GoodTaste: Around the world on a pizza

Some pizza places rise on their delicate crust or imported wood-fired ovens.

Atlantic City's irrepressible Tony Boloney's is all about the toppings - usually offbeat ones - built on a variety of homemade cheeses and some unexpected international inspirations.

Classic tastes should be well-sated by the Old Man Brooklyn, with clouds of hand-pulled mozzarella floating across slow-roasted tomato sauce.

But I found the globe-trotting pies to be most exciting, like the Mexican Corn Husker topped with Mexican-style string cheese, roasted Jersey corn, and cilantro-tinted poblano cream. The pizza topped with pad Thai noodles could have used more tangy punch.

But the Tikka pizza was pure and satisfyingly exotic, topped with freshly made coconut milk curry, whose modest heat was tempered by milky sweet cubes of house-made paneer cheese. Owner Mike Hauke clearly likes a challenge with his pizza, "but we also like Indian food." This odd-but-inspired pie allows us a taste of both in a single slice.

- Craig LaBan
 
Tikka pizza, $3.50 a slice; $13-$21 for whole pies, 300 Oriental Ave., Atlantic City, 609-344-8669; tonyboloneys.com