Hong Kong is not short of pizza, but it is short of fried pizza — which is exactly the gap Pocofino Hong Kong has wandered into. The Manila pizzeria has set up a small counter on Ship Street in Wan Chai, and it has arrived with a credential most local pizza joints can only envy: certification from Naples itself.
Pocofino (灣仔船街) deals in two things. The first is proper Neapolitan pizza — puffy, charred-edged, baked fast in a screaming-hot wood oven. The second is pizza fritta, the Neapolitan street snack of dough that is stuffed, folded and deep-fried rather than baked. Here is what the shop serves, where to find it, what it costs, and whether the queue-worthy hype holds up.
In This Guide
Why Pocofino Is Worth Knowing About
Plenty of pizzerias open in Hong Kong. Far fewer arrive carrying a stamp from the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana — the Naples-based body that polices what can honestly be called Neapolitan pizza, right down to the flour, the proving time and the oven temperature.
Pocofino started in the Philippines, where chef Matteo Minante built a following for AVPN-grade pies, and Wan Chai is its first Hong Kong outpost. The shop bills itself as the city's only spot certified by AVPN for both Neapolitan pizza and pizza fritta — a narrow but genuinely unusual claim, given how rare fried pizza is in Hong Kong to begin with.
The method backs up the marketing. The dough is left to ferment for a full 24 hours before it ever sees heat, then cooked in a wood-fired oven at around 485°C — hot enough to blister a pizza in well under two minutes. That is textbook Neapolitan technique, and it lands at a moment when the city's dining scene is full of confident new openings, a wave we unpacked in why Hong Kong's food scene is having a moment.
Pocofino
The first Hong Kong branch of a Manila pizzeria, serving AVPN-certified Neapolitan pizza and deep-fried pizza fritta from a compact, takeaway-led counter, with 24-hour-fermented dough fired in a wood oven.
What Is Pizza Fritta, and Is Pocofino Really AVPN-Certified?
Start with the fried pizza, because it is the reason to make the trip. Pizza fritta is a Naples street-food staple: a round of dough is filled, folded into a pocket, sealed and deep-fried, so you get a light, blistered, crisp shell wrapped around a molten centre. It is essentially a calzone's rowdier cousin — and it is almost impossible to find done well in Hong Kong.
On the certification, the short answer is yes. AVPN stands for Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana, the Naples association founded to protect "true Neapolitan pizza", and it certifies pizzerias worldwide that follow its rules. Pocofino holds that certification, and says it is the only Hong Kong shop to carry it for both classic Neapolitan pizza and pizza fritta. Treat the "only" as the venue's own claim rather than a Michelin-style ruling, but the underlying certification is real and verifiable.
What does that translate to on the plate? Tradition with a clear Hong Kong accent. The savoury pizza fritta runs from a straight-up margherita to a punchy corned beef and mala (麻辣) version, while the sweet ones lean fully local: an egg-tart filling and, inevitably, durian.
| Item | Style | Price (HKD) |
|---|---|---|
| Egg tart pizza fritta | Sweet, fried | $28 |
| Durian pizza fritta | Sweet, fried | $28 |
| Margherita pizza fritta | Savoury, fried | $62 |
| Corned beef & mala pizza fritta | Savoury, fried | $78 |
| Margherita pizza | Neapolitan, baked | $128 |
| Diavola pizza | Neapolitan, baked | $138 |
| Carbonara pizza | Neapolitan, baked | $158 |
Pocofino also does paninis, a few desserts and iced drinks, so it works as a quick lunch as much as a pizza pilgrimage.
What to Order at Pocofino
Don't overthink it. Order one fried thing, one baked thing, and a sweet pocket to share. Here is a sensible first run.
A first-timer's order
- Corned beef & mala pizza fritta (HK$78) — the house showpiece, and the one dish you genuinely can't get elsewhere in town; salty, spicy and crisp.
- Margherita pizza (HK$128) — the benchmark. If the basics are right, the kitchen is right; this is where the 24-hour dough shows off.
- Diavola (HK$138) — for the spicy-salami crowd; a notch more interesting than the margherita if you want toppings.
- Egg tart pizza fritta (HK$28) — the dessert move, and a very Hong Kong one; cheap enough to add without thinking.
- An iced drink — useful, because the mala filling has a slow build.
If you are mapping the city's wider pizza-and-pasta scene, this slots neatly alongside our running guide to the new restaurants opening in Hong Kong this season, and it earns a mention whenever the talk turns to the 50 best restaurants in Hong Kong right now.
Where Is It, and How Much Does It Cost?
Pocofino sits on the ground floor of 8 Ship Street (船街), a short, characterful lane in Wan Chai that runs uphill off Queen's Road East. It is roughly a three-minute walk — about 200 metres — from Exit A3 of Wan Chai MTR, near the Johnston Road and Luard Road junction by Southorn Playground. The footprint is small and takeaway-led, so think grab-and-go rather than a long sit-down lunch.
On price, this is a mid-range treat rather than a budget slice. Pizza fritta starts at HK$28 for the sweet pockets and tops out around HK$78 for the loaded savoury ones, while baked Neapolitan pizzas run HK$128 to HK$158. Graze on a couple of items and you will land at roughly HK$60–150 a head. The shop is open daily from about 7am to 9:30pm per its OpenRice listing, which makes it one of the rare spots in town where a wood-fired pizza is a breakfast option.
For where this fits in the bigger food map, see our Hong Kong street food guide, and if you are staying in the neighbourhood for the evening, pair it with our pick of the best nightlife in Wan Chai.
Before you go
Two quick things to plan around. First, it is a takeaway-led counter, not a restaurant — there is little to no proper seating, so plan to take your pizza fritta to a nearby bench or back to the office rather than settle in. Second, hours and the menu can shift at a young shop, and fried items in particular can sell out, so for a special trip check Pocofino's Instagram on the day. Ship Street is a steady uphill walk, which is worth knowing in a Hong Kong summer.
Is Pocofino Worth It?
For the fried pizza alone, yes. The pizza fritta is the genuine point of difference here — a properly Neapolitan technique, executed to AVPN standards, with fillings that feel local rather than imported wholesale. The corned beef and mala pocket is the kind of dish that only makes sense in Hong Kong, and that is a compliment.
The baked pizzas are the steadier bet rather than the headline: good, honest Neapolitan pies in a city that already has a few strong contenders, so they will live or die on the day's dough. But at these prices, and with a counter open from breakfast to late, Pocofino is an easy, low-stakes detour — go for the fried stuff, stay curious, and let the durian pocket be the surprise it is meant to be.
For official details and the latest menu, check Pocofino's Instagram (@pocofinohk) or its OpenRice listing, and read more about what AVPN certification actually means on the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana website.
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