Piccolo Mono - Sarajevo, Bosnia

Medium “Domaca” (english: home-grown) beef ham, ham, smoked cheese

55/70

1. Crust: 6/10 Thin, crispy, and a little blackened in spots. Almost flakey like a fire oven, or toasted flat bread, very quality, but parts of it were a little too blackened for my taste. 

2. Sauce: 7/10 A thinner and understated sauce. This is not a “saucy” pizza, and yet I did not feel it was missing anything as far as sauce is concerned, and if you did want more sauce it comes with extra in a dish (see the “novelties” section below). 

3. Cheese: 10/10 - By far the best cheese I’ve had on a pizza.  My friends at the table helped describe the cheese as rich and smokey. The cheese was almost “toasted" in spots. And perhaps the best part: it had bits of what seemed to be cheese curds sprinkled across the pizza and embedded in the melted pools of cheese. 

4. Toppings: 6/10 The toppings on this particular pizza are very bold, the word “seasoned” comes to mind. The flavors of the different meats really dance on your taste buds. I’m not sure if it is the beef ham or what, but, to me - and I hesitate to say it but, this blog is nothing if not honest - it almost had the taste of bologna or salami.

5. Atmosphere: 8/10 - A very nice atmosphere. First of all this restaurant is in Sarajevo, Bosnia, so that alone really sets the atmosphere as special in my book. The restaurant has a small cafe feel to it. Very nice and comfortable. 

6. Novelties: 10/10 - Did I mention that this restaurant is in Sarajevo, Bosnia? That in itself would be novelty enough to merit at 10/10 score in this category, but that is not all. The restaurant comes highly recommended by the locals. The pizza itself comes served with bread and 3 different “dipping” sauces, a marinara, a garlic sauce, and another one (sorry for the lack of detail remembered about the third sauce - I blame the language barrier). Furthermore, there are no pork products eaten in Bosnia, hence the “beef ham” and even the “ham” was certainly not from a pig. 

7. How are the left-overs? 8/10 I did not take any left overs home, mostly I forced myself to eat the whole thing because I don’t foresee anytime in the near future that I will have time or appetite for left-over pizza (we are eating a lot of heavy meals and trying a lot of new food). But, a new friend and local resident said that this pizza is the best left over pizza. So, I take his word for it and give it a score of 8/10. 

All in all, this pizza scored lower than I would have liked. I would not let this score hinder you from eating at piccolo Mono. In fact, if you can get to visit Sarajevo, I recommend you do eat there. I just think that next time, I might try a pizza with different toppings and it’s possible that the crust is not always as blackened as mine was (in spots). The cheese alone is enough to make this pizza one of my all time favorites.