I wish I had taken a picture of the pizza when it arrived, but it looked so delicious and I was so famished that I dove into it without thinking . It truly was a beautiful thing. At Grano, you choose your toppings at the counter and they create your tailor-made pizza right in front of you. Note that cheese (there are 4 kinds you can choose from, I think: mozza, smoked, gorgonzola, parmesan) and tomato sauce (2 types: regular, spicy) count as toppings, so for example, a "3 topping" pizza really means cheese + tomato sauce + 1 real topping.
Anyway, I went with the "6 topping" pizza (which equals 4 toppings plus cheese and tomato sauce): mozzarella cheese, spicy tomato sauce, italian sausage, salsiccia (salami), ham and fresh rockets. The toppings appear to be high quality, which I can attest to for the ones I chose. After the pizza was made, it was put into an oven with a belt and rolled through til it was cooked to perfection! Only had to wait 5 minutes maximum.
Seating is self-serve, so by the time we sat down and got our silverware, the pizza was freshly delivered to our table (it looked so good with the hearty sprinkling of rockets on top). There is a nice array of side condiments you can add to flavour your pizza: tabasco sauce, chili flakes, olive oil, peppercorn olive oil, etc. I grabbed the peppercorn olive oil (b/c I had never tasted it) and used a bit of it as a dipping sauce for the crust. DELICIOUS! I usually don't eat the crust of pizzas, but on its own, it was so yummy and crisp, so with the added kick of the peppercorn oil, it was like another 'dish' on its own.
Back to the pizza...all the flavours worked wonderfully together (salty meats, bitter rockets, spicy tomato, creamy cheese), but what I think truly sets Grano's pizza apart is the crust. It's the perfect thinness and crispiness so that the dough doesn't overpower the toppings. It didn't feel too starchy, but it also was 'bready' enough, if that makes sense. I've been to Motorino and found that sometimes the middle of the crust would be slightly soggy, but there was no such problem here at Grano. Anyway, the whole pizza, from the first bite to the last one of the crust, was delicious.
On top of the fresh, deliciously perfect pizza, with the set comes a refillable soft drink. An amazing deal here in HK, where other restaurants will charge you $14 alone for 1 fountain drink.
With the pizza, we also got a salad, which was average. The pizza is really the star.
The restaurant was very clean and service was prompt and friendly. It wasn't very busy (maybe 1/2 full), though I went later on in the evening (8:30'ish). I hope it becomes successful and stays put b/c it's really an innovative pizza joint with truly very good pizza. Been to many other pizza places and none impressed like Grano (although, I do love a greasy, big Paisano's slice occasionally).
Regarding pricing, it's a relatively good deal at $148 for a 6 topping pizza + refillable soft drink due to the quality of everything you're getting. Elsewhere I could easily pay $250 for the pizza and 2 drinks. ( And for those who are interested...3 topping pizza + refillable soft drink = $108).
Since it opened, I've already been twice (but just writing about my first visit)...I can't wait to go again soon!!!
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