If you’re not a fan of franchised pizza, ie. Domino’s heavy-crusted, oil oozing pies or Pizza Hut’s hard, chewey offerings, there are a couple of other delivery options in the city – a new triumvirate of non-franchised pizzerias: the venerable Harpo’s, the young Rocco’s, and, of course, Caffe Michaelangelo.
While rumours of Caffe Michaelangelo’s origins are spiced with all the makings of an Italian soap opera (it was allegedly opened by a former lover of the now defunct Regina Margherita’s late owner), their pizzas, also, live up to the spicy hype; while Rocco’s didn’t quite meet our expectations, Michaelangelo’s exceeded them. The ravioli (Rs. 1000), excellent – soft dumplings filled with ground beef, doused in a sea of butter and sage; the Sri Lankan Spicy pizza (Rs. 1200), delicious – shreds of hot chicken topped with stringy mozzarella, mushrooms and tangy green chilli… While their menu isn’t as exciting as Rocco’s – no parma ham, Italian salami, chorizo (basically no pork) – the pizzas are still the stuff of wood-fired excellence. The bases are slim, stretched into firm yet brittle crusts, and the toppings are well-strewn and generous.
The menu consists of lasagnas and pastas as well, and prices range from Rs. 700 for a 9 inch to Rs 1600 for a 12 inch. Well worth a call if ordering in.