It’s been a bit over a month and I’m sufficiently ready to set forth once again and continue the quest along the 92 bus route for pizza perfection. At the beginning of July we left off just after entering barrio Flores, and this time picked up at Plaza Pueyrredón along Av. Rivadavia. With the luck of having three out of four places offering pizza by the slice and the fourth having an individual sized pizza, two of us were able to march our way swiftly through four spots all in one early afternoon.

Right opposite the corner of the plaza at Rivadavia 6900, corner of Rivera Indarte, is a branch of San Jose pizzeria. Although initially appearing like we were going to have to sit down and order a whole pie, we spotted a sign on the wall that said something to the effect of, “don’t have much time, go to the back and grab a slice at the pizza bar” – so we bellied up to the counter, ordered a slice of plain mozzarella, and then waited… it turned out they didn’t have one made to cut slices from so they had to cook another pizza to cut us a slice, no biggie as within a few minutes three or four more folk came in and ordered the same. Medium thick crust, a little bland, good tomato sauce with a touch of zip, and pretty decent cheese. Nothing special, but not bad.

A similar setup just down at the next corner, where a branch of the ubiquitous Kentucky pizzerias is at Rivadavia 7002, corner of Pedernera. Now, I’ve been to Kentucky before and wasn’t impressed, though I’d not tried a straightforward slice. It’s real deep-dish thickness dough, probably about 2cm tall, and the dough is actually not bad. The sauce is lacking, a mere blush across a bit of the dough, and the cheese is piled high, gooey and dripping all over the place, and really oily. That was my problem with it that previous time too, the quality of the topping just isn’t there for me. Yet, it’s one of the most popular chains in the city with new branches constantly opening up.

Another couple of blocks further on at Rivadavia 7233, corner of Pasaje La Porteña, is a small branch of Pizza Joy. Beyond rather abrupt and disinterested service there just wasn’t much on offer here. Why we decided on both a mozzarella slice and a cancha slice (which I’ve always seen as a sort of a cheeseless, sauce only slice, but here it was loaded with barely warmed onion, bell pepper, and dried oregano poured out of a packet, stems and all). The cracker thin crust ought to have been a winner coming out of a wood fired oven but somehow managed to be wet and undercooked, the sauce was decent, the cheese was mediocre, and, as noted, the other toppings were essentially uncooked. I’d give it a miss.

And, at the next corner, at Rivadavia 7299, corner of Terrada, we entered the Dalton Pizzeria & Cafe, a cavernous spot that looks like it may have once been a pool hall or dance club. Service was friendly and charming, a nice contrast to the last spot. And, pizzas are offered in the standard small and large versions of six or eight slices, but also in a pizzeta, four slice size that’s about the size of a typical salad plate. Perfect size to finish – more or less the equivalent of two normal slices, giving us each a total of three slices for the day. The crust had a strange texture and look, almost like gleaming white styrofoam, very strange, and was completely tasteless – it was almost like it was made the way they make shrimp crackers in Thai restaurants, just unflavored and baked flat instead of fried. The sauce was pretty much just pureed tomato without seasoning and sort of brushed on all over the dough, the cheese, like the crust, was an odd gleaming white – which would be fine if it was fresh buffalo mozzarella, but it wasn’t – it reminded me of the same kind used at Sol de Díaz, back at the beginning of this trek. I should ask, as it’s a type of mozzarella I really want to avoid.