Who doesn’t love pizza? I dare you to speak up. That’s right, we all love it, and would journey out of our way to get it; just as I did when I travelled to the newly opened Leytonstone branch of Yard Sale Pizza.
The Venue & Atmosphere
From humble beginnings (a backyard pizza oven in the middle of Hackney to be precise), Yard Sale Pizza has grown to be 3 sites east of the river with another in Finsbury Park, feeding the locals stone-baked goodies 7 days a week. So, what could their new site possibly offer?
The decor is a loud and proud mish-mash of chequered flooring, crystal blue formica tables and turquoise walls, dotted with fresh green foliage. It’s retro Miami Beach meets casual chic, with just enough room for 4 tables and some high top seating along the wall. Owed to the size of the space, we were perched relatively near to the open pizza oven; there’s something all too nice about being able to see your pizza being lovingly baked, bubbling away in the corner as you grow ever hungry.
There's a casual yet cool approach to dining at Yard Sale.
The Pizza
Small doesn’t enter the equation at YSP, where even the olives aren’t discreet. The 12” or 18” stone baked dough (gluten free options available) is topped with your chosen mix of ingredients, with 8 options available. What I’d suggest, if your fellow diner agrees, is to split a large 18” pizza with differing flavours on each half.
Both keen carnivores, we decided on 50% off the pizza covered by their Harlamb Shake (part chosen purely on name) but also due to my love of harissa - this is a mix of Harissa lamb, guindilla chillies, goats cheese & red onion with fresh mint yoghurt dressing (£10.50). This we decided to split with another half of ‘Salsiccia E Friarielli’, an Italian wild broccoli marinated in garlic and chilli oil, fennel sausage, chilli flakes & mozzarella (£10). Sliding right in between us, it was a sight to behold. The crisp, bubbling crusts circled an abundance of heavenly toppings that were both smart, and complimentary - it lived up to how pizza should make you feel: like home.
If you have room for dessert, you should ultimately go for the Brownie with Nonna Gelato (£5.5), with the salted toffee apple gelato being a unique flavour that you really cannot ignore. The braver among you might go for one of the Ice Cream Sandwiches (£4.25) - yes, they went there.
Splitting a pizza seemed like the only smart thing to do at YSP.
Summary
Whether on your own and looking for a quickie, or hunkering down for an evening with friends, sometimes all we want is easy, no fuss, good quality food; Yard Sale Pizza showed that they can easily be the destination for just that.
