Is Toronto's viral 'croissant pizza' craze actually worth the hype?

Croissant pizza is Toronto's latest viral obsession, but is it really worth the hype?

It seems like only yesterday when "Dubai chocolate," which roughly shakes down, these days, to the simple combination of milk chocolate and pistachio, was all anyone could talk — and post — about.

Nowadays, though, there's another viral creation taking over Toronto's social media feeds, and it combines two dairy-laden, carbohydrate-dense favourites: croissants and pizza.

Croissant meets pizza, what's not to like?

It comes as no surprise, at least to those familiar with the local croissant scene, that this latest viral creation comes, naturally, by way of Dubai, introduced to the Toronto scene by Little Pebbles Cafe.

The cafe, which boasts locations in Kensington Market and Little Italy, is known for its crazy croissant creations, like a hollowed-out pastry filled with sippable hot chocolate to an oversized 1-kg croissant. That they would latch on to the croissant pizza trend is only right.

The bakery offers a slew of croissant pizza ("crozza") varieties, including classic Margherita, Pepperoni, Hawaiian and Garden Delight, on top of more unique creations like Lox and Gochujang Pork Belly.

Already feeling that the concept of croissant pizza alone was unique enough, we opted to stick with the classics, ordering pepperoni and Garden Delight — you know, to be healthy.

A real selling point on these pizzas, aside from the buttery, flaky crust, is the sheer volume of cheese that they load on top. A cheese pull is guaranteed, especially when the pizza is served still steaming, straight out of the oven.

There's no mistaking the fact that the crust is made of croissant — it'll begin flaking off at the very first touch, a desirable quality in laminated pastries, but decidedly less so when you're trying to get a good handle on your slice to raise it to your mouth.

As for the pizza as a whole, to be honest, it's just okay. It checks all the boxes when it comes to pizza elements, but it's not winning any awards anytime soon.

The pizza does get bonus points for the pepperoni pizza featuring the type of pepperonis that shrink up and get crispy around the edges. I may be critical, but I'm still a human being.

So, the answer to the question you all came here for: is this frankenpizza really worth all the buzz it's been getting? In my humble opinion, I'm not so sure.

Look, viral food creations of all kinds serve a purpose, and actually tasting good is rarely a requirement to achieving those goals. They need to look good, and they need to seem good, but do they actually have to be good? Nope.

That's not to suggest that Little Pebbles' croissant pizza is bad, per se, but it simply tastes like an average pizza; the croissant element doesn't really add anything to the taste or the experience except for covering your shirt and table in croissant flakes.

The croissant crust itself is great. That much can reasonably be expected from Little Pebbles, but I can't shake the feeling that I'd rather just eat it on its own because, once it meets the ingredients that turn it into a pizza, all of its delicate flavours are instantly usurped by oregano, tomato and a thick, goopy layer of melted cheese.

It doesn't help that, just an hour before ordering the croissant pizza for myself, I was at Badiali, doing major damage to a spicy vodka slice. That, I'm afraid, may have set Little Pebbles' hybrid concoction up to inevitably fail.

Still, I'll never be one to yuck a person's yum. If croissant pizza looks and sounds good to you, it's worth a try. After all, it's nice to be a part of something, and even more so when that thing involves mozzarella and puff pastry.