Doppio Zero Pizza

When Hilda suggested we meet up for dinner in Coquitlam, I was more than happy to join in.  Most times, there isn't enough exposure of spots located outside of Vancouver proper.  Besides, the place she suggested was only a 15-minute drive for Diana and myself.  However, we were surprised that Doppio Zero Pizza was located near the Chevron on Como Lake at Porier.  To the best of our knowledge, we never noticed any restaurants at that location.  Well, apparently they tore down the corner market and built a brand new building that houses a few businesses including Doppio.

Since we were there on a Wednesday, most of their appies were 50% off and all of their thin-crust pizzas were $15.00.  As such, we got 3 appies including the Polpette di Carne al Pomodoro.  The dish consisted of 4 medium-sized meatballs, which in my opinion works much better than 2 gigantic ones.  This way, the texture was more consistent from outside to the middle being meaty and tender with little filler.  I found the deep-red marinara sauce to be good with a bright tang balanced off by background sweetness and depth.  Now the Arancini Sicilani did not follow the same idea as it consisted of 2 large balls with the usual aborio rice in addition to bolognese and mozzarella.  Here, we found them to be crispy, but not the same temperature throughout.  In one of them, the cheese had not even melted.  Furthermore, the rice was on the mushier side.

Our last appie was the Marrow Crostini Bruschetta sporting bone marrow, pickled shallots and cannellini bean salad.  This was texturally on point with crunchy bread that held up to the wet ingredients.  We didn't notice the bone marrow too much, where more was needed for its richness.  The shallots were a natural compliment as it provided the acidity and brightness to balance off dish.  What brought it all together was the bean salad as it was full of umami while the texture of the beans were just right (being tender with firmness).

We ended up with 2 pastas where the Tagliatelle al Funghi e Manzo really stood out.  Al dente while tender, the tagliatelle was bathed in a rich oily sauce (in a good way) that featured the earthiness of mushrooms including morels.  Of course, the robust oxtail added both meatiness and umaminess.  To top it off, the truffle oil added another layer of earthiness that was just right and not overwhelming.  On the other hand, the Spaghetti Carbonara was not as successful.  It is true that the egg yolk really came through with a creaminess and surprisingly strong flavour.  However, the dish itself lacked punch as there was not enough pancetta (although the pieces we got were crispy and smoky) nor discernible amounts of pecorino romano and black pepper.  It was too bad as the pasta and egg were on point, there just wasn't enough flavour.

For our 2 pizzas, both were very good but the Carne e Tartufo really stood out.  It sported fior di latte, salami, pancetta, sausage, ham, onions, mushrooms and truffle oil.  The combination of ingredients produced a flavour profile that was meaty, sweet and earthy.  Although one might think that this would've been a salty mix, it really wasn't.  It was aromatic and impactful.  With so many toppings, the thin crust was predictably soft in the middle, but it was totally forgivable as the other pizza was able to highlight the crust as it should've been.  Consisting only of fior di latte, speck, scamorza and zucchini, the crust on the Affumicata was crispy, well-charred and chewy.  It was smoky with enough seasoning while the cheese and speck added some saltiness.  Loved how the zucchini did not create any soggy portions on the crust.  Overall, Doppio is a welcomed addition to the area since there is nothing like it.  Dishes were a bit hit and miss, but I'm willing to go back for another round.

The Good:
- Reasonably-priced, especially for happy hour
- Nice leoparding on pizza crust
- Trendy casual space

The Bad:
- A bit hit and miss