Domino's Honolulu Hawaiian Pizza

Today, we are reviewing Domino’s Honolulu Hawaiian Pizza. For many years, one of the most polarizing toppings has been whether or not pineapple tastes good on pizza. We put this to the test in this review.

Hawaiian pizza is a traditional cheese pizza with tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, pineapple, and ham and/or bacon. While it is called Hawaiian pizza, it is widely believed that it originated in Canada. Sam Panopoulos, a Greek-born Canadian, is often credited with creating the first Hawaiian pizza at the Satellite Restaurant in Ontario, Canada. He was inspired by Chinese dishes that typically combine sweet and sour flavors.

Domino’s Pizza Inc. was founded in 1960 by Tom Monaghan and his brother Jim. They bought into a small pizza store in Ypsilanti, Michigan, called DomiNick’s. Eventually, Tom bought out Jim and expanded the business to three stores, rebranding it as Domino’s. The three dots on the Domino’s logo represent those original three stores. Today, Domino’s operates over 15,000 franchises, with approximately 5,649 in the United States.

The Construction

The following are the ingredients used for Domino’s Honolulu Hawaiian pizza. Three changes were made to the default: First, a smaller amount of pineapple was used. Second, Domino’s New York-style crust was used. Finally, the crust was baked well.

Crust: New York Style
Size: Large (14 inch)
Cheese: Mozzarella w/ Provolone (Default, Normal Amount)
Sauce: Robust Inspired Tomato (Default, Normal Amount)
Pineapple (Light Amount)
Ham (Normal Amount)
Bacon (Normal Amount)
Green Pepper (Normal Amount)
Diameter: 13 1/2″ – 14″ (was not a perfect circle)
Weight: 2.15 lbs (including box)
Bake: Well Done
Location Purchased: Stallings, NC
Price: $16.99
Pies Purchased: 1

The choice of well-done crust was based on my experience with the Cheese Pizza Challenge, where I realized it needed more baking time. That experience also left me wanting a thinner crust. The New York-style crust is on the thinner side. It is meant to be crispy on the edges but soft and foldable on the interior.

The Experience

The scoring had to be slightly adjusted from the Cheese Pizza Challenge scoring to accommodate the extra toppings.

Crust: 2 points
Sauce: 2 points
Cheese: 2 points
Additional Toppings: 2 points
Intangibles: 2 points

Crust

While it’s not a perfect crust, the well-done New York-style crust helped here. The crust is hand-stretched, giving the pizza a little more definition around the edge than Domino’s standard hand-tossed crust. Even with a more well-done bake, the pizza was still floppier than I prefer. There also was some bubbling around the edges.

To me, a big plus was the flour on the underside. This is used to prevent the pizza from sticking. There is a slight amount on this pizza, but I like how it contributes to the overall experience of the crust.

Score: 1.25 out of 2 points

Sauce

The Robust-Inspired tomato sauce lives up to its name. While the foundation of this sauce is the tomato flavor, there was also a nice mix of garlic and other spices. Domino’s describes this as zesty, and I would agree. It’s not overly spicy but has just enough flavor and spices to satisfy.

Score: 1.25 out of 2 points

Cheese

Domino’s offers several cheese options for its specialty pizzas. The standard cheese pizza uses part-skim mozzarella and provolone. The ratios were not disclosed, but I’m confident the mozzarella is the main component.

One thing I like on a pizza is the crisp bubble effect on the cheese. The well-done option helps here. Overall, it’s not a bad cheese. I prefer a little more creaminess and bite to my cheese, but this is still satisfactory.

Score: 1.00 out of 2.00 points

Toppings

The bacon and ham are pretty tasty and bring a nice saltiness to this pizza. The pineapple is not fresh. According to my research, it is pre-packaged before going to Domino’s. Fresh pineapple might not be soft enough to put on a pizza, so I can see why pre-packaged would be used, as these typically are softer because they are packed in juice. As mentioned, I used a light amount of pineapple. This imparted a slight sweetness to the pizza and offset some of the saltiness. As for the green pepper, that was fresh. When cooked on the pizza, it also imparted a slight sweetness, but not nearly to the level of the pineapple.

As mentioned earlier, normal amounts of ham, bacon, and green pepper were used for this pizza. The ham and bacon had sufficient quantities. The green pepper seemed a little light for a regular portion. When it came to the pineapple, the light amount was also adequate. If I had gone with a standard or extra portion of pineapple, it would have made the pizza too sweet for my taste.

Score: 1.25 out of 2.00 points

Intangibles

As with the Cheese Pizza Challenge, I looked at the following intangibles:

“Orange Glow”: This is created when the cheese melts into the sauce. It’s enhanced when the cheese is crisp. While I got the crispness, I didn’t get the “orange glow” much.
Well-defined Edge: This is when the crust is slightly thicker and doesn’t have sauce and cheese over it. This crust was not as well-defined as I had hoped.
Firm Bottom Crust: The bottom pizza should not be floppy, nor should it taste doughy. This was not doughy but still somewhat floppy.

The ingredients worked pretty well here. The dish was more sweet and salty than when Sam Panopoulos experimented with sweet and sour. The pineapple offsets some of that saltiness. While the pineapple blended well with the ham, bacon, and green pepper, it didn’t mesh as well with the tomato sauce or cheese. The sauce had a zesty component, but it didn’t need the sweetness from the pineapple.

Score: 1.00 out of 2.00 points

OVERALL ASSESSMENT

The debate over pineapple on pizza feels like a religious war. I doubt many people will ever change their opinions on the topic, and I think some bring it up primarily for attention. Additionally, I wonder how many individuals have actually tried pineapple on pizza.

Compared to the Domino’s Cheese Pizza, the Honolulu Hawaiian was helped by a better, more well-done crust and good toppings. The other toppings (ham, bacon, and green pepper) helped boost the score more than the pineapple did.

I could have still done without the light portion of the pineapple for this pizza, but it wasn’t a bad addition. This is a pizza I would actually have again, and if you go with an open mind, you might find you like Hawaiian pizza.