italians, specifically the ones from naples, are credited with the "invention" of pizza 🍕 (which further draws lineage from greek flatbreads that had ingredients baked into them, not to mention that naples was initially a greek port city). 💁🏻♂️
however, as is with capitalism that serves the masses, pizza has been twisted, turned, morphed and evolved into numerous avatars that suit the tastebuds and eating habits of the local populace. so much so that there are certain brands that come to mind when one says "let's have pizza tonight". 🤦🏻♂️
so what do you do when you are in dehradun and want to eat an authentic neapolitan pizza 🤤 (aka pizza napoletana) but can't afford to fly off to naples? (my personal reason for this is purely financial, but i'd prefer to blame the pandemic for as long as i can 😝). the answer is quite simple - you head to coco! 😍
note : you get to pair it with exquisite coffee ☕ from blue tokai, which is a major flex. 😎
1. location 📌
coco is in the premises of hotel lp residency on kaulagarh road. it is easily visible, and accessible, from the outside making it super convenient for a walk-in meal. there is some parking inside and ample space on the road, too.
2. seating and ambiance 🪑
there are seating spaces inside as well as outside. however, the latter is mostly open in the evening (or depending upon the weather).
the overall vibe of the place is very calming and warm with lots of natural light and greens all around. the music, too, is quite tasteful.
3. service 🙋🏻♂️
when you're at an lp property, the service is always top-notch. they have been in the hospitality business for decades and know how to pamper their customers. coco, naturally, is no exception to the rule. the staff is courteous and the service is quick.
4. food 🍴
we were a group of five people so we decided to try a decent variety of the foods on offer.
we started with a ravioli with mushrooms bianca that was creamy and stuffed well. next we had the ravioli pollo parma rosa which is the traditional term for pink sauce - this, too, was made well, had lots of sauce, was filled nicely and had some scrumptious cheese on top. 👌🏼
we couldn't decide on which pizza 🍕 we wanted and were pleasantly surprised to know that coco offers a half-n-half. we hopped on the opportunity and got ourselves a classic pepperoni (real pork 🐽) and classic margherita. the first thing we noticed was how light and fluffy the base was - undoubtedly the result of the 48 hour yeasting of 00 flour. the toppings were ample and the cheese was plentiful. full marks! 💯
one of the vegetarians of the group ordered a ravioli spinach neapolitan which was good enough to make us fight him for an extra bite 😂. it was bursting with flavour and, once again, had a good amount of fillings. taking the cue, we decided on trying the spaghetti pesto genovese 🍝 which, again, was agreatdecision. heck, we liked it enough to want to try another pasta, but we were nearing our appetites' end and gave preference to another pizza for the finale.
by this time we had much confidence in the space's veg offerings and so we ordered a spinach genovese pizza with burrata 🍕. for the uninitiated, burrata is a cow/buffalo milk cheese made from mozzarella and cream. and it is delicious. put it on a decent pizza and the result is oh-so-good! 🤤
done with food, we indulged in two of their in-house desserts : blueberry cheesecake and tiramisu jar. i can honestly say that both of these give the other dessert places of the city a run for their money. ♥
5. beverages
blue tokai is a name that commands respect in the coffee community and so, of course, we knew beforehand that the drinks will be amazing. we ordered a cappuccino, a turkish mocha, a coffee shake and a cold press. our non-coffee-drinker-friend (yeah, every group has one 🤷🏻♂️) got a ginger fizz. as expected, everything was brilliant.
6. conclusion
coco has become my new go-to for pizza. and for turkish mocha. and for tiramisu. and well, a lot of the things that we tried, to be honest.
it has agreatsetting for a solo lunch, a delicious date or a meal with friends. more importantly, the food is excellent and the flavours are authentic. they use top quality ingredients and provide superb service.
if you haven't been here yet - take my word for it and go. you won't regret it. and, possibly, you'll keep going back for more - i know i will. ✌🏼