Pizza East, London - 4/5/14

As someone who is "into" pizza*, I have obviously heard a lot about Pizza East. As someone who does not live in The Centre of the Universe™(London, as people from London would have it) I had not gotten a chance to visit Pizza East until last Sunday. 

Pizza East have 3 branches around the city and I went to the Shoreditch one (the others are in Kentish Town and in Portobello Market, fyi). We got seated quickly right by the pizza counter which was dope because I got to watch the pizza chefs at work which, for an enthusiast such as myself (literally kill me),  was probably the best possible seating outcome.

boy, I lyk the way u roll that dough ;-)

okay okay sry. enough exposition, lemme get to the good bit. So we got two pizzas which u can see at the top. I opted for no cheese (didn't feel like it/solidarity with pretty much vegan boyfriend) on a pie which was otherwise topped with the most incredible crushed tomato 'sauce' (it wasn't really a sauce though, had a lil bit more texture which I was all about), sweet and spicy Calabrese peppers (they tasted how an orgasm feels and I am not even playing) and fresh basil. Ben's pizza, which you can see in the second picture in this post, had artichokes, pesto and sundried tomatoes on it. All of the toppings were clearly of great quality and made for very very delicious 'zas.

Benny G having a lovely time 

The Pizza East sauce is, as I've mentioned, really really tasty, but the star of the meal is without doubt that fresh dough crust, cooked in a wood oven. I am going to be real with you and just say that I need to have counselling about this pizza base. I am concerned that I will never find another crust like this and that is a real worry. Pizza East do the impossible and manage a very very thin base which is crispy on the bottom and soft on the top, making for a satisfying but not overly substantial crunch when you bite into it. I think I care deeply about this pizza crust. I want to ask it to run away to the country with me. *Hero by Enrique Iglesias plays as I imagine myself running through lush fields with this pizza in my arms*

Also yeah, before I forget, we also had this amazing garlic bread (see below.) It was really green and delicious looking but I still don't know what that topping was made from - if you can help then genuinely please get in touch because I want to try and replicate it. Either way, it was a really nice lil warm-up for the main event. We probably smelled rly bad after eating it though.

So yeah, Pizza East is really pretty excellent. You should go. I will probably go a lot more times. Cool? Cool.

Pizza rating - 9/10
(loses a solitary point just because I woulda liked an option to replace my cheese with another topping! Fussy I know but I can't be giving 10/10s out willy nilly)

Pizza East
56 Shoreditch High Street, E1 6JJ
www.pizzaeast.com

*I group myself in this category with a resigned, heavy heart. When you say you're "into" something it usually implies a) a weird interest and b) being way too interested in that interest - "oh yeah, Darren's really into painting Warhammer at Games Workshop and on the alternate Saturdays when he sees his kid he brings it with him." I am Darren, but with pizza.