Top five pizzas under 1k in Dhaka

What makes a good pizza? A delicious crust, a well-balanced sauce, and a fair amount of cheese.

As for the topping, you could put anything really, maybe not pineapple or any strong-smelling fish like anchovies. But some people even like those "unique" flavours on their pizza.

We made a list of best five pizzas in Dhaka, which we liked based on their flavours and of course, taste.

We did not take into account the size, but whatever we ate did not cost beyond Tk1000 (exclusive of VAT and service charge) for a medium or regular sized pizza.

We also judged the crust and tasted three kinds – thin, deep dish (which was also stuffed crust) and pan. We did not taste any vegetable pizza or dessert pizza.

When we say the best five, we do not rule out the other good pizza places. These are just what we preferred among the ones we ate.

Outside of the five we picked, as honourable mentions, we would like to include Bella Italia, Pizza Roma, Butlers, Shawarma House, Pizza Inn, Street Oven, Fat Boy Pies, Dough on the go, Barcode Café and BruTown Café.

Almost every area in Dhaka has a good pizza place which is a favourite among its residents.

Bru Town pizza is underrated if you ask us. This quaint place in Bailey Road has great pizzas. Their thin crust is not crispy but chewy, a good kind of chewy. Their four-season pizza (two slices of four flavours), when eaten hot, is a lovely thing.

Bella Italia probably follows the "simple is more" rule. Their crust is super thin, the toppings sparse but altogether, the pizzas are scrumptious.

5 Domino's Deluxe Feast (Tk 649)

At number five, we have The Deluxe Feast from Domino's, which is a pan pizza with chicken, mushrooms and capsicum.

The crust has some kind cheese, probably parmesan, on it and that adds a different touch to the pizza.

The capsicums are quite thick, something not everyone would like but they go well with the other topping.

It is a basic chicken pizza, not too fancy but quite filling.

This pizza gets a 6.5 out of 10.

Those who like Pizza Hut, as in basic restaurant style pizzas, Domino's might be good for them.

Most of their flavours are okay and the crusts taste good.

4 Pizza Hut's The Works (Tk820)

Many of us probably grew up eating Pizza Hut pizzas and were blown away by their taste back them.

As adults though, they might come off as too salty, but most fast foods are high sodium affairs.

And therefore at number four, we have The Works, which is a classic Pizza Hut flavour with beef chunks, beef pepperoni, chicken, onions, capsicum, black olives and mushroom. The cheese tastes nice too.

The olives, capsicum and onions give a nice crunch to the soft meat. We think this pan pizza tastes best the way it is, stuffed crust or otherwise sort of ruins its true taste. The medium size is good enough for two people.

The Works deserves a 7 out of 10.

3 The Dining Lounge's Chef's signature deep-dish pizza (Tk999)

This restaurant is trying to popularise the Chicago style deep dish pizza.

As the name suggests, it is nowhere near a thin crust. This particular pizza also has a stuffed crust.

This is a loaded pizza, full of beef, chicken, shrimp, sausages, different kinds of cheese, olives – pretty much everything you could put on a pizza.

Although the crust is thick, it is not soggy from all the topping.

Because it is so thick, a medium-sized pizza easily caters to four to five people.

We give this a good, solid 7.5 out of 10.

2 Pizza Guy's The Nightmare Reborn (Tk499)

The name may be a tad strange, but the pizza has good flavours. We ate a seven-inch size.

The crust is amazing, first bite into it and you would fall in love with the crispiness.

It is not super cheesy and has a subtle spiciness to it which is really nice, especially with the slightly sweet tomato sauce.

The best thing about the pizza – the tender, melt in your mouth meatballs on top!

We give it an 8 out of 10.

We also tried a seven-inch Sicilian shrimp pizza (Tk399), but we were not a big fan of the slightly bitter garlic bits.

The shrimps were nice though, not overcooked and had a barbeque sort of flavour to them.

1 Cheez's The SMG (Tk899)

At numero uno, we have The SMG (simple er moddhe gorgeous) which is really the pizza to have out there for everyone.

The pizza has chunks of Alfredo chicken, pepperonis, crispy beef bacon bits, and lots of cheese on a thin crust base.

Alfredo is not the usual flavour for a pizza, but this beef-chicken-cheese combination really works out.

Although this pizza is a bit on the heavier side, the flavours are beautifully blended. We give this beauty a 9 out of 10.

You don't agree with TBS's pick of the best five pizzas in town? Have your say