.
The latter bears their motto, “Pizza you can feel good about”. All of it is for sale at the merch corner, shrewdly placed in front of the waiting area in case you feel the urge to dress even more like a member of the team than most customers already do. Baggy jeans, boxy tees and white sneakers everywhere.
So what of the actual food? 1MORE prides itself on its light and fluffy Neapolitan-style dough that is fermented for over 72 hours, which is topped with anything from the expected (pepperoni, gorgonzola) to the unexpected (unagi, ribeye steak).
It is baked in the massive brick oven, gas-powered and not wood, despite some ornamental logs, in the centre of the restaurant. In addition to pizza, the rest of the pork-free menu includes small bites and fresh pasta.
Tempted by the thought of breaded and fried cheese, we started with the fior di latte fritti (RM20) to snack on.
Each stick produced a decent amount of cheese pull, but the garlic aioli was underwhelming.
Aioli is meant to be an emulsion of garlic and olive oil; I should be a walking vampire repellent after eating it, but a tub of this stuff wouldn’t do me any good against even the most fragile pale bloodsucker.
A feature I’ve missed in these artisanal pizza spots is the ability to go half-and-half. Here, you can choose to do so at no extra charge, whether you’re ordering a 9-inch or 12-inch pie.
For RM32.25, I opted for a 9-inch half-and-half of the Dancing Margherita (RM13) and Toast to Our Differences (RM19.25).
Both share a base of San Marzano tomato and fior di latte cheese, so there is some congruence, but the former stays simple with sundried cherry tomatoes and sweet basil, while the latter goes luxe with Australian ribeye steak, rocket and roasted seaweed with sesame.
The dough is light and soft, with a decent amount of puff and char towards the edge. You could eat a few of these without feeling bloated.
A margherita is the standard on which any pizza place should be judged, and the rendition here ticks all the boxes, except one: the tomato sauce is a tad too sweet.
It is less of an issue when there are heavier flavours and more toppings, like with the steak and seaweed, but it interferes with the balance between tomato, cheese and basil on a simple slice. Ten-year-old me would have loved it, though.
I also went for a pizza bianca: for RM33, another 9-inch half-and-half of Lucy in The Sky (RM15) and Smoke on The Water (RM18). I doubt most of the diners in the room picked up on either reference.
These were much more enjoyable, with the funky punch of gorgonzola and earthy depth of portobello mushrooms (not diamonds) in Lucy in the Sky, and the rich, smoky profile of smoked salmon in Smoke on the Water, both working a charm.
Smoked salmon has consistently made it onto pizzas around the world since Wolfgang Puck first threw it on some dough in Spago back in the 80s, and for good reason.
That salty, almost fishy intensity is tempered by whipped ricotta, and a bit of dill lifts the entire slice.
We finished with just under half an hour to spare from the 90-minute dine-in time limit, and as I turn to scan the room, I realise I may have been wrong about the diners not recognising the lads from Liverpool.
Yes, most of the room is young, but there are also families, some with young kids, some with overgrown kids, drawn by the promise of 1MORE Pizza: a slick, polished operation with all the convenience and accommodation of a multinational chain, yet serving a product made fresh from scratch. Pizza they can feel good about.
1MORE Pizza
34, Jalan 21/12,
Sea Park, Petaling Jaya.
Open daily, 11am-2.30pm, 4.30-10pm. Closed on Tuesdays.
Tel: 010-915 6388
Instagram: @1morepizzamy
*This is an independent review where the writer paid for the meal.
*Follow us on Instagram @eatdrinkmm for more food gems.
*Follow Ethan Lau on Instagram @eatenlau for more musings on food and self-deprecating attempts at humour.
