Tasting Britain
TastingBritain.co.uk - PizzaBuzz, Shoreditch, London
PizzaBuzz is, in a city so full of new restaurant openings, a very good idea indeed. The concept can be summed up (crudely) as âDIY Pizzaâ or "we have the toppings, you do the rest!" or "Subway, but with pizzas!". This doesnât really do it justice however and there is, obviously, much more to it than that - which Iâll now try to elaborate upon:
Essentially the idea is semi-self service pizza/food assembly. You take your place at the start of their "DIY pizza assembly lineâ and prepare yourself a pizza entirely of your own devising (though you donât have to do anything really asides from tell them what you want your pizza to be made of - it arrives pre sliced too, woo!).
You choose from 5 types of bases (gluten free options are available). These range from a âregularâ Margherita (cheese, tomato etc) to the Bianca (white sauce, mozzarella, parmesan) - plus a pretty fkn extensive range of toppings, divided into vegetables, proteins (i.e meats, fish) and cheese. Said toppings include such gastronomic curiosities such as bacon jam and wild rock shrimp. The recommended number of toppings for a pizza is about 4-5, though apparently one guy came in (drunk) on a Friday night once and ordered a £20+ pizza that contained EVERY SINGLE topping they offered. It ended up looking like a pyramid (hahahahaha!)
And, if you donât fancy coming up with your own pizza, their âsignature collectionâ of pre-designed pizzas come in around £10, and have names like Middle Earth and Etna. Once youâve picked your combo of ingredients, it takes them about 1-3 minutes to cook the whole thing in their wood fired ovens - so you might even be able to describe it as fast food. Takeaway is also an option. In the Southern Italian style, you can also get a burrata (and choose what ingredients to have it with, which is the recurring theme...)
As for the ambiance - PizzaBuzz lives inside the brand spanking new Alphabeta development on Worship street. On the inside it has a minimal vibe - almost the feel of an industrial space about it. Except theyâve made it more friendly with offcentre animal illustrations drawn onto the walls (pictured) plus their colourful logo and a recurring love of hexagonal things. Plus staff singing along to the music (not sure if this is an actual feature or if I just came in at the right time ^_^)
I must also tell you about the dough - which took a yearâs development and is quite something (theyâve got a video called âJane Doughâ in which the dough explains this all to you in a Yorkshire accent, lol). Anyway, it comes from a small mill in Oxfordshire and is, unusually, 50% spelt. I am told that this results in better texture, digestibility and mouthfeel than regular pizza. This is a big claim to make, and Iâm not sure I agree - the pizza I had, however, WAS very good and thatâs all I can say about that.
All in all, Pizzabuzz is taking a very good idea from another restaurant (*ahem*) and applying it to pizza very, very well. I wasnât surprised to hear that they have another site opening soon and can see them doing pretty well in future. Inherently, itâs fun, a bit silly, and provides you with a lot more choice than most of the (pizza based) competition. Definitely a place Iâd recommend to everybody (because who the hell doesnât like pizza, really?!)
TastingBritain.co.uk - PizzaBuzz, Shoreditch, London
PizzaBuzz is, in a city so full of new restaurant openings, a very good idea indeed. The concept can be summed up (crudely) as âDIY Pizzaâ or "we have the toppings, you do the rest!" or "Subway, but with pizzas!". This doesnât really do it justice however and there is, obviously, much more to it than that - which Iâll now try to elaborate upon:
Essentially the idea is semi-self service pizza/food assembly. You take your place at the start of their "DIY pizza assembly lineâ and prepare yourself a pizza entirely of your own devising (though you donât have to do anything really asides from tell them what you want your pizza to be made of - it arrives pre sliced too, woo!).
You choose from 5 types of bases (gluten free options are available). These range from a âregularâ Margherita (cheese, tomato etc) to the Bianca (white sauce, mozzarella, parmesan) - plus a pretty fkn extensive range of toppings, divided into vegetables, proteins (i.e meats, fish) and cheese. Said toppings include such gastronomic curiosities such as bacon jam and wild rock shrimp. The recommended number of toppings for a pizza is about 4-5, though apparently one guy came in (drunk) on a Friday night once and ordered a £20+ pizza that contained EVERY SINGLE topping they offered. It ended up looking like a pyramid (hahahahaha!)
And, if you donât fancy coming up with your own pizza, their âsignature collectionâ of pre-designed pizzas come in around £10, and have names like Middle Earth and Etna. Once youâve picked your combo of ingredients, it takes them about 1-3 minutes to cook the whole thing in their wood fired ovens - so you might even be able to describe it as fast food. Takeaway is also an option. In the Southern Italian style, you can also get a burrata (and choose what ingredients to have it with, which is the recurring theme...)
As for the ambiance - PizzaBuzz lives inside the brand spanking new Alphabeta development on Worship street. On the inside it has a minimal vibe - almost the feel of an industrial space about it. Except theyâve made it more friendly with offcentre animal illustrations drawn onto the walls (pictured) plus their colourful logo and a recurring love of hexagonal things. Plus staff singing along to the music (not sure if this is an actual feature or if I just came in at the right time ^_^)
I must also tell you about the dough - which took a yearâs development and is quite something (theyâve got a video called âJane Doughâ in which the dough explains this all to you in a Yorkshire accent, lol). Anyway, it comes from a small mill in Oxfordshire and is, unusually, 50% spelt. I am told that this results in better texture, digestibility and mouthfeel than regular pizza. This is a big claim to make, and Iâm not sure I agree - the pizza I had, however, WAS very good and thatâs all I can say about that.
All in all, Pizzabuzz is taking a very good idea from another restaurant (*ahem*) and applying it to pizza very, very well. I wasnât surprised to hear that they have another site opening soon and can see them doing pretty well in future. Inherently, itâs fun, a bit silly, and provides you with a lot more choice than most of the (pizza based) competition. Definitely a place Iâd recommend to everybody (because who the hell doesnât like pizza, really?!)