Pizza!

While the rest of the world may know Pizza differently, in Mumbai, it is what comes delivered to our door in 30 minutes or less. Over the years, there have been many a brand that’s set up shop. From taking full advantage of the coupon-offers from Smokin’ Joes to dining out at a Pizza Hut over family outings, I’ve sampled a large part of their menu at some point in time or the other. Domino’s has been the office ordering favourite, with their generous one-for-one offers on certain weekdays & so on.

The key problem with these three was that they’d all lost out on the thing that makes Pizza so memorable – flavour. While one tasted like cardboard, the other was all rubbery, and the third usually ended up giving a sodium overload. None of them had the lip-smacking taste that Pizza has come to represent; plus, they all gave me crust issues. Their base ended up being soggy or over-greased on most occasions. So much so, that I’d given up ordering for a long time. But Pizza is love & the cravings had started to build again.

While searching for a cure, I ended up sampling some local, Udupi restaurant-style Pizza and went off on a trip down memory lane. But the craving hadn’t been sated. Amidst this all, someone ended up tagging me on Twitter about it & boom! I’d had my first interaction with PizzAah! Naturally, I was intrigued. Asked a few folks around & got to hear good things about them. Made up my mind to give them a try sometime, which, as is known to happen with me, took me a while…

So after weeks of banter & numerous assurances of being down in that side of town, the day finally arrived. Since the pizza wouldn’t come to me (they’re still finalizing their outlets across town), we decided to go to them – good food lovers would know what I’m talking about here! Located in the heart of a busy, suburban business district, PizzAah! has got the first part right – a large catchment area. Workplaces tend to be a significant part of a delivery-first Pizza place & I was happy to see them present there.

While food outlets typically love talking about their signature dishes & their best sellers, I love ordering what I call – their basic ones. These are the dishes that indicate if all is well in the kitchen. I mean, would you order an elaborate paneer or kebab based gravy at a restaurant specializing in Indian/Mughlai cuisine if their daal-tadka/makhni wasn’t up to scratch? It is a similar thing with Pizza outlets too – their Margherita has to be on point!

The kitchen meanwhile was starting to work their magic. I recalled them speaking about bringing the ‘wood-fired & smoked’ flavour to Pizza & was happy to see they weren’t mere empty claims. As it was served, I couldn’t help but smile at the heady aroma that came wafting through. But the real test was in eating it & so we did. The smoked flavour had been done just right. It didn’t overpower & taste bitter, nor did it feel like it was done just for show. Needless to say, the rest of the Margherita disappeared rather quickly. Okay, so PizzAah had gotten the basics right. But it was time to find out if they could up their game!

We decided to go all-carnivore this time & ordered their ‘Non-Veg Mediterranean Pizza’ that came with diced bell-peppers, olives, tomatoes & chicken sausage. We also sampled the ‘Garden Veg’ just to balance things off.

The smile widened upon picking up a slice. The plate had no oil smear on the plate, usually found with other pizzas. It also remained flat, without drooping down like is known to happen. Small things, but they matter. Biting into it was a very satisfying experience indeed. The marinara sauce used was smoked to perfection as was the rest of the pizza. The meat was succulent & there was a sufficient quantity of it to make it count as a Non-Veg pizza. The toppings on the whole, were spread out evenly and there was enough on every slice to sate the taste-buds.

Thanking the Chefs for sending us off with the ‘Happy in the Tummy’ feeling, we decided to take our leave. There was a twist in the tale though, as someone whispered the magic words – ‘Stuffed Garlic Bread’. But that’s for the next one…

Notes:

•  Apart from the Chef’s creations, one can also craft their own Pizza. You can choose the base & the toppings they’d like on their pizza.
• You can even choose the cheese used, with Mozarella & a Cheddar-Mozarella mix as an option.