Voodoo Ray's, Dalston - 1/11/14

When people hype stuff you automatically go in expecting fireworks. It's why I thought Nando's was going to change my life in 2010, and it's why I bought some New Balance last year and some Nike Free Runs this summer (don't worry I hate myself so you don't have to). Hype, therefore, is obviously terrible.

But apparently I never learn not to trust it, because I was super pumped to go to Voodoo Ray's last Saturday. I heard they did vegan pizza by the New York-style slice, all of which sounded more than good to me, but I shoulda known better (actually feel a Tay Swift style ballad about this place coming on). The pizza was… okay. We ordered 4 slices of their vegan special which had a bunch of veggies and a pesto-like sauce on it, but, um, they dropped one of our slices and we had to get like a Halloween special with a curried pumpkin base. It was fine, but I was sad that I didn't get the pizza I wanted. Here are some photos of the pizza:

The top photo is the pumpkin one, and the bottom photo is the veggie one. The quality of the toppings on these pizzas was definitely pretty good, but I felt like the base was slightly hard (maybe something to do with the slices being reheated after sitting and waiting on the counter). I do enjoy a crispy base, but I like there to be a little softness on top, too, which just was not there. The tomato sauce was, again, pretty nice but largely unremarkable. It was a fine pizza, but I gotta admit, I expected more. 

It wasn't like, a bad experience, and if you find yourself on Kingsland Road needing pizza/a vegan snack, you could totally do worse than going here. But just make sure they don't drop your damn slice *side eyes Voodoo Ray's to infinity*

Pizza rating - 6/10 (minus 1 point for dropping the pizza. Y'all should be carrying pizza slices around like newborns. Protect them at all costs.) 

SORRY/A MASTERPOST OF AMAZING PIZZAS

I am literally terrible and haven't posted anything for about two months. I am very sorry to the one avid reader of this blog (Hector Craft) for my transgressions. But now I am back with good news - first of all, the restinpizza zine is still on its way. We have experienced some delays in the process (i.e. me being incredibly lazy) but things are getting back on track and we're hoping that it'll be with you by the beginning of December. We're also working on doing a launch night at a venue in London which will hopefully be super dope and involve bands and free pizza.

The second bit of good news is, despite my absence, I have still been eating pizza! (How could I not though rly, I think at this point I would probably get withdrawal if I stopped) And I am here to provide you with a masterpost of all of those pizzas, including pictures to make you really really really hungry. Get excited.

1) Pizza Paco, Barcelona

We went on holz to Barcelona in September and this was the only pizza we ate because we couldn't find any anywhere else :( know that this pizza probably looks hella plain, but sometimes simplicity is best (also none of the other pizzas were vegan lol) - this pizza was a v pleasing experience, was topped with oregano and some chopped garlic and had a really crunchy crust. Big up Pizza Paco. 

Pizza rating: 7/10

2) Basilico, London 

We ate this pizza the day we came back from Barcelona. Basilico pizzas are really really nice, and have the cheesiest vegan cheese I have had yet. I was very into it. I am a thin crust lady, and this ticked all my dough-related boxes, and the sauce was really great, although it did get a lil overpowered by the cheese at points. Basilico do two different vegan pizzas, and one is a vegan margherita to which there's an option to add toppings so you can basically design yr own pizza. AND the garlic bread (below) is vegan! AND they deliver! AND they do hella big pizzas like 15 inches or something which I haven't had yet but someday will. Maybe I will buy one and wear it as an ostentatious pizza ruff, like in Elizabethan times but edible and delicious. I don't know what I am talking about either. 

Pizza rating: 9/10 (that cheese!)

3) Papa John's, Oxford

I have written before about my warm feelings for Papa John's pizza - it is really stodgy and satisfying and unlike Domino's they don't include like milk or whatever the fuck else in their pizza bases so well done to them. Sadly they don't do vegan cheese, and we were too lazy to put any on, but this pizza was still very tasty and it did its comfort food job very nicely. 

Pizza rating - 8/10

4) Gallery Café, London

I just wanna take a sec to profess my love for Gallery in general. It's an all vegetarian/mostly vegan cafe in Bethnal Green and it is so amazing. Their food is always so impressive, and they do breakfasts, cakes, sandwiches - basically everything you could ever want. They also have theme nights (they do a chip shop one every Thursday and serve tofu fish and chips which is obviously delicious, and I think a diner night every Tuesday with vegan hotdogs, burgers and MAC AND CHEESE). Also, as you can see, they do pizza. It is a joyful thing. ~Rustic~ but thin, soft crusts literally smothered in the cheese of your choice (vegan or dairy, bring ya mates) and topped with basically whatever veggies you like. The pizza above has black olives and rocket and it was rly rly tasty and filling. I am feeling happy just thinking about it. 

Pizza rating: 8/10

5) Pizza Artisan, Oxford 

…or, the first pizza to ever receive a perfect score on this blog some months ago. Srs accolade. Ben had never had Pizza Artisan so we went last weekend after finding out that not only do they make amazing pizzas, but they also do vegan cheese. If it is possible to improve on perfection, Pizza Artisan did it. All of their toppings are so high quality, their sauce is so authentic tasting and the crusts are baked to to optimum deliciousness in their wood oven. I have nothing bad that I could possibly say about this pizza. Their service is great too - you can choose from about 4 different kinds of oils to have on your pie and there are bespoke extras for certain kinds of pizzas (swear I heard fennel seeds being offered but only for some pizzas - that's some bespoke shit). Basically, top class pizzas taken hella seriously. These guys treat pizza as an art form and that is how everyone should treat it. *Kisses fingers*

Pizza rating: 9/10 (it was a really busy Saturday night and we had to wait for like an hour in the cold, so whilst the pizza was 10/10 the overall experience of the pizza was slightly tarnished by this)

I hope that this ~round up~ of pizzas has served as something of an apology for my absence. I promise to do better next time. Happy Friday, eat a pizza this weekend xxxxxx

a very belated Beacons Festival

hello lovely pals! apologies for something of an absence, but I am back with a very good and cool post. 

I wrote a few weeks ago about a gr8 opportunity I got to be the only food blogger at Beacons Festival 2014, and I now have for you here an ~official round up~ (that is something journalists say isn't it?) of all my favourite vendors at their Street Food Festival. Pretty much everything I ate was incredible, and I wanna say a particularly massive thanku to Dough Boys Pizza and the boy Ben Davy for all the hookups (feel like I'm doing an Oscars speech) and for choosing properly great food for me and all of the other hungry festival-goers to chow down on. 

So, with no further ado: 

1) Dough Boys Pizza///@DoughBoysLeeds

Starting with these guys 'cause my heart belongs to pizza. Dough Boys know what they're doing and they do it dope. Soft, bready dough compliments a super authentic-tasting sauce ('just like my grandma used to make!' - imagine me saying this in an exaggerated Italian accent and also wearing a large moustache and u get the idea), which is all topped off by really great quality toppings. Our special vegan beetroot pizza was all kinds of delicious, and the sunny weather made it even better. Also, these guys had my favourite sales patter of the festival so there's that.

If this sounds up yr street (if you're reading this blog it almost definitely is), you can catch the Dough Boys at their slice bar at the Belgrave Music Hall in Leeds. Tell 'em I sent you.

http://www.belgravemusichall.com/kitchen/

Belgrave Music Hall, 1-1a Cross Belgrave Street, LS2 8JP

2) Bundobust/@Bundobust

Bundobust had to come next 'cause they were the only stall I ate from twice. I ate two consecutive meals of the mung bean curry and if I'm real with you it might be my favourite curry I've ever eaten.  Simple and perfectly portioned, this not-quite-dal but who-cares-because-it's-better-than-dal has everything you could wish for from curry - amazing texture, gr8 flavours and just the right amount of warming spice for a cold night time at a festival. 

Again, Bundobust is based in Leeds - they just opened an ALL VEGETARIAN!!! venue which also serves craft beer (lol I say that so casually as if I know what it is) and I would get my butt down there sharpish if this curry is anything to go by. Easily my favey dish of the festival.

http://www.bundobust.com

Bundobust, 6 Mill Hill, LS1 5DQ

3) Yummy Yorkshire/@YummyYorkshire

VEGAN CARAMEL ICE CREAM HAD ME LIKE *PRAYING HANDS EMOJI*. I was so excited to try these guys out, 'cause I knew they'd have some vegan flavours. What I was not expecting was to be told, when I asked which flavours I could eat, that ALL BUT ONE was dairy free. It was so cool to have such a big choice, but I had to go for caramel and I definitely made the right decision (though it was a toss up between that and their mojito flavour which also looked amazing). This stuff was rich and creamy and everything you want from ice cream. I was in raptures (I kept going AS IF THIS IS VEGAN after every mouthful). Yummy Yorkshire are based at their family farm in Huddersfield, where the ice cream is also made. Swoon. 

http://www.yummyyorkshire.co.uk/

Yummy Yorkshire, Delph House Farm, HD8 8XY

4) Noisette Bakehouse/@NoisetteBakes

I wanna cry at the memory of this cake for real. I had a slice of the orange loaf and it did things to me. My mouth is literally watering as I type this. Noisette Bakehouse was hugely popular at Beacons - by the Sunday morning, these ladies had pretty much sold out of everything, and for good reason. The cakes all looked gorgeous, and tasted even better. I was also really heartened to see the number of animal friendly options on offer: again, there was more choice than I think most vegans are used to, so that was an extra treat. 

From what I can gather, Noisette Bakehouse doesn't have a permanent address just yet, but if you're anything like me, you'll be hoping to catch their Madeleine Express at a food market near u soon. 

http://noisettebakehouse.com/

5) Margo and Rita/@MargoandRitas

Ain't al fresco dining without a lil Latin, right? Margo and Rita were serving up tacos and nacho boxes over the weekend, and everything was in good, spicy, flavoursome order. Our nachos were doused in fresh pico de gallo and a smoky chipotle sauce, and finished off with a squeeze of lime and a sprinkle of coriander. The freshness of the salsa was especially pleasing, and the portion size was great (but where, for the love of god, were the burritos? I woulda dug that pico on a burrito so hard). 

Like Noisette Bakehouse, Margo and Rita are roving souls - you can catch 'em at events up and down the country.

http://www.margoandrita.co.uk

Beacons was great////I ate too much food////but it doesn't matter because it was all delicious////go visit and find out about all of these class vendors immediately. Mwah. 

 

Alfie Birds, Birmingham - 4/8/2014 and 12/8/2014

or, 'A pizza so nice I ate it twice'. 

Something which is really cool is tasty pizza. Something which is even cooler is tasty pizza which is pretty much on your doorstep. When that tasty pizza also comes with *whisper it* ~vegan cheese~ shit gets positively icy.

As far as I can gather, Alfie Birds is a relatively new endeavour in the Custard Factory, which is a lil complex of independent shops and offices in Digbeth, near the Bullring in Birmingham city centre. It's a real nice place, and they do a selection of food - namely pizzas and burgs - and have a full bar. I like it there a lot, which is why I went twice in nearly a week. The choice of pizzas is vast, and the topping combinations are generally not traditional ones, but they work nicely all the same, imho.

Their vegan pizza is called a Vegan Pesto, and comes with the aforementioned vegan cheese, caramelised onions, spinach, tomatoes and - u guessed it - a vegan pesto ~drizzle~ (the olives in the pic above from my second visit were a very welcome surprise). I would say that I was into this pizza. I think the first time around the crust and base were a little firmer than the second time, and I appreciate a lil bit of crunch with my bite, so that was A+. The second time around things got a lil softer, a lil chewier, but it still tasted good so *Kanye shrug*. Toppings wise, I would say that caramelised onion is a super strong flavour to put on a pizza when you're also combining it with other stuff because it tends to take over (kind of as if it's Beyoncé and the other toppings are Kelly and Michelle), so I was pleased that on my second visit there was a little less of that stuff - don't get me wrong, it tasted good but I think it was nice for the other toppings' confidence that they were able to get some shine - and a more balanced pizza as a result.

In general, Alfie Birds is a really great place with v reasonable prices and inventive pizzas so go hang out there and get yourself a slice or five.

Pizza rating - 7.5/10

Alfie Birds
The Custard Factory, B94AA

Nørrebro Express Pizza, Copenhagen - 26/07/14

Copenhagen is not a city known for its pizza. It is a city of history, architecture, and unfairly beautiful people, but not necessarily of dough and tomatoes and (fake) cheese.

However, it is my mission in life - nay, my calling - to make every city a city of pizza; to seek out the very best pies, exposing them for the world to see (I am being very dramatic, but it is literally that important to me and also I love attention). So, with that in mind, I present Nørrebro's Express Pizza for your viewing pleasure.

I am going to drop a pretty big statement right now: Express Pizza do probably the best intentionally 'vegan' pizza I have ever tasted. Though they also make pies with meat - and for sure, meat eaters should 100% visit too - they use probably the best fake cheese and meat I have ever tasted. I had pepperoni and Ben had ham and we both agree that it was insanely dope. Their dough, and especially the crispy crusts, has a texture such as would convince you it's made by the hands of angels, but it is honestly the sauce that's the star of the show. 

I have an Italian grandma (luv u Nonna), and she used to make the world's greatest pasta sauce - I know I mostly speak in hyperbole but this one is the honest truth. Express Pizza's pizza sauce smells and tastes EXACTLY like that sauce. Ben will testify to the fact that I sat sniffing a slice of my pizza for about a full minute because it smelled so good, and so similar to my grandma's old time-y cooking.

That's why Express Pizza, and especially their vegan pizza, is so fucking great, you see. Because so often, vegan pizza isn't really considered to be authentic (and often, it doesn't really taste it), 'cause it uses different ingredients to the classix. But Express Pizza makes vegan pizza totally authentic - the friendly owner who gave us free Cokes, and their small, mom and pop style location, complete with photos of dark haired, mustachio'd musicians on the walls, definitely adds to that authenticity - and most importantly, it also just makes it completely delicious. Whoever said Copenhagen doesn't know pizza obviously just never went to Express Pizza. 

Pizza rating - 10/10

Express Pizza Nørrebro

Mimersgade 102, 2200 København

http://www.expresspizza.dk

update/////B E A C O N S F E S T I V A L 2 0 1 4

What's up every1, I have returned from Copenhagen like Jesus on the third day (except I was just on holiday and he was like, actually dead) - please expect lots of pizza posts about my visit to the Danish capital soon! I'm also gonna be posting a more general, not necessarily pizza-themed round up of (mostly unhealthy) vegan spots around the city,  a) because those things are useful, and b) because I ate a ton of delicious stuff that wasn't pizza so, again Christ-like, I'll be sharing that with u all soon. Get excited for some srs #content.

But let's put that aside for a bit. My main reason for posting on this sunny Monday morning is to talk a little bit about Beacons Festival 2014. Beacons is a cool ass music and arts festival, which is now in its third year at Heslaker Farm in Skipton, North Yorkshire. Beacons is specifically gr8 because it is, actually and properly, "not your usual festival" - on top of the music (Action Bronson! The Fall! Charli XCX! Way more other dope shit!) there's film screenings, crafts, art installations, and a friggin theatre tent. However, for me what is most exciting about Beacons is the fact that it will also host a full scale Street Food Festival, which I am delighted (that's the adjective people use when they make 'announcements' about stuff, right?) to be covering for restinpizza this weekend!

The reason I wanted to visit Beacons in the first place, and the reason I'm really excited to be writing about it for you all to read about, is because as a veggie, it's really rare to have as much food choice at a festival as Beacons is offering. The range of food that will be available this weekend is mad diverse - every buzzy cuisine you can think of right now, from pies to pan-Asian, Mexican to Middle Eastern, is covered by independent vendors (loads more plus points). They're even gonna have vegan ice cream. Heart eyes emoji.

I wanted to know what motivated the people behind the Beacons street food festival to make food such an important part of the ~Beacons experience~, and why they've chosen the food and vendors that they have, so I had me a lil chat with Ben Davy, who organised the food festival, and who's also a part of Leeds' Dough Boys Pizza (expect lots of coverage on these guys in the upcoming 'pizza my heart' zine and also probably some photos of me trying desperately to be their best mate in exchange for a free slice). Here is that chat, for your reading pleasure:

RIP: Considering that most festivals are content to serve up suspiciously grey-looking burgers, limp chips and a bottle of Coke for more than your annual salary, something different, such as what is being offered at Beacons, is pretty refreshing, right? 

Ben: For us the food offered at Beacons is just as important as the music. Food is what fuels people and good fuel is what you need if you're gonna be partying in a field for 3 days. For years festival food was renowned for being corporate, overpriced, below-average crap, but people just accepted it and parted ways with their money as they had no other choice. The recent rise in popularity of street food has changed all that. It's now possible to get high quality, healthy, interesting food for a really reasonable price and that is what we've brought to the festival this year.

How have you gone about finding vendors for this year's festival? Are you re-using old favourites, or have you mostly gone for new faces? Has there been a particular emphasis on using independent vendors?
We run the monthly indoor street food festival 'Belgrave Street Feast' in Leeds which has served as a great way to try out new vendors, so some have come through that. A lot of the traders I've met through working the street food circuit with Dough Boys Pizza, others we've tried at various events around the country. So there are a lot of new faces but we've mixed it up with a few old Beacons favourites who we've worked with every year, like the Skipton Pie & Mash guys who've become a Beacons institution.   

One thing I've noticed is that the range of cuisines on offer is incredibly diverse - this is so impressive for a three day festival! How important has securing this level of diversity been for you?
Diversity in food is hugely important for me and I think it says a lot about the personality of the festival. There are a few familiar offers in the mix like Reds BBQ, Diamond Dogs and Patty Smith's Burgers for when you need something safe, but then we've got vendors who will make you question everything like Dorshi, Bundobust and Street Fodder. There's literally something for everyone and that's why we're really proud of the lineup. 

I'm a veggie, and one of the things that made me want to get in touch with Beacons in the first place was the sheer amount of choice for veggies and vegans at the festival. It's so cool, especially when we're so often an afterthought. What do you think that offering so many veggie options brings to the festival?

Again the mix of veggie/vegan/meat offerings is just part of the package: it's diversity, it's interesting, it opens new doors to people. If you stick a paneer wrap from Manjit's Kitchen in the hand of a devout meat eater and make them eat it, there is no way they wouldn't cry tears of joy because it tastes great! Tasty food is tasty food, meat or no meat. I don't want people to think of veggie food as an after thought, or as anything less exciting than meat based food because it's not. IF IT'S GOOD IT'S GOOD      

Finally - where are you personally most looking forward to eating during the festival? Do you have any personal favourite vendors?
I'll probably be too busy making pizzas to eat but my top 5 picks would be... Cafe Moor, Yummy Yorkshire Ice Cream, Dorshi, Bundobust and Margo&Rita… but then again Fish& are ace, and Diamond Dogs… and Manjit's Kitchen and Mumma Schnitzel - DON'T MAKE ME CHOOSE!     

So yeah, if you need me this weekend I'll probably have a gobful of something delicious and won't be able to communicate with you properly, but all for good reason. I'll be posting over the weekend on restinpizza's NEW NEW NEW Twitter and Instagram feeds (@restinpizza666 for both!) with some updates about what I'm eating at Beacons 2014. You can check out their full roster of food vendors here. Peace out xoxo

photo ℅ http://greetingsfrombeacons.com

recipe: PIZZADILLAS - 16/7/2014

Here is a pizzadilla what I made. Obviously it looks absolutely shit because all of the magic was happening inside (I forgot to take a picture of the magic before I put the second wrap on top because I was shitting myself about it burning sorry), but I assure you, these badboyz are dope. 

Before you do anything with actual cooking utensils, make sure you've a) grated lots of cheese (vegan or otherwise - I used Violife pizza cheese, but any grate-able cheese works), b) chopped up your veggies/whatever elses for the filling (I used red peppers and black olives), and c) made up a lil pizza sauce (passata/tomato puree/garlic/herbs), and perhaps added some extra kick due to the usually spicier-than-a-pizza nature of a quesadilla - I did so by using chilli powder, paprika, cumin and coriander. Alternatively, you could use a ready made pizza sauce, or even salsa from a jar. 

Once you have done that, start to warm up a frying pan and fuck a load of olive oil into it. Make sure both the pan and the oil are quite hot, and then put a tortilla inside it, flat. Wait until the tortilla starts puffing up a bit and little air bubbles start appearing, and then give it a flip over. Wait for the same thing to happen on the other side, and then flip it back to the original side. Then u must work quickly. 

Spread the pizza sauce, whichever you have chosen to use, onto the tortilla, like you would onto a pizza base. Then sprinkle most, but not all, of the cheese on, and crucially, wait for it to melt. It is rly important that the cheese melts for the next bit. 

The next bit is putting the veggies on top - if the cheese has melted, they have something to cling to rather than falling all over the place like me walking home after I've been out. Once you've put the veggies/whatever on top of the tortilla, sprinkle the remainder of the cheese on top of them. Then comes the difficult part. 

You can do this in one of two ways - if you have lots of time and ingredients, you can simply fold one side of the tortilla over the other and flip it over a couple of times with a fish slice, so that it toasts evenly. Then, repeat all of the above using another tortilla so that you end up with four little slices of pizzadilla, as per the picture. You can put the one you've made in the oven to stay warm (obvious, but protip all the same). Alternatively, if like me, you are a disorganised mess and need to be quick, you can simply place another tortilla on top of the one in the pan, and flip them over so that the new one also becomes crispy. Obviously this flip requires great accuracy and strength of will, but I believe that you can do it without much issue if I was able to, because I am properly useless. I used two fish slice-y type things and held them underneath the pizzadilla on either side, and then quickly flipped it over. Surprisingly, it didn't actually make much mess, and crisis was averted.

Once you've overcome that hurdle, stick it on a plate and eat it. I had mine with fake garlic mayo and a red pepper and olive salad and it was delicious. Go forth and pizzadilla. 

PS: sorry for the lack of photos in this post - kinda shitty when I'm trying to explain how to do something! If you'd like any more clarification of the recipe pls just leave a comment and I'll get back to you on it :3  

VEGAN TAKEAWAY PIZZA: Village Pizza, London - 9/7/2014 and Papa John's, Sheffield - 13/7/2014

When you are trying to eat vegan something that can be annoying is finding decent takeaway pizza. Takeaway pizza has always been a very important aspect of my life at the core of who I am, and I will not allow anything to change this.

Last week I was gross (great) and ate a lot of takeaway pizza. This is a post about that. The first pizza place I'll review will be London's VILLAGE PIZZA (the Old Kent Road branch). Village Pizza is one of London's premier vegan pizza suppliers, even doing pies with vegan cheese (the old classic Mozzarella-style Cheezly from what I can gather) and fake meat. We ordered two pizzas: one 16 inch (ridiculous) Pepe Peppers, consisting of Cheezly, fake pepperoni, jalapeños, sweetcorn and peppers, and one medium Spaniard - Cheezly, fake garlic sausage, black olives, fresh tomatoes and red onion. Here they are in all of their glory:

bby Spaniard

Pepe Peppers, total giant bastard

I wanna first of all give props to Village Pizza for thinking of vegans and making sure they too can get dope, artery blocking pizzas. It is important, in the interests of equal opportunities and so on, that this happens. The slightly bad news was that in both cases, the fake meat (the main draw other than the vegan cheese really) was sort of flavourless and not particularly nicely textured. I was not overly into it. The veg was all really tasty, though, and the pizza sauce was good in a pizza sauce way. However, the dough - special vegan dough also, but tbh I don't understand on any level why anyone is putting milk/eggs in pizza dough - was a little too soft for me, considering how thin it also was. Sad :(. The pizzas were also sort of cold when they arrived. In general, Village Pizza is not my favourite vegan pizza I have ever eaten, but their good intentions are admirable, and next time I'm in LDN I'm gonna be jonesing to try their Hickory BBQ 'za. 

A few days later, this time in Sheffield, we ordered more pizza because the World Cup was on. In a slightly excessive move, we ordered two Extra Extra Large pizzas (the Garden Party, which has the sort of standard list of veggie toppings, and the Hot Pepper Passion which was delicious and really fucking spicy due to chillies and jalapeños) and a small The Greek (more veggies, but slightly hotter due to added peperonata) because there was obviously not enough already. 

A downside to Papa John's is that they don't offer a vegan cheese option, but unlike their main competitor Domino's, Papa John's bases are 100% animal product-free (FYI, in general, their crust is very similar to Domino's - it's chunky and chewy and just really pleasingly bready but not too bready. For these reasons, I think it is really good). So, when the pizzas came, we just grated Cheezly over them, whacked them in the oven and took them out when they looked like this:

close-up of Hot Pepper Passion 'cause it looked dope/I couldn't get
decent photos of the others bc I was too eager to stuff pizza in every hole on my face

Though this might seem like a lot of effort to go to for a takeaway, it was actually pretty minimal and it ended up tasting gr8. Papa John's pizza sauce is on some classic New York pizza shit, and rly complimented both the dough and the veg. I can't praise the dough highly enough, and Cheezly, which featured again on this pizza, is always really good. 

Of the two vegan pizza takeaways, though it required a lil more effort, Papa John's definitely ended up being the better tasting option. Their pizzas made for a more satisfying slice (I would know, I think I ate about 10 and that is not an exaggeration), and there was some left over for dinner the next day. Dope as fuck. 

Village Pizza pizza rating: 6/10

Village Pizza

230 Old Kent Road, SE1 5UB

http://www.villagepizzauk.com

Papa John's pizza rating: 8/10

I'm not going to put an address because their are Papa John's branches everywhere

http://www.papajohns.co.uk 

Pizza Hut, Birmingham - 2/07/2014

Yesterday I hung out with one of my oldest and most lovely pals, Hannah. Whenever we hang out we go to Pizza Hut because it is what we have always done since the dawn of time. 

So. I had a Veggie pizza with no cheese and extra olives on a Pan base. The Pizza Hut Pan base is a thing of immense beauty and I want to take a second to honour it now - at best (i.e. when it's just been freshly served) it's soft and comforting yet crispy. The crust gives just a tiny bit of resistance when you first bite it and it's completely dope. It makes me sort of sad that the colder the pizza gets, the less crispy and more doughy the Pan crust gets. If Pizza Hut could find a way to solve that, they could well have one of the world's most delicious doughs on their hands. And I do not say that lightly. 

The toppings were all very nice and fresh-seeming (though I do take issue with Pizza Hut's black olives which are weirdly shrivelled), and I appreciated how inviting the pizza looked 'cause of all the bright colours. Not too much green, which does often become a problem with veggie pizza, imho. 

Basically u know what you're getting with Pizza Hut (Peep Show fans amirite??) - tasty comfort food AND a free salad bar (big up Pizza Hut couscous tbh) AND free fizzy drink refills. Not bloody bad. 

Pizza rating: 6/10

Mansfield College, Oxford - 25/4/14

The college I go to in Oxford is pretty well known within the university for having dope food. It really is pretty great. We have theme nights every Saturday and roast dins every Sunday and there is always lots of delicious veggie options, and sometimes even vegan stuff too. Best of all though, occasionally, we have pizzas. 

Friday was one of those occasions. This fine hunk of hot dough you see before you was billed as a "black olive, feta and piquillo pepper pizza" and it was indeed all of those things. It also only cost THREE POUNDS AND TWENTY FIVE ENGLISH PENCE. I wanna holla particularly at the toppings here, because they were all v good quality for the price (mad love for the feta), and in general this was a very pleasing meal (coulda gone for more crispiness/coulda gone for a slightly hardier base/coulda gone for less salt in the sauce but how am I really going to complain about a pizza that cost me three pounds). Big up Mansfield College Hall and Dining. 

Pizza rating: 7/10

(plus points for the LOW LOW PRICE and the feta)

Il Principe, Oxford - 19/4/14

This sultry, spinach-y temptress came courtesy of Il Principe pizza, an unassuming lil Italian deli joint on Cowley Road in Oxford (or, as I often fondly refer to the city of dreaming spires, 'prison'.) I can say with almost certainty that Il Principe is one of the three best pizza places in Oxford (matched and potentially topped only by the Pizza Artisan van but I'll almost definitely discuss that with u another day so don't you even worry pizza fans I got yr backs), mainly because, as a deli, their ingredients are pretty out of this world. 

Allow me to elaborate: I want to bathe in the Il Principe sauce. I'm not even a tiny bit ashamed of that fact. It's got a completely amazing fresh tomato tang that sets off their mild but huge globs of fresh mozzarella in a match more heaven-sent than David and Victoria Beckham (their love is so pure, man). This particular pizza was number 16 on the takeaway menu, and it's called a Venezia. It features "tomato, mozzarella, spinach, garlic olive oil and parmesan", which is a pretty simple topping combination but obviously, as you can probably tell, it tasted great. I was also pleasantly surprised by the garlic olive oil, which I could actually taste. Usually when places include shit like that it's pretty bland so I was impressed.   

The base is also dope. I appreciate the fact that they clearly lube the crusts up with oil before the pizza gets to you, 'cause they retain their crispiness whilst simultaneously achieving a slight moistness which keeps the enjoyable notion that this foodstuff is fundamentally bad for you at the back of your mind.

If you're in Oxford and you're not eating Il Principe, you're probably a FUCKEN NERD (lol let's face it u probably are though) and you should change that sharpish. This is rly good pizza that almost reminds me of a New York slice (but tinier) and maybe you should treat urself to it one time, bae.

Pizza rating: 8/10 

(loses a point because it's pretty expensive sorry guys)

Il Principe, 82 Cowley Road, OX4 1JB

http://ilprincipedeli.co.uk

'homemade' - 16/4/14

I've put the word homemade in the title of this post in those dickish little quote marks because technically, this pizza was more 'home-assembled' than actually crafted by my own tiny hands over a roaring fire or any of that shite. I used a Napolina pizza base and Tesco tomato and herb pizza sauce, as well as some frozen and fresh veggies, in order to craft the culinary sensation you see above, immortalised 4ever (- The Veronicas) by my shit iPhone 4 camera.

I will start my ~review~ with the base. I was rly into this base, but I think that is mainly because I expected it to be ranker than it actually was. Instead it was a pretty nice surprise, and had crispy edges and a bottom that didn't sag despite a fair few toppings which is something I have found in the past with other pre-made pizza bases. Would have enjoyed a little more crispness underneath but otherwise I would actually really recommend these if assembling yr own 'za is something you enjoy (also pretty sure that they're vegan so even better - the box says they are made with margarine but seems to imply that it's a vegetable oil based one rather than a dairy one. fyi.)

The Tesco sauce was also pretty good, but pretty basic. I feel like you could very easily make something similar with tomato puree, passata and some herbs, but because I obviously could not be arsed to do that, this sauce was a dope stand in. I would give a shout out in particular to its consistency, which was p perfect for the purpose. Alliteration.

Finally, I would point out that with this particular pizza I decided to go cheeseless (a shocking admission from a pizza purist) and it was actually really delicious. The flavours/textures of the veg (I used sweetcorn, red peppers and olives) were definitely sharper than I think they would have been with cheese, which would have made this quite little pizza a bit too busy. Would definitely recommend an attempt at cheeseless 2 those who haven't tried it because it is an incredibly pleasant change.  

Overall this was cool because putting the pizza together/choosing exactly what toppings I wanted was a p fun thing to do. Maybe now you too will assemble your own pizza. I hope I have inspired u. Thank u.

Pizza rating: 7/10