If you drive a little fast on Road number 45 in Jubilee Hills, you might miss it; Zza Bar is a lovely little eatery promising hand-crafted artisanal pizzas and scrumptious salads, sandwiches and desserts... sadly, I can count on just one hand how many extremely good pizzas I’ve had in India and I’ve happily added Zza Bar’s menu to this coveted list.
- USP: Mango-wood fired pizzas
- Where: Road Number 45, Jubilee Hills
- Cost for two: approx ₹1000
Before you wonder, like I vapidly did, ‘why the name?’, it’s because Srini and Lien Uppaluri, who run this joint together, grabbed the last three letters of ‘pizza.’
After gawking at the sign for a good three minutes, I step inside the tiny restaurant. A long counter-top runs along the centre, dividing kitchen from dining, but what rightly dominates the space is the stunning Il Forno oven created by Marco Cappiotti. Homely touches of red brick visually warms up the space, as if the oven itself didn’t do that already! While the inside risks becoming cramped with the smallest crowd, customers are encouraged to sit outside.
“The atmosphere of the space changes in the evenings,” says Srini, “people are more relaxed, there’s music playing, and the light from the surroundings creates a lovely ambience. We see great reception, especially in the evenings during that cool-down, post-work period.”
The first outlet of the restaurant was in Manipal while the Hyderabad one is just over a month old and already drawing quite a few numbers despite its very young age and the restaurant’s social media is exactly bursting from the seams with promotions. Plus, Zza Bar’s menu is vegetarian. As someone who loves her protein, I’d still choose a pizza here over a meat-lover’s variety at a number of other local places.
One of the best parts about Zza Bar? It’s pet-friendly. My friend brought her adorable golden retriever and he was a welcome addition to the customer base, attracting hugs and smiles from other patrons. Inclusive spaces such as these have become normal across the city but some often fall short on their food performance. Srini and Lien are adamant that Zza Bar won’t let this happen.
‘Heavenly, delightful, attractive’
We are greeted with probably some of the best bruschetta I’ve had in India. The bread has great crumb while the tartness of the tomatoes proves they’re mightily fresh. The balance of a well-done bruschetta is trickier than one might assume, and Zza Bar’s won out here.
Then Srini brings out a sharer salad, a warm pesto salad with broccoli, the bright blue plate presenting a wonderful opportunity for colour-blocking. The salad is topped with grated cheese which languidly melts into the broccoli florets and melds psychedelically with the liquid pesto.
Leaning in, the smell of the broccoli, cheese and touches of basil in the pesto make for a tempting first impression. First bite to last, this is to-die-for. The broccoli is adequately crisp and the change of texture with the chopped almonds. This pesto broccoli is a great example of a meal that works well when restricted to the fewest elements.
When choosing pizzas, Srini offers to do and half-and-half of the veg ham with the spinach and feta. It comes from the oven as an appetising mosaic kaleidoscope of cheese, vegetables and mock ham which Srini and Lien source from Taiwan. “We found this Buddhist monastery which uses this and we thought, why not?” And why not, indeed. The mock ham is pretty good without having that unappealing tofu-like texture, isn’t too salty like a lot of mock meat out there and doesn’t destruct the essential idea of this pizza.
The crust of the pizzas are delightfully appetising. While I’ve chucked away enough crust in my life to build a hut, the crust at Zza Bar is flavourful and light. To go with this, down a whole serving of the special iced tea made by Srini who says he prefers using black tea for this refreshing concoction.
Anyone who knows me, knows I have a secret stomach just for dessert. The cheesecake with dripping strawberries made by Lien is absolutely heavenly. From first bite to last, this treat sports a light crust with good hold and cream cheese so fresh, it’s like eating sweet, sweet air.
One thing patrons will notice and surely love about the food here is that it’s light yet filling without leaving them comatose. This is the kind of food which keeps people coming back.
