Pizza is no longer alien to our Indian palate. Italian cuisine and especially pizza has been widely accepted by all Indians. I still remember, reel back – 1999, I had my first ever pizza at niruals, priya complex with my wife (my girlfriend then J ).Nirualas was perhaps the first Indian fast food chain in Delhi which had given Italian pizza a twist and served to suit the Indian palate. Pasta and other dishes became popular much later and even now pizza is perhaps the most selling fast food in restaurants that serve Italian cuisine. That was my first experience with Pizza and gradually my taste developed towards more authentic pizza. We used to have pizza eating competition and unfortunately I never won. My wife was always undisputed champion in that!Pizza has gone through changes, development in last decade and especially for Indian market. Places like Dominos and Pizza Huts have actually worked really hard to make it popular even among middle class and making it affordable. Italian cuisines are being marketed by American fast food chains. Pizza has also gone through lots of remarkable make over like thin crust, cheese burst, wood fired and now the latest one was wafer thin pizza which is a signature dish of Indigo Deli.I have never considered these swanky malls as food destinations; and typically it to grab a bite post watching a movie or after shopping! Ambience Mall vasant kunj is no different with lots of big shot restaurants and some even had to shut down their operations ( Zambar, fres co and Latagalia in this case). Indigo Deli opened few weeks back and has been getting mix reviews.
Pizza Express, opened last week and we were invited for review on October 1st. Pizza Express has opened where initially we had fresco co. When you enter, you will find huge, live interactive kitchen and it’s interesting to see Pizzaiolos toss the dough and make pizzas. We have been told that every Pizzaiolos have been through rigorous training for them to be well equipped in flaring the dough along with yielding amazing Pizza! We were greeted by their country manager Rubina and we started discussing about pizza express. We were told that every restaurant picks up local stuff to showcase and in this case they have picked lot of ceramics from Mehrauli Gurgaon road.They have used ceramics extensively and the entire wall was decorated\highlighted with ceramics plates, It was also interesting to see printed history of not just pizza express, but also about their Pizzaiolos. This is kind of heartwarming and it shows the passion with which everything is taken care of – not just for their customers, but also for the people who work for them!The menu isn’t huge and every food item has been well explained. This detailing again is delightful to read and provides insight into what you would relish! The experience at pizza express has been memorable as the servers were well trained and were capable of guiding you through the menu and help you make a choice, if required, based on your preference, taste, mood and liking! People talk about “teething period” whenever we have a new restaurant opened up! I would say, one must check on how Pizza express has spent time in preparing their staff to give the BEST experience and a world class service to their customers! Clearly Kudos to the entire team! They have left no stone unturned in delighting their customers, with not just great pizza, but a wonderful experience with a sense of belonging! You will be interested in knowing how pizza express started. Peter Boizota big fan of pizza, started pizzas express in 1965 and after two years his artist friend Enzo Apicella joined him. He traveled a lot, worked in many countries including London to introduce pizza.He loved Pizza so much that he decided to open pizza express where he could serve authentic Italian pizza to the people of London.http://www.pizzaexpress.in/about-us.html
More on the experience:We started our journey with their signature starter - dough ball Doppio served with garlic butter, pesto and pesto rosso. Warm and freshly baked dough balls dipped in amazing garlic butter and other dips. This was served along with sipping Sunrise Iced Tea and Berry Fresca. Along with this, we also had Ramiro El forno, red pepper stuffed with goat and mozerella cheese and finished with balsamic syrup. This was another delightful starter that had a sweet taste because of the syrup. It was soft, yet crunchy - different and very new dish which both of us loved. Next was pollo affumicato – fresh salad with rocket leaves , mint leaved, lettuce, smoked chicken, pomegranate and walnut with lemon dressing. A crunchy and sweet salad with fresh leaves. It was interesting to know that everything was made inhouse and that too daily – an important and unique reason of why every bite feels so fresh and delicious!We tasted pizza, classic as well as their signature romana pizza.We had Calabrasse in romana pizza and La Reine in classic. The Calabrasse was with lamb peperoni, fresh rocket leaves, red chilles jalapenoes and baby mozzarella on the top. The thin crust pizza was rectangular in shape and was simply superb! La Reine with ham and mozzarella with classic pizza base was simple yet delicious. I And we finished our memorable food journey with freshly baked cheesecake , one of the best I have had in Delhi and Gaurav enjoyed chocolate fudge cake which was equally amazing.In my honest opinion, people should come and visit this place not only to taste gourmet pizzas and fresh desert but also to experience the heartwarming service\hospitality that pizza express offers! Like I mentioned, Pizzza express uses only the freshest produce, which they prepare and every dish is cooked with utmost honesty and passion that you would find in Italian home cooking.Best Pizza in town that has been perfecting pizzas for years with quality service, relaxed dining – A panache in New Delhi!
