Tag Archives: Italian

Pizza Union, Liverpool Street

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Pizza Union is an Italian industrial style canteen near Liverpool Street serving super thin pizzas super fast all day. It is as simple as that.

The venue is busiest at lunchtime when the city workers flock in to grab their pizza before returning to the office. The open-plan, airy interior lends itself to big group outings or quick meet-ups, perhaps less ideal for an intimate date. Communal style basic tables are dressed with salt, pepper and chilli oil, the empty surface cries out for a pizza plate. After a cocktail round the corner at Discount Suit Company, Pizza Union was the perfect option to satisfy our seemingly insatiable hunger. Even on a Tuesday evening the large room was full and it had a friendly and relaxed atmosphere.

You order at the counter, and when your buzzer is activated your pizza is ready to collect, just 3 or 4 minutes after ordering. The menu has a large selection of classic and creative recipes, though the staff seemed happy to cater to my additional ingredient request. Calabria is a rich and luxurious option with tomato sauce, mozzarella, mascarpone, n’duja spicy sausage and rocket, I particularly loved the flavoursome meat. We also sampled the Pepperoni with additional black olives, red onion and peppers… it was a Mediterranean dream with fresh flavoursome vegetables complemented by the intense pepperoni slices. The pizza bases are thin and tasty and cooked to perfection. I would have loved a pepper grinder for some crushed black pepper but we made good use of the chilli oil. The drinks fridge features familiar Italian beers and soft drinks, I chose a delightfully refreshing Blood Orange sparkling San Pellegrino.

Ice-cream pots are provided from Soho parlour, Gelupo, but I would recommend the authentic Dolce (a dough ring with nutella and mascarpone). Arriving warm to our table we insisted we would never be able to conquer such an epic dessert. Minutes later we were scraping the plate clean… it was indulgently delicious, served hot with a creamy chocolatey centre.

I am still marvelling at the reasonable prices… a Margarita costs just £3.95. Pizza Union is a blessing for those working in this business area; I’m a rare visitor to Liverpool Street but I will keep this great pizzeria in mind next time I’m nearby.

More information on Pizza Union here: www.pizzaunion.com

A night in Hackney

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Hackney is one of the most rapidly up and coming areas of London. I rarely have the chance to visit this part of town but was surprised to find it relatively easy to reach on the orange overground train. Despite the bad reputation for crime, Hackney has a huge amount to offer: innovative dining, a thriving arts scene and original, independent boutiques and cafes. I enjoyed an evening here, feeding my mind and body with an inspiring film and good food.

Watch… Hackney Picturehouse

Located in the centre of Hackney, this cinema has become an institution for watching art-house and mainstream films. With an independent exhibition space and a recommended restaurant, this venue ticks every box. The modern building has four screens, all extremely comfortable. We saw the subtle but moving film ‘Inside Llewyn Davis’, and particularly enjoyed the steep seating which makes the viewing experience far more dramatic and immersive.

Eat… Lardo

We enjoyed a fresh and flavoursome Italian feast at the friendly neighbourhood Lardo. The industrial-chic venue is always busy, though unlike a lot of cool eateries, bookings are taken! Pizzas are fired up in the open kitchen, homemade pastas are delectable and the charcuterie plates are unbelievably tasty. This restaurant is reason alone to trek to this East London location!

Drink… Railroad

This cute and cosy café offers deliciously creamy Square Mile coffee and great grub. Situated on the corner of Morning Lane, it is exactly halfway between Hackney Central and Homerton stations. I rushed in to retrieve a hot coffee before the film started.

Dance… Oslo

By day Oslo offers Scandi-inspired food, at night the venue cranks up the volume and provides a dance floor for the cool kids of Hackney. Oslo is found next door to Hackney Central Station, a newbie to this dynamic area. Drawing on a Nordic aesthetic, this exciting place serves top quality food and drink alongside a trendy music programme, you will hear the beat of Olso on the Hackney high street.

Polpo, Soho

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Polpo is a bàcaro, a Venetian word to describe a humble restaurant serving simple food and good, young local wines.

I’m a few years late visiting and reviewing Polpo, which has now become one of Soho’s most popular eateries. With new branches in Covent Garden and Smithfields, the concept is spreading across London. The group also count American inspired Mishkin’s and Spuntino as part of the family.

Polpo don’t do reservations. I have tried to eat at the Soho restaurant several times before, the response is always the same “hour and a half wait, and you’ll have to stand at the (cramped) bar in the meantime”… that’s the evening ruined then. However at 5.45 on a Friday evening before Christmas there were several tables free. We grabbed the opportunity and ordered two glasses of Prosecco to celebrate the triumph, we were finally eating there, just four years after opening!

The restaurant is cosy and atmospheric, couples sit huddled over wooden tables and friends chatter enthusiastically. To start we ate Arancini and Potato and Parmesan crocchettes which were impressively greaseless and tasty… crunchy shells with oozing creamy centres, although rather under-seasoned.

Of the meatballs we tried the classic (beef & pork) variety. They were wholesome and good, coarsely ground meat dunked in thin sweet tomato sauce. Pork belly with hazelnuts and radicchio has been on the menu since the beginning but I was disappointed. The meat was dry, and very fatty, and the radicchio leaves almost too bitter to eat. Duck and Green Peppercorn Ragu with Pappardelle was the top dish of the day, fresh pasta sheets with a rich meaty sauce, especially good topped with crumbled parmesan.

After four years of rave reviews and two new branch openings, I expected a little more from Polpo. The staff seemed unbothered and the kitchen rather slack: the food just isn’t as spectacular as some of the newer Soho eateries.

More information here: www.polpo.co.uk