Cascorosso - Hiroshima

As New Yorkers who just came from Italy three months ago, we had very low expectations for pizza in Japan. To be fair, we have low expectations of pizza within the United States if it is not from New York. Casco Rosso clearly respects pizza with fresh ingredients, a wood burning brick oven, and great customer service. The chain pizzerias, like Pizza Hut and Domino’s, have tried so hard to adapt pizza to local taste by adding so many seafood options. There is no shame in liking seafood toppings, after all pizza is a comfort food, but many of the global chain pizzerias do not even offer the basic Margherita. Casco Rosso offers the Margherita and so much more, along with other main dishes. Casco Rosso tries to achieve the Italian style of pizza and delivers beautifully. The pizza had a little bit more flop in the crust than I’m used to in Italian pizza, but that was not an issue. The ingredients taste different than you would get from New York or Italy, and that is not a bad thing, but you can taste the freshness in the ingredients. You can taste the authenticity of using a wood burning brick oven. The staff greet you, serve you, and say goodbye with a smile. Plus, they seem to like baseball at this restaurant which is a personal joy of mine. Everyone in the restaurant business is welcome to make food their own, but you also have to respect the food’s origins. Casco Rosso achieves such a high standard of pizza quality that pizzerias around the world should take note of. Our experience has been that many restaurants in Japan based on foreign cuisines try to offer a Japanese twist. That’s okay, but they offer nothing from the original cuisine. Casco Rosso is offering an authentic Italian pizza experience. If I had to give criticism, the menu does not explore a Japanese take on pizza, which I would trust from this pizzeria that clearly respects the origins of pizza.

Good food, I like the beer flights and beer can chicken. I hope they get more taps soon. It's a Japanese itzakaya with Italian styled food, except for the awesome beer can chicken.

Large beer selection, good food

Very friendly staff, good beer stock!

One of the best Italian dishes I had in Japan .