We tried pizza in a cone - and it has one clear advantage over a traditional slice
Kono Pizza currently has a handful of kiosks in malls across the country, with 48 new locations opening soon or planned. I stopped by the kiosk in the Newport Centre Mall across the Hudson River in Jersey City, NJ. The menu is pretty simple: classic cones, deli cones, breakfast cones, and dessert cones.
The kiosk was out of the deli cones when I got there, so I chose three classic cones and a dessert cone to try. The cones are freshly prepared to order.
Once they're properly constructed, they take a ride through the special oven apparatus to be cooked. The wait is negligible — maybe three to five minutes.
I ordered four cones to try: the "vegetariano", Margherita, pepperoni, and the tiramisu. Each classic cone was $3.99 — a bit stiff when compared to the price of a slice. The dessert cones are less at $2.99, but they're also substantially smaller.
Each cone comes in a little cardboard stand for convenience; while the cones are clearly meant to be handheld, you can set them down all the same.
Right away, I notice the huge advantage of a cone. Holding a cone in one hand is a game changer when you're used to awkwardly maneuvering a floppy pizza slice. It's a fairly decent size, too — I would say equivalent to a generously-sized slice.
The pepperoni version — the de rigueur topping — is decent. I wouldn't heap glowing praise upon it, but it's decent.
The main issue I take with it is the dearth of actual pepperoni. There are maybe three pieces scattered through out, and they're smaller than usual. The saltiness is there, but it's not as satisfying as I would have hoped.
The vegetable cone looks promising, with big hunks of peppers, broccoli, and tomato sitting on top. I even spy an olive.
And amazingly, the look of it matches the taste. It's delicious — the sauce tastes fresh and vibrant, as though it's made with real and crisp tomatoes. There's a generous amount of veggies throughout the cone, and the crust is doughy yet light.
The crusts could be a tad bit thinner, perhaps, but that isn't a do-or-die issue. The Margherita one is, however, disappointing: there was no basil in it. It was essentially a cheese pizza cone. A forgivable mistake to omit the basil during the prep, but it is worth mentioning.
The sauce in the Margherita is different than the pepperoni sauce; it's more vivid and flavorful without relying on salt as a crutch. All three cones stayed hot for over 20 minutes, resplendent with melty cheese pulls. The cone shape keeps the inside a melty, delicious core — miles ahead of a rapidly cooling flat slice.
Of course, like any pizza slice, there's always the crust at the end. The cone crust is decidedly doughy without as much crunch as one might hope, but it keeps the soggy, cheesy insides at bay, making the pizza cone an easy snack on the go.
The dessert cones — in this instance, the tiramisu flavor — are woefully small.
But in terms in taste, it is fairly accurate. The crust tastes slightly sweet, and adds an interesting crunch to the soft and creamy, coffee syrup-laden inside. Sure, it's not gourmet tiramisu with feather light mascarpone, but hey, for $2.99, one shouldn't expect that.
Pizza as a cone: an interesting experiment. It wins big in terms of ease, and while it doesn't reach mind-blowing levels of flavor and satisfaction, it's still decent pizza. And you know what they say: even bad pizza is good pizza. But will the cone overtake the slice? Despite the convenience, I'm thinking not.
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