I’ve been a Stone Oven regular for years now. It was and still is my favourite place to eat at the food court in MGF Metropolitan Mall on MG Road in Gurgaon. It started off as Stone Oven and then for a few years changed its name to Wow Italia, and recently has gone back to be named Stone Oven – a name I much preferred.
Serving from a small food-court booth, Stone Oven La Piazza serves a range of pizzas, some pasta and a few sides. They also convert the pizzas into sandwiches (think: pita bread filled with ingredients) which have also been a regular alternative for me to pizzas. I haven’t tried their pasta and to be really honest, I just never felt like going for it. There menu hasn’t changed over the years, and that’s allowed me to have a few favourites. They are generous with some of the ingredients and the dough has almost always come out to be cooked nicely.
There’s also a hint of simplicity in their preparation, which is done right in front of you as their cooks/chefs make the pizzas on a counter a few inches away from the customer before placing it in the oven. Take the Cheese Garlic Bread for instance, which is very much like any homemade version you’ve eaten. It’s not special but it is comforting. The same is also true for the Margherita of Italy pizza – my daughter refuses to eat anything else – which might be the plain-Jane of the group but still manages to make an impression with a yummy base, sauce, and the four cherry tomatoes on top. They do however add the basil in with the cheese topping instead of fresh leaves on top which is something I very much prefer – and so does my daughter as it makes it easier to remove them.
However, it is the various other “International” pizzas that Stone Oven has in its armoury that make the biggest dent on hunger. The Milan Royal Parma – vegetarian of course – that I had was without ham – and apparently the one thing that makes it special – but it tasted fresh with a healthy dose of crunchy iceberg lettuce on top. It does come with a swirl of mayo on top – I prefer sauces on the side rather than already on top – but for the second time in the recent past – read my review of Crusty Gourmet Pizza– it works just fine.
My only caution would be that at times they are a little tight handed when it comes to the expensive ingredients – I remember this especially from my time eating non-vegetarian pizzas. As a customer it’s natural to expect the pizza having loads of ingredients, but at Stone Oven it’s moderated to the extent that sometimes – only sometimes – one feels a little let down. Nevertheless, the prices are such that they fit in-between the inexpensiveness food-court prices and those of the stand alone well-known pizzerias.
Food counters in food-courts have opened and closed over the years and this particular food-court in MGF Metropolitan Mall is no different, but Stone Oven has stood the test of time – with a change in name – and because they have kept up with their quality of food, it’s the place I recommend you eat at, especially if you’re planning to watch a movie at the nearby cinema.
