IRAQ'S best pizza in modern BASRA
![IRAQ'S best pizza in modern BASRA IRAQ'S best pizza in modern BASRA](/pic/iraq_s_best_pizza_in_modern_basra_/SW94clBFQWNzczg_.jpeg)
Good evening, guys from my last and final video here in Basra, Iraq. I’m here with my buddy Luke Damant. We are heading to a very special place here to get pizza, actually the best pizza in all-- Salam Alaikum [Peace be upon you] Salam, Salam [Peace]. Where are you going? [Speaking in Arabic] Hasta luego bro. Yeah so, they're excited about getting pizzas too, so that's what we're about to do guys. We're gonna go to what looks
to be the best pizza, it looks delicious. So, we're gonna find a cab right. It's about eight minutes from our hotel here where we're at, Castle Hotel. And, let's see if we can flag down a taxi, and take you guys with us to get some delicious pizza. Taxi, taxi.
Nope. Taxi, taxi. Might have to go up to the main road, the usual. Alright, guys we're looking for a taxi right now, and I can tell you, it is always shisha o'clock here in Iraq. We got street food over here. We got shisha clock on this side, that's Luke's
term here. I just gotta help spread the word, shisha o'clock. And yeah, we're heading over to the cabs now, this is the main street. So, we've been pretty successful, always finding taxis here so let's see. We can get one real quick here. Oh nope, that's not a taxi. What I’ve noticed here in Kurdistan is like
sometimes we've gotten into cars that I don't think are actually cabs, civilians yeah just civilians are like I’ll make a couple extra bucks off these guys because like I feel like probably 30% of the cars are just completely unmarked, and we flag them down they pull over. So, it's actually quite funny. Salam Alaikum [Peace be upon you] Habibi Oh, not a taxi. Is that a taxi? Nope. Oh is it taken taxi? Alright, this might be our guy. Salam [Peace be upon you] Yeah.
Salam Alaikum [Peace be upon you] Taxi? I think-- I think we have luck here. This might be our guy. We are looking to go to IQD pizza. Meshi [Okay] Meshi yallabina [Okay, let’s go] Salam Alaikum [Peace be upon you] [Speaking Arabic] Alright, successful flag down to the taxi here now. We're
cruising, yeah not too far, we're gonna be staying right downtown for the most part. Just about seven minutes to get to NKD pizza, Iraq. On Google reviews, we got a 4.5 out of five here on 39 reviews. So,
we'll give you guys the actual review once we get there, and taste it ourselves. Yeah, we're cruising through the streets right now, and it seems like nobody can decide on their lane. This car you know, it's— it’s definitely making his own lane here, the last— the last three cars in a row basically like swerve right into us, we've had to honk, and push him out of the way. So I guess, choosing your own lane is not a necessity here but it's quite busy actually. I feel like this morning when I was
driving around to get a Covid test, it was-- it was actually you know, just a little bit of traffic but at night seems like when everyone comes out, and maybe they had a little whiskey or something, the way they're driving. This is good pizza? Hey, hey. Alright so, we're being told right, there's good pizza but we're looking for the best pizza in all of Iraq. We need the best of the best. InshaAllah [God willing]
Shway, shway Inglize? [A little bit English?] Okay. You? No, no, no. No, no English. I would say, shway shway Arabic [A little bit] which I do all the time but when I say Arabic then they think, I actually understand a little but in reality, I really don't understand anything. A lot of the times, I’ll just think I understand, and I’ll answer the questions, and sometimes it suffices. We can say stuff but we can't hear stuff. Yeah exactly. Yeah. Like this morning, this guy was so interested in asking me questions, and I was just kind of just guessing, maybe he's asking me this question. So, I’d put in my Google translate. I put in my Google translate
what I just imagined, maybe he's saying like, oh I’m traveling around, this is the country I was last had, this is the country I might be going to, and then you know he would I would show it to him in the Arabic translation, and then— and then he would just continue with this whole conversation. So, I actually have no idea what his responses were but he seemed pretty excited with all my responses. So, Google translate as always guys, I tell you to get that when you're traveling, it is a necessity. Alright, we're arriving to NKD pizza. Yum, yum, yum. Welcome, my name is Federico. Welcome to my shop. It’s a first classic. Salaam Alaikum [Peace be upon you] Alright, it's time to get some pizza.
Yum, yum, yum. Hello. Salaam Alaikum [Peace be upon you] I hear this is the best pizza, best pizza in Iraq. InshaAllah, it's gonna be good. Thank you. So, we order here or sit down here? Okay perfect. Let's grab a menu here, and see what you got. What is the best pizza you have? Yeah, we have an English option, that's great.
Oh pepperoni, oh that's gonna be good. So, probably a I love to eat pizza that is loaded with a bunch of different types of meat. So, pizza is actually my favorite food in the world. Yes, you might think, it's
manoushe but actually no, pizza is number one. Farm-- Oh, for here please. Farmville I’ll just do the— the small, gotta watch this belly, you know. Did you ever play the Farmville Facebook game? Yeah, yeah. Oh yeah, that was an addicting one, back in the day. Okay yeah that, and then I’ll also have a
Pepsi. Yeah just one. Do I get a discount for being Iraqi police? Yeah, yeah it's a joke. Nope. That'll do it for today. Yeah, that's a good joke. Isn't it? Oh yeah.
Yeah, that's nice. Yeah, yeah. Yeah you did, you knew. Because-- You are under arrest. No. Yeah, I got this at the market in Baghdad. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, just this. Okay.
Yeah, I got a special price for me. Yeah, yeah. Welcome. Where are you from? America and Australia. This video on the Youtube? Oh, you guys can keep that, I’ll take the receiver. Thank you. Name of the channel is a World Nomac, I can type it in if you need. Thank you. Thank you. Shukran, I’m excited.
Notifications on, perfect. Thank you so much. Guys great English by the way. Zane Inglize [Good English]. So, Luke where does pizza fall on your favorite foods in the world? Probably top ten. I think- I think it's a safe bet like you'd always rely on like
a good pepperoni or oh cheese pizza, you can't really go wrong with it. It's very hard to mess up a pizza. Exactly. And they're usually really good as well, so probably top ten, cheese paratha number one. Yeah exactly. Right the rest of the list doesn't really matter after that. Exactly, that's all you gotta say a little bit of the cheese parathas though, that's on brand. I can't be cheating on that, my baby girl. Never, never. So, when the food comes, I can't wait to
show you guys because it's gonna be delicious. Yallah [Let’s go]. Oh, the food's arriving to us. Pizza delivery. Yeah, oh there's the buzzer. Thank you so much. This looks great. It looks just like the photos I saw on Instagram.
What is that one? Chicken and onions barbecue? Barbecue sauce on that. That is the go-to. Let's see. Is it still pretty hot? We might need to give it a minute or two to cool down before. Oh sweet, we got a hot dog in there. Hot dog, looks like a very delicious pepperoni, that’s what is that chicken or ham sausage? Oh yeah, it kind of actually looks like a pizza hut, pizza. I’m gonna see if I can dig in now guys, it might be a little too hot to try it but honestly I’m so hungry for pizza right now that I’m willing to burn my tongue to try it a minute early.
Alright, here we go. As we say sahtein [Enjoy your meal] in Lebanon. Oh yeah, baby. Now, I know why they're calling this place Iraq's best pizza. I’ll tell you my mouth is on fire, not from it being like spicy, from it being like fresh out of the oven hot but that is good. Honestly, each bite is gonna be a bit different because one of the bites had all sausage, and like I think, that's sliced chicken or whatever it is, comment below if you know. And this one's gonna be a pepperoni bite
that one's gonna be a hot dog bite. So let's try out the pepperoni one. Oh that's-- that's got a nice flavor to it, also. Like I said, it's literally almost tastes like a different pizza when I took another bite there. Now time for the hot dog. I can tell it's gonna be hot that hot dog, it's probably steaming. Oh that's good. I don't know if I’ve ever had a hot dog on the pizza but that
actually works quite nicely. Honestly before coming to Iraq, I was not aware that they had really, really good pizza, and now my perceptions have been changed that I can enjoy a delicious slice of pizza here in Basra, Iraq. Alright, now we're gonna have Mr. cheese paratha try out this pizza, and see what he's rating. The cheese on there but I’ve had time luckily to let
it cool down a little bit so, I’m gonna get a big old bite. We've got chicken, onion, cheese on there, bit of barbecue sauce as well. So. that's the go-to with barbecue. Isn't it?
Man, that's good. That is good. There’s enough barbecue sauce, like the perfect amount not too much, not too little— little perfectly all around the pizza. The cheese is good, it's not burning my mouth off at all. And the little tiny bits of onions in there, this is a-- this is good. They make a damn good pizza here. What would you rate it on the Iraq scale pizza then the worldwide? I mean, we have not too many pizzas in Iraq but honestly probably 10 out of 10 in Iraq but you— you wouldn't think, they're known for their pizzas at all like a eight and a half out of ten worldwide, Oh man. Solid, solid pizza. That’s a very good rating. Alright, but
I honestly the pizza is so, so good. The ingredients like sometimes, I’ve been to places where the the cheese you can really taste, it's a foreign cheese but this tastes like a- a pretty standard cheese that's on a delicious pizza. So yeah, it passes both of our checks. Yum, enjoy. Alright, Luke has been so kind to offer me one of his slices of this delicious barbecue chicken pizza so lets go for- Take your pick. Alright, I’m gonna go for the extra cheesy one, that's probably the one he had his eye on next but let's give it a solid bite. I’m excited to try it this time. This one's a bit cooled down, so we'll give it a a bite to take out half the pizza.
Oh, that is nice, that is nice. They put honestly the perfect amount, I’m gonna open this pizza up, a barbecue for me. Yeah. Because honestly, sometimes I don't like barbecue pizzas if there's— if they're like so loaded, we're like all you can taste is the barbecue but this basically like combined with the flavor is really nice where you get the juicy cheese, you get the chicken in there. You can taste like Luke was saying the— the tangy little onions built into there with a nice barbecued to it rather than a full-on like takeover from the barbecue. So,
I’m quite impressed. Better than the pepperoni? I’m loyal to my meat lovers pizza but it's a second runner-up for sure. You want to try one of these? I’m happy with my chicken. Fair enough, more for me then.
Alright guys, we have the last and final slice here. By the way, I got the small, Luke got the medium, and I will say that since I had one of his slices. I’m at a perfect amount, so like a small after a long day of walking exploring the city here in Basra. The small actually was just the right amount, so this extra p-- this extra piece right here is gonna be hard to take down but it's so good, I could not leave this one. Oh some-- some pieces are falling down on my lap. These are almost-- almost bite-sized two or three bites, and I’m able to take the whole thing down.
Yum. Honestly, actually after having this piece, I— I could almost have another one. That is what we call Cosh zane [Very good] Very good. Cosh zane [Very good] I think my Arabic's not too great.
They are looking at me like what is he saying-- What does cosh mean? I think it means very good. I hope. InshAllah [God willing] That's what it means. So, he's the man, who makes the best pizza in Iraq? Yeah, nice to meet you. What's your name? My name is Ibrahim Ibrahim. Nice to meet you Ibrahim. Thank you very much. I messaged you. Yeah you-- yeah yeah I asked him what time is it open. I was like what time you guys are open? I wanna make sure you guys will be open.
Ah, yeah yeah I messaged you. Check it out. The pizza's damn good. That is you. Yeah so, how long have you had the restaurant? How many years have you had this restaurant? Maybe, maybe for three— three months. Oh, three months.
So, in three months, you became the best pizza in all of Iraq. It’s good honestly. It’s really good pizza. We've enjoyed it. Thanks for saying hi. Nice to meet you too, bye. Nice to meet you, bye, bye. Thank you very much. It was delicious. Zane [Good]
Bye. Oh, I am full now guys. That was delicious. I will say, you guys are probably gonna look at these videos, and be like you had a lot of western food here but to be fair, in Kurdistan I tried a lot of local foods here, and I just could not resist having the pizza. And I will tell you, I do not regret it for a second because that was the perfect, last dinner here in Basra, Iraq. Well, speaking of having some delicious non-traditional food from Iraq, we are finding ourselves getting hungry for another dessert which we've had too many of them but to be fair, we did a lot of walking today. So we're gonna cruise on over to the mall
right over here that you might have seen in one of one or two of the last videos. And maybe try out a little chocolate dessert because one of the places, we walked past had some incredible items on the menu but we were just so full at the moment. We were like alright, that's a place, we'll come back for later, and if we're already right next to the mall, might as well yallah [Let’s go] over there, so let's head over. Alright, guys once again we went
through the same process, walked in, questioned us; why we have a camera, made a couple radio calls, and they're probably oh those same guys are back at the mall again. Hey, there's our buddy. Hey. Kifak habibi [How are you, beloved?] We are back again. We are back again. That’s our buddy from last night. Friend. No, no, English. No, La Arabic. La Arabic, same conversation as yesterday. Yeah, yeah. You go? Oh, we're going. Chocolate.
Oh alright, and we're busted now. Salam Alaikum [Peace be upon you] Thank you, thank you habibi. Yeah, we're good. We're good. How are you? Hey, good brother. How you doing? Yeah how are things? How are things? We’re back at the mall again. Yes, we couldn't stay away. Good to see you. Thank you. There it is, the chocolate bar. Yum, yum, we are going to-- we're going to
have the chocolate bar, and it's gonna be good. We’ve got a whole group of people with us now. I’m not sure, how this happened but we're going to do it. The chocolate bars this way bro.
Oh we got it. Oh yeah, we gotta say hi to Ali, our friend from earlier today. It's funny, since we've been to this mall like three times already. We know like, I feel like four or five people on each floor. Yeah, you guys are always here hanging out. Okay. Yeah, we've gotta find Ali.
There’s Ali. Yeah, let's surprise him. Number one perfume seller. Number one perfume seller. There he is. Habibi, Kifak [How are you?] We are back again.
The best perfume. How we doing? Yeah, we know everybody at these malls already. You’re getting us a good deal on chocolate. Hey, hey, you speak, you're my friend. Alright, you know, oh they're good. It's a big one. Alright, InshaAllah. Yeah, yeah.
Yeah alright, it's good chocolate? Good Chocolate. Zane? [Good]. Cola zane [Good chocolate] So, here is the chocolate bar, chocolate bar. It's gonna be good. Yum. This shall be good. Salaam Alaikum [Peace be upon you] We have come for chocolate. Good chocolate here? Cochizen chocolate? Alright.
And we're right in front of the whole sign here, chocolate bar. In chocolate, we trust. Yeah oh, in chocolate, we trust. That's incredible, Chocolate heaven. America, Australia. Yeah. And we came all the way to Iraq because we heard in chocolate, we trust. Chocolate bars.
Chocolate pizza. Wow. Chocolate puffs, chocolate fountains, chocolate pizza. Wow. You have everything chocolate, crepes. Oh, my gosh. Crepes, waffles. How do I know, which to buy? Chocolate Which is best? The best. Yeah, it looks good,
very good. It’s a mix. Oh, chocolate bar roll. Whoa. It’s a mix, a brownie bread. Wow. With ice cream. Okay. No, not okay. Okay, this one is with the ice cream. Wow, that's huge. It's like a full meal right there. Not meal, for one.
Alright, well. Alright, shukran habibi. So, we've got a lot of options here. We even have chocolate pancakes. I think this is what Luke and I saw in the sign in the last video.
It was like a mix of like pancakes and bananas, and yeah I have found a winner brownies in a bowl. Yum, that's ice cream, that's brownie. What's that one? It’s a chocolate. White chocolate and sweet chocolate. Oh wallah. Alright, that's-- that's exactly what I want. Let's go with that. Okay so,
you're the man that makes sure the chocolate is delicious. And what's your name? One more time. I’m here exploring the beautiful country, and meeting people like you. What’s your-- Youtuber Only youtuber, I am not a spy.
I am not a spy. Just a YouTuber. The only place I can take you is to Iraqi jail. I’m a police. I don't know. It’s a fake wallet.
I am kidding. It always get people. So, this is where the magic happens. Yum, yum, yum.
Wow, look at that drizzle, and it's just seeping right down the side there. Look at that. That is a form of art. Oh yeah. Load that thing right up, that's a little white chocolate, has a little chocolate syrup. Oh, and it's drawn a little- Is it a smiley face? A heart, wow. Wow,
This is incredible. How do you learn such a skill? I love that. So, we got a smiley face here. We got a couple hearts on the sides, and I’ve never had a plate made with such love for me. Oh, and we got a little dipping station right there. This is incredible, perfection at its finest.
And I— I don't know if you guys see that. Right there, we got a big cup of brownies next to it. Oh man. Oh man. That is looking delicious. Look at that, the final product. and then- oh this is where the brownie magic happens. Yum, it's a little chocolate sauce right on top of there, and it just seeps right along all the brownies. Nice, warm chocolate. Oh yeah.
And then, final touch. Oh yeah, put it right on top there. How am I gonna finish that? That's like two meals worth. See they really loaded up here, they hook
it up with a little, that's the white chocolate sauce up top on there. As we say in Lebanon, sahtein [Enjoy the meal] Oh so, Luke got a plate made with absolute love there. Thank you. What do you want? Oh, just the cutlery, perfect. That is perfect. And this is a massive cup, look at how big this is. Alright, we're gonna let Luke start out this taste test first here. Alright, this is how you do it guys, you wanna go really slow.
Just douse it right on there. Wow. That is a full meal right there, just all chocolate. Dig in bro.
Oh yeah. I’m surprised, he's able to eat this after finishing a medium pizza minus one slice. Hey, you got a lot more here than I do, I think. Yeah, that's true. I’m gonna have a big one. Oh wow. Oh, that's so good. The chocolate is delicious.
Oh yeah. Pancakes are warm. Chocolate is hot, and it tastes damn good. Yum, sahtein [Enjoy the meal] Alright, here we go. We've got the ice cream up top, I’m gonna try, and perfect this bite. We got, the ice cream, there we got the brownie with some hot chocolate sauce. We're gonna dig right down in there while getting some of the warm chocolate on the side there.
Let's give it a shot. Now that is a brownie sundae if you ask me, and oh I missed the top part right there, the white chocolate right there, the the syrup that was put on top. It actually hardens into like a nice stiff piece of chocolate. Let's try the full bite this time. What a dessert, what a dessert. The brownies just melting in the mouth, and then it's infusing with a nice cold scoop of ice cream. Oh my God, that's-- that's gonna put me to
bed tonight. And Luke clearly didn't like his because his pancakes are pretty much gone at this point. Guys that brownie was so good. As you can see, I have like stains all over me because it's exploded all over me. So now, we've got the bill here our man.
Oh so 15,000, so a great deal for us to eat all of that. That is delicious. So 15,000 comes out to about 10 US dollars, and we'll toss that there, and we'll call it a day. Our guys took good care of us, so , proper tip is necessary for the good people of chocolate bar. As we say-- Yeah, exactly. We are in food coma at this point. Salam Alaikum Habibi [Peace be upon you] That’s the mall manager, right? Yeah, we know him well.
Security, yeah. He's probably wondering what we're up to. Alright well, that was great. I wanna say thank you guys so much. It was delicious, and InshaAllah [God willing] will return again. Thank you, thank you. Alright, guys we have loaded up our bellies with so much food. I don't think, I could eat another bite of anything. So, that's where I’m gonna end today's video. As always, thanks so much for watching. If you want
to see more videos both here in Iraq, and actually no, this is the last video. So if you want, if you guys want to see videos all around the world, make sure you hit that subscribe button. And, if you've enjoyed this video watching us absolutely bloat ourselves before bed, make sure to smash that like button, and we will see you guys in the next one.
[Music]
2021-11-16 04:42