Albert T.
Yelp
Amar Pizza always seems to appear on the lists of the top pizzas to try out in Detroit. It's not very surprising either, as it's such a rarity to see these kind of fusion flavors in the area. It's been on my try list for years and I finally got a chance to visit the Troy location this past weekend. I ordered over the phone and was quoted around a 25 minute wait time, which makes sense for a Detroit-style pizza with minimal wait.
The shop itself is a purely takeout place, with only an order window and two chairs to wait for the pizza. We went with the highly recommend Naga Pizza and started to dig in in the car while it was still fresh.
Naga Pizza, Large, Square Deep Dish ($23.99) - This is an 8-square Detroit-style pizza cut into 12 squares (3x4). I found it not too spicy at the start but as I ate more, it got progressively more and more spicy. I don't eat too much South Asian food, but the combination of spices and the cheese kind of reminded me of a spicy paneer makhani, with a rich cheesiness, combination of different spice flavors, and a lighter note from the red onions and cilantro on top. The chicken breast chunks are tender and provided some respite from the spicy flavor. Overall the flavors work very well together in a pizza format.
While the flavors are good, unfortunately this particular pizza is not a good Detroit-style pizza. The crust is super wan here, with barely a hint of browning or caramelization and no texture other than chewy dough, with a slight undercooked dough flavor. The dough itself seems to be typical dense and chewy pizza dough instead of the more airy and lighter focacia-like dough that is emblematic of a Detroit-style pizza. There's no cheese on the edges to decorate the crust and give an additional crunch or provide the requisite oil to help grease the crust and fry it as it bakes. (3/5)
When I got home, I lightly heated up several slices in a pan with oil, which improved the crust to a crisp and ameliorated the doughy flavor. The problem is if I'm getting takeout, I shouldn't need to do any additional cooking to fix the food!
Bathrooms - Amar Pizza is takeout only and there are no customer accessible restrooms.
I came in with very high expectations of getting a great fusion Detroit-style pizza. While I did get an inventive and tasty pizza, I did not get a good Detroit-style pizza. The crust was undercooked and just plain not good. If I had to order another pizza from here, I would try their standard crust only.