Imperialist Food: Dominos

There’re quite a few American fast food chains in Bangalore. I’ve seen a KFC, a McDonald’s, a Domino’s, a Pizza Hut, a Taco Bell, a Baskin Robbin’s, and even a Papa John’s. Today at a food court in an IT park in rural Bangalore, I saw a “Jambo Juice.” Sanju thought it was just a rip-off of Jamba Juice, but given that most of these chains are actually officially licensed here, I figure that whatever focus group decided that “Jamba Juice” was a great name also decided that “Jambo Juice” would play better in the subcontinent. I’m sure there are many more options than these, too, so I’ve got options for seeing how Indians bastardize American bastardizations of European food.

Last week, Sanju was out and her roommate showed up late and hungry and decided to order out. We decided I’d give Domino’s my first try at American fast food. So here’s my review:

We ordered a “cheese burst” pizza, which has a layer of liquid cheese in the crust. The pizza itself was “spicy chicken,” which I gravitated to because of the two chilis next to it, indicating very spicy. Sanju’s roommate didn’t want to do one of the bizarre fusion pizzas, but I figure that’s for the best for now anyway.



It was better than American Domino’s, certainly. There was actually sauce on the pizza, albeit not exactly tomato sauce. It had the color and texture of barbecue sauce, and tasted like, well, Indian food. Sorry my pallette isn’t more sophisticated than that. The cheese burst was fine, even if you could tell it was fatty. The chicken, crust, and cheese topping were acceptable, too. Nothing fancy, but unlike American Dominos, this didn’t make me want to wretch, so that’s a plus.



Pizza Hut and Papa John’s are more expensive, but I’ll give them a shot at some point. I’ve also heard good things about the veg burger at KFC (I know, right?) and some of the stuff at McDonald’s. We’ll see if Taco Bell substitutes something edible instead of the surplus circus meat it uses in the States.