This unassuming spot has some finishing touches that real pizza fans will notice.
According to Chris, this is the only place in Noblesville, IN that we haven't tried, so it's a fitting first post for the pizza blog. I literally had never heard of Pizza by the Harbour until 5 minutes before we got in the car. Eh hem - it's pronounced harbouuuur not harber :)
The first thing I noticed is that I'm pretty sure the pizza photos on their website are just Google image search results for "generic 1990's pizza" - I mean, I'm not even gonna pretend to be mad because I think their actual pizza looks 100x better. Look at the difference in crust!
Ok, let's talk about the actual pizza. We ordered a 16 inch half pepperoni and bacon, half sausage and mushroom. It's like our standard order anywhere we go. When we got the pizza home it was still hot, about a 15 minute drive.
We opened the notepad on iPhone and took some voice to text notes while we were eating. So studious! We're not pretending to be food critics, we just want to write down what it was like.
It's the little things
Remember how I said this place was unassuming but that it had some nice finishing touches? Well here's what I meant:
They put little black olives to show the divide in toppings - preciate it!
The nacho cheese dipping sauce had a little jalapeño slice on top - nice!
The dipping sauce was warm (or had warmed up by the time we got home).
The breadsticks were clearly hand made not from a freezer bag.
Chris said the bacon was the "shining star" for him and that it had a subtle smokey taste. He also liked how the bacon on his side was under the cheese to hold it in place. Sometimes you just get a handful of bacon bits thrown on top, but the bacon on this pizza was incorporated below and within the cheese so it doesn't flake off.
The basics
The sauce had a pleasant sweetness to it but somewhat indistinct. I liked the even spread of oregano over the top, it gave a nice aroma - but I was also finding little bits of oregano in my teeth hours later.
The breadsticks were real standouts for me, they had a crisp buttery outside and tasted like they probably use the same dough as their crust. Golden brown and airy. Chris said he thought the dipping sauce tasted more acidic, like maybe a vodka sauce or marinara sauce - is it different from the sauce used on the pizza?
Eric here, for me personally the pizza and breadsticks were overall good. The cheese and pepperoni didn't leave a huge impression good or bad. I really do appreciate the little things like putting the olives on the crust - it's just polite! The finishing touches, bacon under the cheese, and breadsticks would bring me back.
-Eric
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