Zona Pizza & Canteen — Restaurant in Melbourne

This was a really disappointing experience. I will be thorough so as to help other people and provide feedback to this place (see below). I ordered a Napoli with added Salami and no capers. It took about 25 minutes to make. I waited inside and the staff were nice and the atmosphere good.

Unfortunately, that was where the experience dropped sharply. I shared the pizza with my family and it was so salty that no one had more than 3 bites. I am not an idiot - I know that some of the ingredients are salty - this was a level of salty far beyond what I would expect. I always always always get pizza with olives, anchovy and salami and have never had this issue before. This is an inedible degree of salt. Given that we were very hungry that says a lot. What also says a lot is that we ended up cooking instant noodles afterwards. What says even more is that the noodles were tasteless in contrast, because the salt level was so high.

There were other structural issues with the pizza as well. It had no browning on top and wasn't really very hot. Which is odd, because the edges of the crust was quite browned through mailiard reaction. As was the bottom. There was very nice raising in the dough with big bubbles. This all indicates that the pizza was at some stage cooked at a very high temperature.

Yet how can the dough be cooked at a high temp with browning, yet there be no properly melted cheese or ANY browning on the toppings? It doesn't make sense. So I thought it through; the only way the base can be this well cooked yet have no color on the top is if the pizza base is partially or wholly cooked before the toppings are added. The fact that it took 25 minutes to make aligns with this, as a pizza cooked in a properly regulated pizza oven should be a matter of minutes. Hell, I can cook a pizza at my home oven in 12 minutes. The shop was not very busy, just a normal stream of people, so it's unlikely that insane numbers of customers slowed it down.

The only conclusion I can reach is that the pizza was par cooked then the toppings were added and the whole thing was heated at a lower temperature for a while. This is highly likely given the visual indications.

I decided to give them a chance before writing this review, as I feel that a restaurant should be given a chance to resolve a dispute before I give a public review. Whilst the person who initially listened to my concerns was fine, the moment the manager was put on the phone I was treated like an idiot. "Anchovy and salami is salty" was the excuse. Not "I'm sorry, how can we solve this?", not even an acknowledgement of my concerns. Apparently I am so stupid that I ruined my own pizza by asking for salami. I shouldn't have ordered that apparently.

It was very frustrating. I pointed out that I've been eating pizza for over 30 years. I pointed out I used to cook pizza as a job. I pointed out that I am not stupid and know that salami and anchovy are salty. The manager refused to acknowledge any of this. He offered a new pizza and had the gall to suggest a different type, because otherwise it would be too salty. The entire conversation was pushing that I am wrong. That despite a lifetime of me eating pizza with anchovy, salami and olives, he knows better.

I asked for a refund. He refused. He said "oh don't worry, you can call up anytime for a free pizza" and when I told him I don't want to eat his pizza and will not return, his attitude was oh fine, this is over.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention. The addition of salami increased the price by $5. Which is insane. $27 can get a phenomenal pizza at DOC Pizza, or any shop in Lygon St. This place projects the image of these sorts of shops, but of course it cannot compete. Despite being fine looking, it is still shabby considering the image they are projecting.

But I wouldn't be saying any of this if they just treated my concerns with respect and offered me a refund. I did my best to resolve this...

I just saw this pizza place open up in the neighbourhood so thought I'd try it out. The fit out inside looks really cool, but I was even more impressed by the food!!!

We got 2 pizzas (potata pancetta and the pork sausage one) and they were delicious. Nice flavours and the crust was the perfect amount of oily. We also ordered both of the lasagnas (as we wanted to try both) and again both had awesome flavours, especially the truffle mushroom lasagna which had a seriously good bechamel.

On top of this, the staff were warm and friendly and even gave us a complimentary arancini which was kind!

I will be back to try the other...

Tried Zona for the first time, I ordered the meat lovers pizza, this pizza was right up in the ranks when ranking a pizza. Definitely can't wait to try other pizza on their menu. Also had the Lasagne, really enjoyed that as well, generous portion size good value for money. Can't wait to also try a couple of other items on the menu. Customer service was impeccable, the gentleman who was making the pizza, when my order was ready, once he seen I am using a walking stick, actually carried my order to my car. Talk about great customer service, keep up the excellent work Zona...