Pizza
Crazy Pizza in Marylebone prides itself on providing high quality Italian food and even makes its mozzarella on site. All the pizzas here have a thin, crispy crust and a light base (no heavy dough here) meaning you can leave satisfied but not mega bloated. It also means you can save room for the Crazy Cake, which was a calorific mix of crossaints, mascarpone cream cheese and loads of Nutella. Although it’s not the cheapest pizza in town, it’s worth a go if you’re looking to celebrate – or you just want to check out the “world champion dough spinning” chefs
Voodoo Ray’s creates thin and crispy NY-style pizza, which comes by the slice or as a whole 22-inch whopper – you can’t go wrong with The Meat Is On or the Giorgio Moroder – and they do an after-midnight spesh at the Dalston branch, which is open until 2am on Fridays and Saturdays, for when the munchies strike. Wash down one of the massive slices with a signature frozen marg.
A Yard Sale Pizza is kneaded in everyone’s life. Yard Sale set the standards high by leaving their dough to prove for 24 hours and cooking out their tomato sauce on the pizza to deepen the flavour. Whether you wanna dine in or take out these handmade beauties are available as 18-inch sharers or 12-inch pizzas. From the regulars to the guest pizzas, whether you’re holy over your pepperoni or all over the squash, Yard Sale is where to get a pizz’a the action.
If you’re looking for pizza in King’s Cross, there’s only one place you need to go to and that’s Happy Face. Opened by the team behind Spiritland – yes that does mean the soundtrack is on point, even the toilets have some fancy speakers – Happy Face is a modern take on the classic pizzeria. Decked out in millennial pink and teal, it’s a fun, relaxed restaurant to be in and that’s before you even get to the food. The menu is pleasingly tight: just a handful of starters (definitely get the courgette fritti) and desserts, with nine classic pizzas like funghi, melanzana and pepperoni on offer. They use a 72-hour fermented dough here and it does result in a lighter crust, and there’s chilli oil on the table as standard for all your crust dipping needs. The most expensive pizza comes in at £15 but the majority are a tenner or under. Considering the size and quality, it’s a right bargain, and they’re speedy with the service too. Not only is Happy Face right next to the Everyman (so you can catch a film before dinner), it’s got the retro late-night cocktail bar Supermax in the basement (so you can keep your night going long after the pizzas have been eaten).
Sourdough bases, charcoal crusts, massive 20″ pies…there’s a lot of pizza in London but no one’s really been doing the deep-dish thing. Until now that is. Japes is all about that Chicago-style pizza, which means high crusts and lots of filling. The deep-dish, which comes in personal and sharing sizes (and believe us a personal one is more than enough), comes with a thick layer of cheese on the bottom of the crust, with the toppings and sauce on top. You will have to knife-and-fork it as they are generous when it comes to filling these babies. Japes also does the even less well-known pot-pie pizzas. As you may be able to guess from the name, these are baked in a pot like a pie and turned out before eating, so the cheese is on top, encasing all the filling underneath – we rate the Green Queen because it’s jam-packed with veggies (so it’s healthy, right?)
Zia Lucia has not one, not two but FOUR different types of dough to choose from, making them a great choice for those who are gluten free or anyone that just likes to be different. As well as the classic pizza base there’s wholemeal, gluten free, and their signature item, the vegetable charcoal base which is a dusty black colour all the way through. It certainly adds a little extra flavour to the dough but whichever base you choose, you can expect classic Italian toppings such as n’duja, pepperoni, buratta, and – our favourite – the ‘Andrea Pirlo’ topped with Mozzarella, gorgonzola, apple, truffle and olive sauce. A classy pizza named after a classy guy.
Joe Public may operate out of an old lav, but expect more than just your bog standard pizza. Creating whopping 20inch Californian style pizzas – served either whole or by the slice – Joe Public’s toppings include everything from fresh fig, gorgonzola, prosciutto and pine nuts to tender roasted lamb, purple potato, feta and black olives.
Named after an Italian pirate radio station from the 1970s, Radio Alice is as cool as it sounds. They do things a little bit differently here, using mother yeast and ancient stone-ground flour to make their bases crispy on the outside and soft inside. Making the most of the flavours they also cook the base first, then cut into eight and add the toppings. That means no fighting for the best slice!
If you’re venturing south of the river, Made of Dough is the place to go. Sourcing their ingredients from across Europe, each pizza is cooked on a real wood fire to create a chewy base – there are no tough crusts to be found here. With half-price pizzas on Mondays and wild specials every month (chocolate pizza anyone?), there’s plenty of reason to make the journey down to Peckham.
Healthy sourdough pizza is the name of the game at Sodo. On the weekends, check out their Walthamstow spot for brunch-themed pizzas (expect eggs and mushrooms aplenty).
Franco Manca do pizza the Neapolitan way. Using slow-rising sourdough (which takes a minimum of 20 hours to rise), they bake their pizzas in double quick time to create those soft, tasty crusts. They always use seasonal ingredients too to make sure the toppings are as bangin’ as the bases. It’s not hard to find a pizza in London for under £10, but at Franco Manca the whole pizza menu costs less than a tenner and they’re damn fine – the tomato, chorizo, and mozzarella is our fave! With cheap beers, it’s the perfect spot to hang out with some mates and it definitely won’t break the bank.
A brewery and bar that serves up pizzas is our kinda place. Knock back a Crate IPA with one of their Middle Eastern lamb pizzas and enjoy the canalside views with the Olympic Stadium in the background.
400 Rabbits has burrowed all the way from Crystal Palace through to Nunhead to bring you some of the best sourdough pizza in London town. Not much beats their rhubarb, chipotle chilli, goat’s cheese and piquillo peppers masterpiece, but to be honest we’d take a slice of any of them. And with them all give you change from a tenner, why the hell not?!
With a pizza oven made out of sand and dust from Mount Vesuvius, Santa Maria is defo a cut above the rest. The slightly chewy dough and THAT sauce made with San Marzano D.O.P tomatoes pre-ordered a year in advance make these pizzas what they are…bloody great.
Homeslice serve up some of the biggest pizzas in town, we’re talking 20-inch beasts, but it’s not all about the size here. The pizzas come with some interesting toppings and if you can’t decide you can always go 50/50. Our faves include that chorizo, corn & corriander and aubergine, cauliflower cheese, spinach & harissa.
It won OFM’s 2017 Cheap Eats award and is our fave local pizzeria, so it’s only right that Yard Sale makes it in our fave cheap eats. We’re a little bit obsessed with their Holy Pepperoni – it is holy after all, and when we’re pretending to be healthy it’s the TSB with tenderstem broccoli. It’s about a tenner for a 12inch, but if you really want to push the boat out they do HUGE 18inchers too, whatever you choose you definitely won’t go hungry here!
We’ll take a slice of Pizza Pilgrims N’Duja pizza any day, you can’t really go wrong. It’s basically heaven. Once just a pizza van and now a little cult, Pizza Pilgrims has got some loyal followers and their quick expansion has been impressive, damn good reason for that too. Their Neopolitan pizzas are pure satisfaction with simple generous toppings and soft doughy crusts. And anywhere that does a Nutella dough ring for dessert is alright by us.
It’s not hard to find a pizza in London for under £10, but at Franco Manca the whole pizza menu costs less than a tenner and they’re damn fine – the tomato, chorizo, and mozzarella is our fave! With cheap beers, it’s the perfect spot to hang out with some mates and it definitely won’t break the bank.