Full House: A Parsi-Owned Pizzeria

Edul and Hanoz Mahudawala run Full House, a new eclectic pizzeria in Juhu, Mumbai.

Below is a review of the restaurant in Time Out Mumbai

In the world of Amercian sitcoms, the story of Full House’s identical twins is among the saddest. How those twinkle-eyed Olsen twins turned into cadaverous hangers for oversized designer clothing, we’ll never know or understand. For better or worse, Juhu’s Full House has nothing to do with the hit TV show. Inside this little restaurant, the focus is solely on poker and pizza.

It’s not much to look at – just a handful of aluminium tables and benches slapped together with dark parquet flooring and prints of dogs playing poker on the wall. But what Full House lacks in décor, it makes up for with a menu oozing with cheddar, chorizo and cheesy puns. We can’t remember the last time we chuckled so much while placing an order. There’s a straight (cherry tomatoes, boconccini pearls and basil), the ace kicker (marinated chicken, coloured peppers and cheddar cheese) and our personal favourite, four of a kind – a supremely cheesy pizza loaded with mozzarella, cheddar, feta and Monteray Jack.

Full House serves 12-inch and 16-inch pizzas as well as single 16-inch slices, which is great if you’re two people with varied tastes. We got a slice each of the hot red chips (pepperoni, mozzarella and cheddar, Rs.145), on the felt (asparagus, garlic, olives, sundried tomatoes and feta cheese, Rs.110) and the four of a kind (Rs.110), a side order of the jacket potatoes with diced chicken and blue cheese and (much to our glee) two glasses of brain-freeze cold orange Tang. Then we whipped out a deck of cards we happened to be carrying along and dealt ourselves a game of Texas Hold ’Em until the chow arrived.

Full House’s slices are a few notches above 30-minute pizzas. For starters, they’re all thin crust. Not khakra-skinny, but slimmer than Domino’s. Lightly browned and crisp around the edges but malleable in the centre, they’re great to fold and tuck down while raising the stakes on the flop. While the kitchen does make ample use of gourmet cheese such as feta and bocconcini and serve combinations like spinach pestoricotta cheese, they still manage to pack the gooey, gluttonous goodness of a fast food pizza. We’d recommend ordering in, especially for a fuss-free session of late-night poker. A movie would do too – just skip the Full House re-runs. There are just too many skinny people on that show. Neha Sumitran

Full House 6 Juhu Shopping Centre, Cross Road No 9, near Punjab Grill, off Gulmohar Road, Juhu Vile Parle Development Scheme, Vile Parle (W) (6699- 5566). Daily noon-11pm. No alcohol. Meal for two approx Rs.600.