Cheese-O-Rama
Just got a flier in the mailbox for a pizza place (the one starting with “D”). Just wanted to make an observation.
First they had “extra cheese” on pizzas. Then they escalated to injecting cheese into the edge of the crust. Then they enlarged the crust so they could shove even more cheese into it, essentially creating a cheese-filled danish at the end of each piece. Now, it seems that they are getting even closer to dropping the pretense of there being pizza involved as opposed to finding new “delivery systems” for melted cheese. Hence, the “Quatro Cheese Melt”:
I mean, seriously. Why not just hand people a bucket of melted cheese and be done with it? Who’s being fooled into thinking that this is a food dish rather than just the equivalent to putting a bowl of cheese into the microwave and then eating it by scooping it out with your hand? Anyone?
But they do pay attention to the non-cheese portion:
Interesting flavors. They include “meat,” “ethnic” (which I assume is some form of salsa), “spicy,” and “white sauce.” I presume that the “white sauce” is a clever way of saying “even more cheese.”
But hey. Fake Japanese Elvis Guy gives it the thumbs-up, so what can I say? Better hurry and order now, though–you’ll only be able to gorge on these things for another five weeks.
Hey… if Ervis endorses it, you know it has to be good!
Ahh…Japanese pizza!!! The wacky and the weird. I usually order plain cheese pizzas and add my own toppings when they arrive. Much cheaper and better IMO.
By the way, I am curious about your take on the iphone and its potential place in Japan. I have a hard time seeing it being successful here. The competition is too great and they are moving at breakneck speed with new models of phones every month.
anyway just curious about your take on it.
cheers
matthew
“Ethnic” is red curry. “Spicy” is black curry. “White” is crab cream.
Yeah, I just noticed the curry thing. How come red curry is “ethnic,” but black curry is not?
As for the crab cream, you know there’s still cheese in it.
Maybe when they deliver it, they can shove a complimentary wad of cheese into your mouth.
Mmmmmmmm, cheese. Cheeeeeeese.
I’m pretty sure there isn’t cheese in the crab cream. It’s hard for me to read the menu on the web site since the scans are low resolution but it says “white sauce” which means no cheese in the crab layer itself. (White sauce is flour, butter, salt, and milk.)
Of course, there’s cheese between every layer of crab, curry and bolognese…that’s sort of the point of the “cheese melt” part of it. The disgusting part to me is that there’s cream cheese on it. I’m guessing that’s what is squeezed around the top in a circular fashion (it resembles mayonnaise).
Still, the crust looks thick enough and the food porn shots of the pizza are meant to play up the cheese. The real pizza (which I’d never order – we don’t like Domino’s) probably isn’t nearly as cheesy as the pictures try to lead you to believe.
Aw, you’re taking all the fun out of making fun or the ad….
Matthew: sorry it took so long for me to get back to you on the iPhone thing–a bit off the current topic…
The iPhone *could* do well here, but it won’t do as well as it is in the US. Apple is not as big here for some reason, and the iPod didn’t make it as big–probably because of saturation of the market with so many choices, so many devices. Same will apply to the iPhone.
That said, I checked out the phones at Bic Camera yesterday and noticed a few things. First, huge screens now seem to be the norm… but only 2 or 3 models had a touch screen. And at least two of the were running Windows’ mobile OS, and they were very hard to operate. The things you were supposed to touch were tiny–little “x” close buttons were not even 1/8th of an inch and they were shoved up into the top right corner; even the most cautious touch would cover about 4x the area of the “button.” Menu items were similarly tiny; your finger could not help but touch three of them at the same time. It was very uncomfortable… and the layout was far from intuitive. I couldn’t figure out what I was doing, despite understanding all the language shown.
So the iPhone will have that advantage, at least: ease-of-use, something that Japanese cell phones, for all of their superior functions, simply do *not* have.
I don’t think it’ll be as big as the iPod, and knock-offs will soon flood the market (the “Nani” is one such device, though at this time, price and interface details are not out), but it at least has a bit of a chance–if Apple can do the publicity right.
Just out of curiosity, which phone/company do you use? I was an AU user for ages but switched to Softbank. My phone is a Toshiba model from about one year ago. 3.2 mega pixel with micro sd storage chip. Has lots of bells and whistles I never use. But a very nice phone. I ask myself what do i wish this phone had that it doesn’t? My answer is nothing. It serves me well and the price is right. I admit I am attracted to the new technologies but I never seem to fully use them once I get them. Just my personality i guess. But I do want to say thanks to you for turning me on to MACs. This blog is the reason I bought a Mac and I am so happy i did. Really love it–thanks for that.
cheers
matthew
It’s embarrassing to say, but I actually am not even *sure* which company I use. It’s an H” phone made by Sanyo and I am billed by “Willcom,” that’s all I know. It’s a PHS phone, and the reason I have it is because I only have to pay 2000 yen per month and 10 yen per minute when calling landline phones.
Cool to know I turned you on to Macs, and you’re welcome. I swear, I should get commissions from Apple… but the again, most Mac users are like I am, telling others that they should switch. Almost everyone in my workplace now uses Macs, and I probably make about 6-10 students switch every year.
Can someone explain to me why would people want to eat Cheese with Curry?
Heh, It’s the same company that I use – the name of the company itself is – surprise – Willcomm. So, there you are.