My parents spent Christmas week with us and that always means one thing: eating a lot of delicious food.
I got my foodie gene from my dad. He, my brother and I all LOVE obsessing over amazing food, usually from other countries or just something outside the norm. Anytime we get together, we know it will be a delicious feast!
This Christmas visit was no exception to that rule. I planned for us to have several awesome meals at home (luckily my hubby is an excellent chef), several takeout meals and one or two special surprises in the form of a hot culinary trend: Indian pizza!
If you’re from the East or West coasts, you may have heard of Indian pizza. Here in Columbus, it’s a relatively new trend but we already have two solid options for Indian pizza in town. You guessed it, we tried BOTH this Christmas!
When I told my dad that we’d be having Indian pizza on Christmas Eve, he just about lost his mind. He had it once a long time ago in England and loved it. He was super psyched to try it again! I told him we have two Indian pizza places in Columbus and immediately he wanted to try them both. Like I said, the apple didn’t fall far from the tree here – I was on the exact same wavelength.
First, we tried Moon Pizza, a highly-rated food truck located in Hilliard. It’s a bit farther away than the other option, but Moon came highly recommended by my Indian bestie who is also a foodie in her own right. I knew it would be great!
My dad checked out the Moon Pizza menu online and we picked our pies, then my mom and I cruised down to Hilliard to pick up the goods. The Moon food truck is parked in the dark back parking lot of an out-of-business restaurant – but don’t let its lowly location scare you off. This place is the real deal and extremely authentic. The aromas emanating from the truck can best be described as tantalizing!
All I can say about Moon is that if you love Indian food and pizza, you’re in luck here. Indian pizza is the hottest food trend to tempt my tastebuds in a long time and Moon is the best we’ve had!
Driving home to Lewis Center with two Moon pizzas in the car was nothing short of torture, but we resisted. The pies were still warm when we got them home, and we dove right in. The Chicken 65 pizza was a spicy number similar to chili chicken I’ve had at Indian restaurants. The chicken tikka masala was perfection on a pizza pie – epic spices, big flavor and the perfect crust.
The icing on the cake, so to speak, were two delicious yogurt-based dipping sauces we drizzled or dipped our ‘za into. The orange-hued one is Tandoori sauce, while the green sauce is cilantro-based. Both were so tasty and flavorful!
We all absolutely LOVED Moon Pizza and it’s well worth the drive. I can’t wait to come back and try more things. The whole family was psyched to have our leftover Indian pizza for lunch the next day, and we were all sad when it was gone.
But then, a few days after Christmas when we were getting closer to the end of my parents’ visit, we were ready to try our second night of Indian pizza!
For round two, we went to Pizzawala’s on Polaris Parkway. This is a cute, brightly-lit little takeout pizza spot specializing in Indian fusion pizzas. They are delicious, flavorful and on the spicy side!
We tried the Tikka masala pizza and Chili chicken pizza. Both were tasty, expertly spiced and super flavorful. The spice level was about a medium on the Tikka masala and a high medium on the Chili chicken. We will definitely be back to try the mango pizza and others. I love having this place so close to home – it’s right by my gym. Dangerous!
If you haven’t tried Indian pizza yet, hop on this trend. It’s amazing!! And, if you’re up for making a delicious Indian curry at home, you could even make your own DIY Indian pizza without ever leaving the comfort of your kitchen. Now that’s a great idea for my parents’ next visit.
If you’ve already tried Indian pizza, I’d love to hear about your favorites in the comments below or over on Instagram or Facebook. Our whole family loved our non-traditional, Indian pizza Christmas!
