Quite a few years back, pizza was all about the toppings and the cheese. The more the better. Not much attention was paid to the base. How things have changed. Now it is all about the base, the crust and the minimal toppings. What happens when Neapolitan pizza is wanted but Naples is not accessible on a weekday night? That’s when it is lucky to be in London and proper pizza can be found. It was time to head to Pizza Pilgrims.
The interior of Pizza Pilgrims is simple with a chequered theme. The colours of the Italian flag are reflected in the green, red and white table covers. Black and white tiles are the flooring. The dining area is bright and light. Framed posters decorate the walls. There is additional seating on the lower level but it is a lot nicer to be seated on the upper level.
The kitchen is at the end of the dining area where you can see the pizza magic happening. There are lots of sacks of Caputo flour by the kitchen. This is when you know that you are going to get a good pizza base. Pizza Pilgrims’ motto is “in crust we trust”. The staff are friendly, welcoming, chatty and provide lovely service.
Pizza Pilgrims has plenty of pizzas to choose from and they also have a Guest Pizza which is only available for a limited time. The Aubergine Parmigiana pizza was the one that caught the eye. Cubes of roasted aubergine came in the tomato sauce. There were also toppings of baby tomato and fior di latte mozzarella. There was flavour and different textures with this pizza but saying that, the simple Margherita or cheese free Marinara may have been a better choice. This was so the true tomato taste could have shone through.
There were no qualms at all with the base and crust though. It was perfect with the crust being pillowy and soft. The base was slightly charred and chewy.
The oven roasted Mushroom and Truffle pizza was great too. This was a pizza bianca and hence it did not have any tomato sauce. The intense smokey mushrooms together with the truffle made it an ideal pizza for a mushroom lover. Again the base and crust were perfect.
If you fancy having a go at learning how to make your own pizza from the Pizza Pilgrim masters, they have now opened a Pizza Academy at their Camden restaurant.
Pizza Pilgrims, 23 Garrick Street, London, WC2E 9BN
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