La Rocca Pizzeria in Bratislava

For another international pizza hunt, we've met with Emily and Paul (her brother) in "La Rocca" - a newly opened place right in the heart of the city center, just under the castle near Zochova. This was just a day after Danube culminated at its highest point of more then 10 meters, causing the banks and bridges of the river to be overcrowded with curious people more then ever before. Emily admitted that she was here also for the flooding back in 2002, causing a little suspicion if it is not her who brought all the water along. However, later we agreed that the long rains in Germany are a little bit more likely to be the cause :-P

I immediately came to like the interior of La Rocca, which is just like what I had read on the internet - it's a small but cozy place with a kind of historic atmosphere. The main two items on the menu are pizza and wine, a simple combination which is good - I prefer places which concentrate on less things and do them properly.

The pizza menu is a short one too, offering about 10 types of toppings. As far as I remember, we got one Piccante, one Cardinale and one Passionara. This was a tough choice for Emily and Paul, who back home in Chicago enjoy the unique deep-dish pizzas (I've so far only read about :-( ), not to mention their recent pizza experiences in Rome (!). Could La Rocca not fail in such a strong competition?

After a pretty standard 15 minutes of waiting, our pizzas were delivered, looking very nice. My first look fell on the bubbly but otherwise thin crust, which turned out to be more crispy than any other I've had in Bratislava so far. A second look examined the bottom which looked OK (maybe just a trifle undercooked) . Also the ingredients covered more or less the whole disk - so far, so good.



There was however a little problem with the pizzas - we all agreed that the red sauce on each one of them was definitely not a "tomato sauce" but simply a ketchup. That is really a shame, cause a good crust and good pizza sauce could make these pizzas one of the best in the city. This way, they ended up tasting just a little better than the average.

Given a nice bottle of beer, a good company (thanks guys!) and a very low price (just 3 euro per pizza), I deem this pizza hunt a successful one. On the other hand, the prices are low probably only temporarily (although I acknowledge such strategy for a newly opened place) and so if the toppings and (mainly) the sauce do not improve, my preferences would lead me elsewhere ;-)