Is B'luru the artisanal pizza capital of India?

The best pizza I have eaten in Bengaluru is at my friend, Jay Bhow's house.

- Shoba Narayan

So when Jay, a VPN-certified pizzaiolo, wondered if Bengaluru was the artisanal pizza capital of India, we decided to go on a pizza crawl to find out. Over two days we dined at seven pizza restaurants. Our method was to try the Margherita at every outlet we visited—always a benchmark. We also ordered their signature pizza—a highlight of the establishment. Turned out that all the places we visited suggested vegetarian pizzas as one of their signature offerings. So even though there were non-vegetarians in our group of four, we ended up eating all vegetarian pizzas, often with wine. Below are some of our tasting notes.

Pizza 4Ps has been making waves in Bengaluru for a while and with good reason. Their burrata salad pizza was brilliant—tart, creamy, and crunchy. The crust, which sets a benchmark of "pass or fail" in artisanal pizza, was chewy with perfect bubbly air pockets in the rim. The bottom of the crust had charred black "leopard spots," giving the woody flavor.

I found the Margherita's crust to be slightly soggy, but the toppings were layered with a restrained hand. Often Indian pizzas are over-laden with cheese because the clientele demands it. Not here. Good selection of local wine, though their glasses could be better.