Cheap Pizza and Fried Chicken

Here on Ibaraki Eats, I have given you some pretty good options when it comes to pizza. My posts have been about what the Japanese call "Naporitan Pizza" because that is usually the only kind of pizza available. Don't get me wrong, naporitan pizza is great. The problem with it is that sometimes it can be way too expensive. Tsukuba's Amichi makes excellent pizza, but some of those pies can break the bank. Some of us need to get a quick and cheap pizza for lunch or dinner, so we turn to Pizza Hut or Domino's, or god forbid, PizzaLa. (I am sorry Japan, PizzaLa just isn't good.) Some of those options can be good, but that is all we may have in our respective towns. Fortunately for the residents of Mito City, they have another option that serves cheap pizza and surprisingly good fried chicken. Today, I will be talking about Pizza Carbo.

Pizza Carbo

Pizza Carbo is a take-out only pizza and fried chicken restaurant located in the Motoyoshidacho area of Mito. When I first went to this pizza place and started writing about it, I thought it was an Ibaraki original. Unfortunately, I was wrong. I believe that Pizza Carbo comes from Yamagata prefecture, but I am not entirely sure about that. Regarding the Mito place, if you would like to visit Pizza Carbo, I highly recommend driving there. There is plenty of parking around the Pizza Carbo building, and the surrounding area also has a few parking spots that are available. I wouldn't recommend cycling to PIzza Carbo because the street the pizza place is on is busy and can be a bit dangerous.
The Ibaraki Eats Duo found this place by happenstance while we were driving around Mito. My wife was very interested in the place and wanted to give it a chance. We parked our car next to the pizza place and walked inside.

Inside

As I mentioned before, Pizza Carbo is a take-out place only. When you walk in, there is an order counter and a few benches in the waiting area. There is a TV for everyone who is waiting, and interestingly enough, there is a soft serve ice cream machine. For about 150 yen, you can use that machine to grab some soft serve vanilla ice cream. The catch is that you only get one chance. Once you pull the lever for the ice cream to come out, if you let go of that lever before getting the right amount of ice cream you wanted, you are out of luck. My wife tried the ice cream machine and decided to get a cone. She pulled the lever and swirled that soft serve like a pro. We had a mountain of ice cream to enjoy. For 150 yen, that is a pretty good deal.
After we finished our ice cream, we grabbed a menu and looked at what Pizza Carbo had to offer.

The Menu

The menu is all in Japanese, but I have some good news. Everything in the menu has a picture so you can tell what kind of pizza and fried chicken is available. The left side of the menu is all pizza, while the right side is all chicken and fried foods. What really shocked us was the prices. All the pizzas were super cheap. We decided to grab two pizzas and a box of fried chicken.
We had one issue, this place was in Mito, and our home was in Tsuchiura, which is almost an hour's drive. We couldn't eat in Pizza Carbo since it was take-out only. We didn't want our food to get cold, so we needed a place to eat. Then, Mrs. Ibaraki Eats came up with the brilliant idea of having our dinner at the Ibaraki Prefectural Building. The top floor is open to the public, and you can take food up there. So that is where we had our little pizza party.

The Honey Cheese Weiner Pizza

When we got to the Prefectural Building, we headed to the observation floor, found a counter area, and opened up our first box of pizza. This pizza had cooked weiners inside the crust. I was very interested in giving it a try. I took a bite out of the pizza, and I have to say that even though it was extremely cheap, I don't recommend this pizza. The honey and cheese were OK, but the wiener and crust were terrible. The crust tasted undercooked, and the wiener tasted like something I could buy at the supermarket and not cook enough. It had such a strong taste of chemically induced meat that I didn't want to eat it anymore. Mrs. Ibaraki Eats was also not a fan of this pizza. She wasn't sure she would be able to have another slice, but she mustered all her willpower and had another so we could finish some of the pizza box.
So far, not off to a good start, but maybe the next pizza will be better.

Teriyaki Chicken Pizza

The teriyaki chicken pizza was a vast improvement over the last pizza we had. The crust was still terrible, but everything else was pretty tasty. The chicken was way better than the weird-tasting wiener we had on our last pizza. Plus, the cheese and sauce on the pizza tasted way better than our last pizza. All and all, not a bad pizza for the cheap price we paid. We actually ended up eating more than half of this pizza.
After we were done with our pizza, it was time for some fried chicken.

Crispy Fried Chicken

After one tasty pizza and one subpar pizza, we were not sure what to expect with the fried chicken. Our fried chicken set brought five huge pieces of fried chicken. My wife took one, and I took one, and we gave it a try. After trying this fried chicken, I just want to say that if I have put you off ordering a pizza at this place, then please, order the fried chicken. This place is called Pizza Carbo, but the best thing we had that night was the crispy fried chicken. I would even go as far as to say that this fried chicken wipes the floor with KFC's fried chicken. It was a spectacular fried chicken. Biting into it and getting that audible crunch from the outer skin of the chicken was amazingly satisfying. When I bit further into the chicken, I got a juicy and delicious piece of cooked chicken. It was incredible. Bad for my waistline, I am sure, but an amazing piece of fried chicken.
I really liked this chicken, but my wife LOVED this crispy fried chicken. She couldn't stop eating it. In fact, we were in Mito a few weeks after this adventure, and while we were heading home, my wife drove our car to Pizza Carbo and ordered some fried chicken to have in the car on our way home. It was as delicious during our drive home as it was when we first had it. Truly a fantastic crispy fried chicken set.

Great View

After we finished having our pizza and fried chicken, we were beyond full. We sat at the Prefectural Building's Observation Floor for a little while and checked out the view. If you have never gone to the Prefectural Building and looked out at Mito City, give it a chance. It is free and has a really nice view.

Once we were sure we could move again after such a heavy meal, we grabbed our stuff and headed home. Pizza Carbo was an interesting experience. A lot of their pizzas are hit or miss, but their fried chicken is a winner. I am sure the next time we are in town, Mrs. Ibaraki Eats is going to have a craving for Pizza Carbo's fried chicken.

So if you are tired of the same usual pizza from Domino's or Pizza Hut and want to try something different with amazing fried chicken, why not give Pizza Carbo a chance? Who knows? You might see us there. My wife ordering fried chicken while I grab some soft serve and try to make it as big as possible.
Enjoy!

For more information on Pizza Carbo, check out their website:
http://pizzacarbo-mito.work-hd.co.jp/