Pazonia Italian Street Food (CIMB Plaza)

The bread is nicely toast and filing is generous

Considering how new dining establishments had been sprouting up so ever often in the basement of CIMB Plaza, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that CIMB Plaza might be the most happening spot to hit for office workers during lunch hours if wanting to try something new. Yet another new kiosk that had just set up shop in the basement of CIMB Plaza is Pazonia Italian Street Food; also probably the latest establishment to have opened there. Pazonia Italian Street Food can be found around the same stretch of food kiosks where one can also find the outlet of SALT x Hebrews, as well as Kopifellas there. Interestingly, Pazonia Italian Street Food is one of those dining establishments at the basement of CIMB Plaza that actually has its own dine-in area; whilst not being the only food establishment in there to have a dine-in area, there are quite a number of kiosks there that operates on a takeaway-only basis. The dine-in area comprises of high tables and chairs; seemingly catered for fast turnovers. As its namesake suggests, Pazonia Italian Street Food is an establishment that focuses on Italian fare — its menu comprises of sections dedicated to Panuozzo, Pizza, Panini, Calzone and Foccacia. Of particular note at Pazonia Italian Street Food would be the pizza oven that is being installed on-site; quite a slight to behold especially considering the tight space that Pazonia Italian Street Food occupies.

Skimming through the menu of Pazonia, one of the items that had caught our attention was their line-up of Panuozzo. Panuozzo isn’t quite a common find around the island; for those whom are unaware, this can be described as an Italian pizza sandwich — Pazonia mentions that their Panuozzo is essentially a “sourdough pizza sandwich with a flavour for everyone”. Pazonia offers a good variety of fillings that patrons can go for with their Panuozzo offerings; this includes items such as the Margherita Panuozzo, Burrata & Prosciutto Panuozzo etc. — our Panuozzo of choice wouldn be the Pepperoni Panuozzo. The menu at Pazonia describes the Pepperoni Panuozzo to be one that comprises of elements such as salami, mozzarella, chopped tomatoes, mixed lettuce and tomato sauce. It is interesting to see the entire Panuozzo assembled upon order, with the dough being baked in the pizza oven fresh-upon-order as well. Coming in a disposable box, the Pepperoni Panuozzo also comes wrapped in grease proof paper; folded in half much like a Prata sandwich if one may put it that way. Think of it as something almost close to a Pita bread; we quite liked how the sourdough pizza bread here does come a bit floury on the exterior in the same way that one would expect out of a good pizza — it even comes with that slight char on the underside apart from being beautifully browned.

The texture comes close to that of what one would expect out of good pizza dough; crusty on the exterior yet light and fluffy inside — didn’t seem to be particularly carb-loaded especially considering its association to the pizza. Nothing can practically go wrong with a pizza that comes with salami and mozzarella, and the combination of the cured meat along with the melted mozzarella atop just gave that savoury note without the two elements being too dried up from being heated up in the pizza oven at too high a temperature. What kept things especially refreshing was how every bite seemingly came with a bit of the tomato and the chopped tomatoes — a little bit of crunch and a little bit of tang; so much that this just felt incredibly easy to have when we were expecting how things. Can get a little heavy overall. Pazonia Italian Street Food does stand out from the usual Italian establishment considering how they are bringing their patrons a bit of a unique experience seeing how the item that they are offering isn’t commonly found. With prices of their Panuozzo ranging from $6.80 for the Magherita Panuozzo to $15.80 for the Burrata & Prosciutto Panuozzo, these folks may not be as economical as having local fare for lunch — still certainly worth having a go specially for the curious though!