Cone pizza: a cheese story

PIZZA in a cone is east meets west at its quirkiest.

It's hawker food slash western greasies, best eaten while mozying the shops, stealing a peak at the trendy locals and planning your next dining attack, just as we did at Ewha on Saturday.

Clutching sore arms from seven travel vaccination prods in total (four for Wesley; three for me), we strolled the lanes of one of Seoul's funkiest shopping areas, slowing to nibble bits and pieces and for me to dash into a boutique, firstly declaring, "I won't be long, just a quick look!" and then, on leaving, "Oh this was a bad bad idea. Window shopping is such a damn tease".

To fuel the energy, we tested this bizarre pizza in a cone from a bright hole-in-the-wall shop called SonaPita, manned by a friendly lady who didn't mind at all when I snapped away at her handywork.

I've seen pizza cones before in Seoul, sold in a mini caravan-esque stall in Daehangno, but they looked rather scary. More like a piece of pizza ruined by too much squashing and pressing to resemble a deformed cone shape. None of that nonsense in this SonaPita Capriciossa (sic) cone. It was delicious and definitely warranted a return visit.

Maybe the difference was in the pita bread base, which - although it wasn't quite as crispy as it should have been from its short time in the oven - reduced the grease factor sufficiently.

The cone was pre-cooked and frozen, then filled with toppings headed under names including Spinachio, Margherita, Gnocchi (!) and our chosen, Capriciossa.

Capriciossa was Supreme with a twist. It was layered and squashed neatly, from bottom to top, with ham, tomato sauce, fresh halved baby tomatoes, capsicum, onion, bits of meatball, a few corn kernels and at the base, a touch of roast pumpkin. And cheese. Oh there was cheese, from its herb-flecked lattice crown to every stringy mouthful; dangling webs hanging from every bite; chewy tendrils suspended in mid-air demanding absolute attention and negotiation.

It was, as the sign on the wall said, a veritable "cheese story".

Now, if you don't mind, we're off to see what else we can find to satisfy the nibbly pangs and to fill the void that can only come from shopping deprivation.