When it comes to pavements lined with food, we don't think anyone does it better than Marine Drive. Whether it be for naan, shawarma, subs or crepes, Marine Drive somehow manages to cover every basic food supplement and S39 Pizzeria happens to be the restaurant that covers every Italian need you could have.
Found on the side of the road, S39 is one of the two pizzerias in this strip.
Ambience
Completed with a bunch of bigger than life pictures of food wrapping its exterior and a wee interior that's covered in wallpaper that looks like a brick wall, we liked the ambience here.
It's got enough seating to seat at least a dozen people without any sort of issue and whilst the seating arrangement can get a tad stiff, it's not a bad place to get your pizza on.
With dimmed out lights, rustic accompaniments and pop songs playing in the background, they've got a cool oven in the corner, and that's where the magic happens.
The Pizza
It may not look like it, but in terms of variety, S39 has a lot to offer. From a bunch of pizzas to lasagna to pasta to a couple of other options, they have a menu that somehow manages to cover a lot of the usual Italian staples. However, we decided to stick to the pizzas on this one.
Pairing the 2 options that were on the far sides of the spectrum, the Meat Feast and the Margherita (Rs. 1075 in total for a 10 inch) was two of our better choices that day. With a slightly doughy, chewy as hell crust, the Margherita was essentially just sauce and cheese. Melted to just the amount to give it that slight crisp on top whilst having an oozy centre, we liked it. If you're one of those people who love just cheese, this just might be the one for you. But, that being said, the only problem we had with this was the fact that it was slightly bland. Nothing a little basil couldn't fix though.
The Meat Feast, on the other hand, was lovely. Packed with sliced up sausages, ground beef, pepperoni, chicken and mutton, it was a meaty treat (duh!). The meat tended to overpower as a whole just a tad; meaning, you couldn't taste the sauce as much as you'd like. But that's just me being picky. Combined with charcoal bits on the side of the crust, it was delicious. However, we suggest getting a bit more seasoning into the picture. While we loved the idea of meat, it can get a tad tiring.
The Cacciatore (top) and the Kochchi Chicken (bottom) evened out to a healthy Rs. 1275. And unfortunately, the Cacciatore just so happened to be our least favourite of the lot. Cheese, bell peppers, olives and pulled chicken, it justs didn't add up for us. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't our cup of tea. Mostly because of the chicken, which didn't have any good flavour to it.
The Kochchi Chicken, on the other hand, was brilliant. There was enough chicken to make it meaty while the kochchi gave sharp spicy kicks which we loved. Combined with the cheese and the sauce, this was probably one of the nicest toppings we had yesterday. We'd recommend it!
Drinks
*Ginger Beer (left) and Coca Cola (right)
Since they didn't have any of their iced teas, we opted for a homemade Ginger Beer (Rs. 250) and a Coca Cola (Rs. 200).
The homemade ginger beer was brilliant! Icy Cold with strong kicks of ginger that were strong enough to clean out your sinuses for a week, we loved it. Adequately sweet, this genuinely tasted like a stronger turn on EGB. We actually asked them if it was genuinely homemade and they said yes. Plus, it had bits of ginger at the bottom. It's superb, just go for it!
Service
The only thing we could have possibly complained about was the fact the opening times were a bit haywire. While we did call them before, they weren't able to take out order till 30 mins after. So, we suggest giving them some time after their designated opening time before heading out.
Apart from that, the service at S39 Pizzeria was good. They were super helpful, unobtrusive in any way and pretty efficient with the way they handled everything.
Conclusion
There's nowhere else in Colombo you can get this kind of pizza for this cheap and given how everything else was pretty solid as well, it's worth keeping a lookout for. They're planning to add more stuff to the menu within the next few weeks, but nonetheless, make sure you get the Kochchi Chicken. You won't regret it.
