Barboni’s Funghi pizza (Rp. 58k)
Finding good pizza in Jakarta is a little easier these days, with plenty of perfectly acceptable pizza pie purveyors popping up throughout the city. But finding truly great pizza in the capital is still a pressing concern.
One of the few bastions of reliably excellent and reasonably priced pizza in Jakarta is Pizza Barboni. The original opened in Kemang over a year ago and quickly gained a reputation for producing some of the best ‘za in Jakarta. Thankfully for those of us who live a little further up north, Barboni recently opened up a second location in Kuningan – specifically the corner of Plaza Festival right next to KFC.
Like the Kemang original, the Plaza Festival Barboni has a short menu primarily populated by various pizzas. And, like its southbound older brother, the new Barboni comes equipped with a custom built wood burning oven.
Barboni’s slogan is “Trust the Crust” and for good reason. That wood burning oven is essential to generate the high-intensity heat required to cook their signature thin crusts to precisely the right parameters – crisp and crunchy while still maintaining a nice chewiness. It’s pretty much the opposite of the the thick, soggy cardboard crusts you get at less refined pizza purveyors. Many people argue that the crust is the most important aspect of any great pizza and Barboni consistently nails it.
Also unlike many inferior Italian alternatives in Jakarta, Barboni is conservative with their toppings. Most of their pizzas are dressed with a thin blanket of tangy, well-seasoned tomato sauce and a sufficient amount of stringy, milky mozzarella to balance it out.
In terms of meats and veg, you won’t find anything here that would be out of place at an authentic pizzeria in Italy. While everything is good, we’d recommend the Salsiccia (Rp 80k), with beef sausage supplemented with strong hints of rosemary or, if you can handle seriously salty and tangy flavors, the Napoli (Rp 55k) with anchovies and capers (just don’t make out with anybody afterward). For those who don’t fancy tomatoes, Barboni’s Bianca (Rp 80k), topped with a potent mix of parmesean, taleggio and mozzarella cheese, could be a revelation.
Barboni offers up a few nice fried snacks, focaccia sandwiches and one surprisingly impressive burger, but obviously the main attraction here is the pizza. Because of their thin size, hungry eaters will probably need a whole pizza to themselves to satisfy. But with prices starting at just Rp 55k for a basic but beautifully done Margherita, dinner at Barboni won’t break the bank.
We hope that the Barboni brand will continue to expand throughout the capital and force other pizza purveyors to up their games accordingly.
Pizza Barboni
Plaza Festival, 1st floor, Jl. HR Rasuna Said, Kuningan
021 52961411
Photos: Pizza Barboni
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