loved the customer service from this establishment, i am definitley going to be a regular here and the pizza's was amazing - perfect amount of toppings. great work basilico.

By Maria Derevianko

I’ve been slightly jealous of all the posts that Esin and Koray have been putting up of them having this pizza here and that pizza there, as I bloody love me some pizza but where can I find a vegan pizza?

So when I heard there is such a thing as vegan pizza and it is sold at the infamous pizza place called Basilico, I needed it in my life… at any cost. I finally managed to get down to one of their branches outside Limehouse Station, (they also have branches in East Sheen, Crouch End, Fulham Road, Lavender Hill, Islington, Tower Hill, Finchley and Hampstead) and boy, oh boy was I in for a treat..

As we walked in I was so excited that when I went to try and find a seat I ended up going into the kitchen. They had no seating area apart from three high chairs by the window, where a couple were having a wild Saturday night date with a pizza each, staring into their cardboard boxes.

I still perused the menu as if I was having anything else but that VEGETARIAN one with vegan cheese, but you still have to look don’t you? It’s a bit like when people still look through the menu at Nando’s when they already know exactly what they are going to order… which is the same damn thing they order every time!

I debated if I should get the gluten free base, but after having had a bad experience with gluten-free pizza’s before I decided to go for the real deal..

 

VEGETARIAN 10″ WITH VEGAN CHEESE PLEASE!!

As I licked my lips and swallowed the access saliva in my mouth, I patiently waited for the guys to make it in front of us whilst I snapped away with my camera, taking pictures of one of the workers who was showing off by flipping it up in the air and checking if I got the perfect shot… I just wanted him to get on with it and make the damn thing!

The place is bright, with cute pots of fresh basil dotted around making it seem less of a take-away place and adding to the ‘freshness’ ethos. There is a huge orange wood fire oven in the middle with an open space worktop where they have all the toppings and then there is a big tiled space which is not really taken up by anything other than empty pizza boxes.

Fast forward to me opening the box. The pizza was full of colour and smelled a bit different but it was down to the vegan cheese that didn’t taste any different to normal cheese actually. The pizza was had a thin, Italian base with just the right amount of tomato sauce and big chunks of grilled sweet red pepper, grilled aubergine, red onion, grilled courgette and vegan cheese all beautifully cooked to perfection with crispy ends, bellisimmo!

I folded the four slices, tucking in the ingredients’ in not a very lady like manner, slice by slice, mouthful by mouthful, I enjoyed every bite. I thoroughly enjoyed it being the perfect balance between good and bad, crispy and doughy, crust and toppings. It goes without saying that I demolished it all whilst praising the man who had created pizza, and the man who introduced me to this place.

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