I have always been fascinated by different kinds of pop drinks.  When I saw this clip about soda pop obsession at Chow, I was thinking that only in US can find independent soda pop bottlers.  I was surprise when I came across this Melaka made soda pop from Long Chan.  There were 5 flavors, and all are not bad.  It does not have that much gas (carbonation) in it and was rather sweet.  My wife told me that this company have been around since she was small, and for this independent soda pop company to survive so long is amazing.  However, this drink cannot be found at restaurants, nor can it be found at hypermarket.  To get this drink, you will have to go to the local coffee shop (ah pek style and not Old Town style) or the local roti canai shop here in Melaka. 

The new Aeon Melaka Mall house the first Papa Johns Pizza outlet in this state.  With so many pizza shops in Malaysia, and having Pizza Hut, Dominoes and Shakey’s concurring almost every city in the country, I wonder how does Papa John’s fare in this crowded market.  My first impression was that this is another Pizza Hut like restaurant.  The restaurant feel and menu are also similar.  However, after tasting the fresh baked pizza, it is far from similar, infact, it rank 1 among  it’s competitors. 

Value for Money – Average

The prices of Pizza, sides and drinks are comparable with the other Pizza outlets in Malaysia.  During my visit, there were two promotion going on, first is Citibank Card 50% off for 9” pizza and Jusco Card RM5 for second 9” pizza.  With these promo, a party of 5 only spent RM80 for 4 9” pizza. 

Taste – Excellent

The pizza was great.  The dough was not oil soak like Pizza Hut, nor it powdery like Dominoes.  It taste fresh, and with the free fresh tomato paste, garlic butter & marinated chilli, eating the crust of the pizza was not as painful as the other pizza outlets.  I could taste the fresh abundance toppings, putting Papa John’s Pizza #1 among the competitors in Malaysia. 

Overall – Great

In comparison with Pizza Hut, Dominoes and Shakey’s Pizza, no doubt Papa John’s rank #1 in taste.  In term of value, it still trail Dominoes which has the royalty card that gives buy 1 free 1 large pizza.  To-date, nothing can beat this value.