[Updated] Rediscovering Pizza Through Asia: 6 Twists That Rewrite The Crust

Where pizza meets Asia, here’s to rediscovering pizza with an Asian twist across 6 flavour-forward joints.

Why pick pepperoni when KL’s pizza scene is tossing in a crossover cuisine between classic Italian with an Asian kiss? Gone are the shy days where the unconventional is unwelcomed, while these pies may not be your usual, it’s a crust worth both the mess and the cultural melt-in-one. Bringing a playful spin to a worldwide beloved, we’re talking Korean flavours with an Italian wink such as Monkey Coffee Cup’s Gang Nam Bulgogi or the What The Fish?! Asian-inspired catch by Double Zero Pizza. This is a piece to dip into, slice by slice.

1. Chum Chum Pizzeria

While Chum Chum Pizzeria aren’t Italians, “This is not to say we have any less reason to take pride in the way we pay tribute to the Italian heritage.” Besides their appetite for pizza, there’s no stopping the Serai Group from earnestly breaking out their bags of flour. With Chum Chum, it isn’t about the profit, it’s the dough: bready thick or crunchy thin, with the right chew and airy crumb. 

So, as you sit before their paunchy dough mascot, cheeky tongue lit in bright blue neon, it only makes sense to answer the invitation with The Don Wagyu. Imagine decadent wagyu draping over your white-sauced base, caramelised onions, and parmesan dusted lightly on top. Each bite dissolves into a slow-building, buttery depth. This is a Don worth saying yes to.

IG: @chumchumpizzeria

2. Double Zero Pizza

You might miss it by AMP Cafe, yet the sourdough pies Double Zero Pizza tosses are anything but quiet. Especially not when the wood-fired oven by the corner steals your first hello, sleek blue against polished marble counter. It’s a striking sight, the cool blue offset by the burnished red crowning the pizzas.

Flipping into the Piscivore Club, What The Fish?! is a brilliant catch by Double Zero Pizza, imagine lifting a slice that’s a Mediterranean punch with Japanese breadth, carried by the briny oil of the Maiwashi sardines; built on red and four-cheese filling, What The Fish?! is a bite that could wander into excess, yet is kept in line by crispy capers. The real question isn’t what you’ll order, but whether you come to Double Zero Pizza single, or in a school?

Booking: Double Zero Pizza
IG: @doublezero.pizza

3. Mokky’s

So, you have Italian-Americans sparking up peps and stirring up Margherita, at Mokky’s? It’s the classic New York-style pies here. Think thin crust, tarty, sweet tomato sauce savoured in a grooving space—its Muslim-owned ethos lending an even warmer sense of welcome. Not one to skimp on size, there are three serving sizes, whether it’s a solo treat, a couple’s cheat day, or a small party ready to dig in.

Besides their all-day pancakes and cheesy calzones, Mokky’s at KLGCC Mall bakes a Golden Butter Chicken that’s unmistakably moreish. Instead of the usual red, the dough is ladled with a salted butter chicken sauce, with mozzarella stretching over baked chicken chunks. Then, the aromatics—curls of chilli padi, red onion rings, and curry leaves scattered for a fragrant finish. Better yet, go Half & Half Pizza. Because good things are better together!

Booking: Mokky’s Pizza & Coffee
IG: @mokkyspizza

4. Monkey Coffee Cup

Monkey Coffee Cup works a crust that’s clearly on a higher level—not quite traditional nor is it a classic. Rather, it’s Western in base, with a noticeable wink to Korean flavours. Whipping up Korean-style pastas, rice dishes, and crisp pairings, unsurprisingly, their pizzas are carried through with the same standard. It’s hard to say no to handcrafted pizza dough—fermented for 48 hours, cheese-stuffed crust, and pulled from a wood-fired oven? Crust us, it’s worth it.

This might just be love at first slice for Korean food fanatics—the Gang Nam Bulgogi, loaded with beef bulgogi, sweet corn for a light crunch, black olives and arugula for contrast before pickled radish alongside a mayo dip seals the juicy deal. Though lighter on toppings, the Hong Dae Buldak outshines with its special sauce. Expect more than just sweet corn and briny black olives, where heat-spiked buldak chicken is tempered by a mozzarella-cheddar melt. It’s a crust worth the heat challenge.

Booking: Monkey Coffee Cup
IG: @monkey.coffee.cup

5. My Pizza Lab

Made in Malaysia, and the sibling to My Burger Lab, this slice joint has a knack for spinning up unconventional pizza toppings, markedly their East-leaning flatbreads. Tossing together various pies layered with local flavours, lit with a love only pizza people appreciate. The secret weapon to their pizzas? 72-hour slow-fermented dough. Imbued with herbs and sundried tomato, prompting a light, crispy, chewy mouthful.

Try a bite with their Huat The Duck. Feathering its way onto the artisan wheel are smoked duck slices, with mandarin oranges teasing out the charred undertones. Echoing a French haute cuisine: duck à l’orange, this pie by My Pizza Lab wears its crust kissed with an Asian spin proudly. Bold as its centrepiece, with a citrusy lift that tilts the whole affair East.

Then comes the Sesame Seaweed Sensation. Glossed with umami wakame, and chock-full of chicken over a mozzarella melt. Strip away the kewpie sesame sauce, and it only truly comes alive with My Pizza Lab’s onion jam. Sensational a slice indeed.

Booking: @mypizzalab
IG: @mypizzalab

6. 1MORE Pizza

Not from a country, but from an island, 1MORE Pizza channels Brunei into Malaysia through funk-soaked aesthetics and flame-kissed pies. “Pizza like no other” may be plastered at the entrance, yet it’s an ethos you sense the moment you step inside. Picture old diner counter seating with an industrial edge, reworked into a contemporary space that wraps around you as you indulge in their pies.

The 99 Masala might just be the crusty companion your table needs. San Marzano tomato as the base, anchored by chicken tikka masala cubes, as beef pepperoni slips in with smoky glory. With fior de latte folded into the mix, pecorino finishes it with a delicate dusting. Truly, spice, smoke, and comfort in one crust.

Booking: 1MORE Pizza
IG: @1morepizzamy

Opening image: Kuldip vadadoriya | Pexels