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• Pizza di Rocco – Hidden Gem on Salam Street

Being a vegan in the Middle East can be tough sometimes, today was not one of those days as I had a wonderful lunch at a small pizzeria on Salam Street. Pizza di Rocco is a hidden gem between all the car rental and auto accessories shops. When we saw the small restaurant, we were planning on having our pizzas take away, but as we entered the tiny restaurant and sat down to order we did not want to leave anymore. Wherever you look – there is so much detail! A cupboard with pizza books, pictures and different oils, lots of plates on the walls, our table with herbs in little glass jars, flowers, nice music, cutlery in a small bucket and a friendly waitress with a smile on her face. It feels like you are at your Italian gandmother’s house, as long as you don’t look out onto the 10 lane Salam street. There is a nice atmosphere, friendly staff and all I was hoping for was delicious food! Thankfully I was not disappointed! When I messaged Pizza di Rocco asking for vegan options, they were incredibly helpful and I was really looking forward to visiting the place. Before our apetizwer we got a complimentary garlic bread with pesto, olive oil and cheese. So if you are alone or with another vegan/lactose-intolerant friend make sure to ask them not to serve the bread with cheese. The bread was thin, crispy topped with different herbs and absolutely delicious! As an apetizer we had bruschetta – bread with a tomato-garlic topping served with rocket leaves. The bread was crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, the tomatoes were super fresh as advertised in their menu. Pizza di Rosso does not offer a vegan pizza, but the dough and freshly made tomato sauce is vegan so it is easy to create a do-it-yourself pizza. There is only one sized pizza which is pretty big. The dough is either whole wheat or white flour with a fresh tomato sauce (35dhs), then there is several toppings to chose from: mushroom, cherry tomato, artichoke, olives, rocket, fresh zaatar, onions, spinach, oven-roast vegetables, roast garlic, red and yellow peppers, avocado (4dhs each), jalapeno, caramelized onion, sun-dried tomato (5dhs each), basil, rosemary, mixed herbs, chili flaks (2dhs each). I had the whole wheat dough with tomato and avocado, I could taste the freshness of all the vegetables used and can say that this is definitely one of the best pizzas I had. Full post - https://apartment2504.wordpress.com/2014/10/19/pizzadiroccohiddengemonsalamstreet/#more-816