Pomo – Pizzeria the way Mamma made it

If you are a Karachiite food enthusiast, you will be a member of at least one food-related group on Facebook. After you’ve been around these for a while, certain trends become visible, especially when it comes to new restaurants. It is seldom that a place opens to near-universal acclaim; generally, there is a rush of great reviews, followed by a burst of pretty bad ones, before things settle down. Also, you will find a few active members in each group whose tastes appear to match yours closely, and therefore when they review a place, you tend to follow those with considerable interest. 

Pomo was the latest restaurant to fall in this template. A casual dining place in the spirit of a Neapolitan pizzeria, with a solid team behind it, it opened to pretty poor reviews, including those from some notable influencers. By the time I visited (end July 2018), things appeared somewhat settled. However, the initial burst of ‘teething issues’ had meant we approached the place with lowered expectations. 

Located in a large space off Khayaban e Shahbaz, Pomo is extremely bright and airy, very well lit and gives of an air of impeccable cleanliness. You can see the classical design cues of an Italian pizzeria. As an aside, I have to say that the design game of Karachi restaurants has certainly stepped up a notch or three. Upon entering, you are greeted by the sight of row upon row of luscious buffalo mozzarella, each in its own little bath of whey. Talk about an instant mood lifter. The staff is also dressed casually (think Jamie’s Italian), taking the casual dining vibe further. We arrived early, and the place was pretty quiet. 

Service was very good; the floor manager is a veteran of Pompeii, and kept a close eye on things. We were seated quickly, a high chair arrived without having to ask for it, and the server was good with recommendations for both food and drinks. The menu is small and uncomplicated, as the food purports to be.  

Sizing up the starters

For starters, we had the bruschetta with buffalo mozzarella and the chips with garlic and parmesan. The bruschetta was absolutely sublime. A quivering slice of buffalo mozzarella, creamy and moist, topped with a spoonful of pesto so fresh it felt like it had been made moments ago, and with a final flourish of a few pieces of fresh tomato, like rubies finishing off a piece of fine jewellery. It’s Italian food at its most sublime; a few ingredients, put together cleverly, into an edible piece of poetry.

The French fries with roasted garlic and parmesan reminded me a little bit of the ‘posh chips’, which turned into a signature dish at ‘Jamie’s Italian’ (a restaurant that does seem like the inspiration behind much of what Pomo seeks to deliver). This was another winner. The parmesan was grated liberally over the chips, which were cut a bit thicker than classic French fries (and Jamies’, for that matter), which meant they were crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. It’s actually rather tricky to get chips right, and this did. The garlic flavor was subtle, which was great, as the last thing you need is to be hammered over the head with garlic notes.

Finally, but by no means to be left behind, was the Pomo Salad.  The miniature bocconcini nestled among the green leaves, and a scattering of cherry tomatoes, with a couple of really good quality olives thrown in for good measure. It was a bery well put-together dish visually. The portion size was a bit small, though, and the bocconcini-to-leaf ratio was off too. A few more leaves, a bit more liberal with the dressing, and this would have been a spectacular plate of food. As it is, it missed the mark. Just.

The proof of the pizzeria

First came the pepperoni pizza, recommended by our server. Other than being a rather safe recommendation, there was really nothing to fault it. The crushed tomatoes which can, in another set of hands, leave the pie feeling under-seasoned and soggy (I’m looking at you, Eataly) were extremely well balanced, with a beautiful display of leopard-spotting on the crust. Perhaps the slices of pepperoni could have done without the charring (although it didn’t take away from the flavor), this is a fantastic go-to for your Netflix-and-chill night.

Next in line was the Margherita. Not your bog-standard Margherita drowning in processed cheese, here was another chance for the buffalo mozzarella to shine through. Again, the crushed tomato and mozzarella combination made for a wonderful marriage. This isn’t the cheesy stuff of your Pizza Hut nightmares, but a proper, authentic offering.

So far, the Neapolitan Pizzeria positioning was proving to be justified, and executed with some significant proficiency.

Finally came the slightly off-beat option. The pesto pizza had a base covered in some more of that wonderful house-made pesto, instead of a red sauce. This is pizza for grown-ups; bold, robust flavours that do their thing.

Pasta the point of no return

For mains, we had a variety of their pasta dishes to try. First was the penne pasta with a creamy red sauce. Based on the number of portions being churned out by the open plan kitchen, this is probably their most popular dish. Not strictly Neapolitan, but the use of dried red chilis to add heat to the sauce is still (just) within the mores of Southern Italian cuisine. A bit of a nod to local palates, then, and quite deftly executed. The heat is there somewhere in the background, while the creamy sauce balances it out very well.

Next came the spaghetti with pesto. Again, an opportunity for that amazing fresh pesto to shine, with no artifice or affectation. A simple dish, executed impeccably. My daughter’s verdict was an emphatic “delicious!”.

Finally among the mains came Pomo’s riff on the classic spaghetti aglio e olio, reinterpreted here as spaghetti with garlic and chili. This was the one misstep of the meal. The sauce was quite dark, which was the first warning sign. This is a simple dish that needs to be executed flawlessly, and here it wasn’t. the sauce was too dark, indicating that either the garlic had been burnt a bit, or the chili was a more dominant note than it should have been. The flavor, too, was wide of the mark. Probably the only thing we were served that I wouldn’t order again. 

Final Analysis

Pomo keeps things simple, and this is a good thing. Clearly the restaurant has taken their early feedback on board and polished up their offering, which is authentic and unfussy. This is proper Italian food, simple in genesis and executed well.  

I like this place, I really do, and will be back again.