The most popular comfort food world over has got to be a great big slice of pizza. It does not matter what kind or what choice of toppings, but a pizza tends to be a universal favourite for any and almost every occasion. This ingenious Italian creation has travelled across the world, broken (culinary) boundaries and become so popular that it is easily available anywhere and everywhere.
In Mumbai, it is one of the most common items on any menu. In fact, even Chinese or Indian restaurants seem to have a small but significant corner on their menu that lists a few pizza options. So it should come as no surprise when there are plenty of restaurants promoting various pizza festivals. Strangely, not many do. You have plenty of other food festivals, but one of the most popular and versatile dishes does not seem to be considered worthy of its own festival. That is, of course, until a restaurant in Bandra decided to show their pizzas some love and dedicated an entire month-long festival to them. The Fat Man’s Café – a funky restaurant in Bandra that recently launched in Juhu as well – is celebrating pizza all through the month of July and, believe me, they are doing it in style!
The restaurant has always dished out some lovely thin-crust pizzas and their regular options are, of course, still available. To try some of their more outlandish and creative pizzas, the festival menu is a perfect choice. The idea is to offer more selection and you have your pick of pizzas from Mexican-themed ones (which sound like the ideal fusion fest) to even a vodka-infused pizza. The real interesting choices are their quinoa pizza, the polenta pizza and their incredible breakfast pizza, which is a welcome change as hardly any folks in town do a decent breakfast pizza with a perfectly fried egg on it. There is plenty more to choose from – including sloppy Joes and eggplant pizzas – so if you like to experiment with your food and flavour combinations, this is ideal.
The outlet in Juhu, unlike the one in Bandra, has some very interesting offers on their beers. This really complements their pizza festival because a pint of chilled beer with a delicious pizza slice is really the perfect combination (especially in this rainy weather). The beers are a selection of imported ones only available till the end of July and they also have some offers on some of them, such as ‘buy two and get one free’. Judging by the number of tables occupied and the pizzas flying out of the kitchen, I would say this festival is off to a great start.
Written By
Better known as the Tiny Taster, Roxanne is an internationally respected blogger and expert on the Mumbai food scene. She has hosted many events, including the Upper Crust Food & Wine Show and travels the world, sharing her knowledge and gaining more experience.
