Pizza Metro Pizza - A Tale of Two Pizzerias (not really)

Rest : Pizza Metro Pizza 

Meal : Dinner

Loc : Khar/Bandra, 5 mins from Olive

"It was the best of times and it was the worst of times " so go arguably the greatest lines of any book. My experience of the last few days has been much the same when it comes to dining out, which i have been practically every day to the point that i know actually look forward to eating at home.

In the last two months Bombay has seen a new Italian joints/Pizzerias open up, not sure why that is but of last count there was Di Napoli, Serafina and if you look a little further back there is Francesco's and this is besides the revamping of Pizza By the Bay and Trattoria (where i was this past week) and also Pizza Express (where i am headed tomorrow)  Also, after this, for a very long time, there will be no more pizza because i swear i am freaking sick of it..

Pizza Metro Pizza interestingly is an English chain like Pizza Express albeit much smaller in size. The restaurant has a very Italy via London bistro feel to it but its pretty casual. interestingly enough, once you enter you dont feel like you are in Bandra any more, which i guess cannot be a bad thing.

The first thing you notice when you walk in is the wood fired Pizza oven, once a rarity its now almost du jour for a gourmet pizza eatery. 

The Palle De Riso, crispy rice stuffed vegetable balls, peas and mozzarella. These were surprisingly bland, even with the chilly oil but serves me right for choosing something stuffed with rice. 

The bruschetta was cherry tomatoes, basil and garlic served on a rather large slice of bread. Good, the taste was fresh, the presentation different, wouldn't mind a larger portion.

Our first main was the Taglioni Bombay for 2, very few restaurants do a little show by the table (and no, the sizzling brownie does NOT count) so it was fun to watch them flambe the pasta in a huge parmesan wheel. The Taglioni is a long ribbon shaped pasta and made in the restaurant itself.

The dish is pretty good and must be eaten before it gets cold, the taste is pretty good, the cognac gives it a very interesting bite. 

The Spaghetti Pomodoro too was fresh and tasted pretty good, however it missed that little kick, perhaps a smidgen more garlic and it would have been something else, it did taste like a fairly home made dish (an Italian home, not a Gujju maharaj home)

The pizza was Portobello mushrooms, truffle oil, rocket and grana padano, thin and crispy and totally kick ass. You could taste the truffle oil and it was just all kinds of awesome.

Tiramisu was pretty good, a tad sweetish the little biscuit atop was quite bitter but on the whole a pretty killer version. 

This was a baked cheesecake style dessert, i cannot recall the name but this too was done home style, simple, a little sweet but decent, not as good as the Tiramisu however.

Overall PMP is a brave endeavor, the focus seems to be on offering an authentic experience, they are importing a great deal of ingredients except for the cheese, which i am told comes from Delhi. The chefs are Italian as are the chaps making the pizza, there is no ketchup, mustard or tabasco on offer and neither is there chicken or paneer on pizza. I really do hope they can keep that up because the city does need a few more places like that.

This authenticity does come at a price however, the place is not cheap (Taglioni for 2 is 1900, the Spaghetti Pomodoro 850, The Pizza 950) the prices are near five star and while it is pretty good, a little more focus and they could elevate themselves to great.

The portions are decent and if you go over with a bunch of friends and get the meter pizzas, it wouldn't pinch as much.

Food : 8/10
Service : 8/10
Damage : 4500 for two without drinks.