Gigi’s Pizza Shop opened its doors at the start of the month, and can be found on Old Market Street – right next door to its sister restaurant, Grano. The newest venture by owners Rapha and Alberto, the brand new eatery is serving up 12″ and 18″ pizzas, either whole or by the slice – for dine-in or takeaway.
So, during a busy Friday in the office, we thought we’d take a lunchbreak trip to the brand new shop and test out some of what it has on offer. Walking down the street, we could already smell the pizza oven, wafts of delicious freshly made pizzas were leading us straight to the door.
Inside, the two-person team on the day – Dol and Rapha – welcomed us with beaming smiles, as they served other diners who were either getting food to take away, or eat in at one of the wooden tables in the shop. We took a long look at both the menu on the wall, as well as the fresh pizzas coming out of the oven, and settled on sharing a pizza between the two of us – and we went for a half-and-half option, splitting two different toppings from the menu across one pizza.
We chose the Cacio e Pepe (pecorino, parmesan, mozzarella and black pepper), and the Vodka Pizza (creamy tomato vodka sauce, mozzarella, basil and parmesan) and paired this with a Mexican cola for me and a Peach Iced Tea for my dining partner. The pizza was priced at £15, while the drinks were £3 and £4 each, respectively. Not bad for a working lunch.
While we waited for our pizza to be cooked, we took a seat at one of the tables and admired the lights (and official Gigi’s Pizza Shop t-shirt) hanging from the ceiling, as well as the artwork on walls. Funky music was playing through the speakers, and the shop was abuzz as new diners popped by to order their lunch. There was a real atmosphere about the place, which is great to see for a recent opening in the area.
It’s worth noting that the shop itself is a small space, and at busier periods seating could fill up quickly, which makes the take-out option all the better. Our drinks were delivered to our table in no time – the Peach Iced Tea in a quirky Mason jar-esque glass with handle.
Our pizza was delivered to our table piping hot and looking (and smelling) delicious. Tucking in to share, we didn’t have side plates and simply made sure we had plenty of napkins to mop up any crumbs.
First bite of the Cacio e Pepe and we were already onto a success. Each mouthful was full of flavour, the cheese provided an ad-worthy cheese pull, and the base was super thin, crispy and simply wonderfully cooked.
The Cacio e Pepe flavour as a whole was wonderfully decadent – the cheese was strong, but not overpowering, and balanced beautifully by the pepper. Next slice, I went for the Vodka pizza – this one tasted like a beautifully rich and flavourful Vodka pasta sauce.
It was rich in tomato flavour that tasted rather luxurious, and the team didn’t scrimp on the topping. Yet even with all this beautiful sauce, the base remained lovely and crisp, with that pizza oven smokiness throughout.
It was truly delicious. And both halves went together perfectly – it was a true Italian treat for the taste buds. All in all, while not as New York-esque a pizza I have ever had, it was a delicious lunch – not too filling, yet also extremely satisfying. I will definitely be back for another pizza lunch sometime soon.