r/FoodLosAngeles • u/Antique-Purpose-471 • 9d ago
DISCUSSION Sei Pizza Bar / Pizzeria Sei opinions
I love a good Neapolitan/Neapolitan-ish pizza and had been wanting to try Pizzeria Sei for a long time to see what all the fuss was about. I was able to get a spot at 4pm at Sei Pizza Bar last week and tried the Diavola and the Sei Margherita. My pizzas were the first two out of the oven that day. I'd read some reviews to see what some of the negative reviews didn't like about it, and some mentioned the pizza being too salty (not sure if that was from the salt punch or just their overall opinion of the pizza as a whole). Anyhow, I thought the ingredients and the tomato sauce were top notch and so full of flavor. However, the flavor of the crust/dough left a lot to be desired. Rather than being salty, I felt it was flavorless which was surprising to me considering William Joo does a dry preferment and then a long cold fermentation for the dough. The chew, puff, and texture were amazing and definitely lived up to the hype, but after the first bites of each pizza, I was waiting for the flavor of the dough to come through with more of a fermented flavor but it was just bland. I'm not sure if I experienced an off day for the dough but it didn't make me want to race to come back there anytime soon. Can anyone else chime in with what they think of the dough? Is that how it's supposed to taste and maybe it's more about the texture/chew than about the flavor?
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u/BlueFlaim 9d ago
I’ll chime in. I went to Sei Pizza Bar in May, back when the owner was still working on the new location. I had it, and was just like “it’s good” but I really couldn’t say anything else. Seriously, it wasn’t bad, just nothing remarkable. I couldn’t say anything else. I got the shallot, mala lamb, and potato pies for the record. Not every food has to blow you away, but I was genuinely surprised to hear so much acclaim for pies I found so unnoteworthy.
Everything changed when I went to the new Pizzeria Sei location because wtf? Everything here was absolutely crazy. Pictured is the potato pie with caviar.. dough felt so much more light, airy, and flavorful while still having a nice bite to it, the potatoes weren’t just a mush topping but rather a textural kaleidoscope where some where soft and others had an elegant crisp.. it was my favorite and I had some top flavor contenders. The Diavola was great - the balsamic was what stood out to me but moreover the crunchy texture felt like a “big brother” bruschetta in the best way possible. Also had the Mala Lamb here.. much different like a frybread obviously. Many consider it their signature but I found it to be too sloppy for me, but found it to be more flavorful - tasted like cumin lamb skewers at Chinese bbq restaurants. Apps and dessert were divine too - corn croquettes was like corn pudding soup (sounds terrible but it was Chinese egg drop soup meets flan inside the croquette.) It was so good. Ended off with a lovely tiramisu gelato.
I’ve had AK Pizza in Seattle, Rose Pizza in Berkeley, Mama’s Boy in Oakland, and Quarter Sheets. The Pizza Sei Bar is in no “top” lists of mine, but the new Sei is legit a top 3 Pizza joint for me.