Pizza East, Portobello Road

Notting Hill is quickly becoming one of my favourite places in London. With quirky shops, restaurants, art and bars popping up in every direction you look. I especially love it at night, the street lighting makes me feel like I’m in some kind of film, all magical and twinkly and pretty…

As you can imagine I’m pretty excited for when the christmas lights get turned on…

Anyway, todays little hotspot is Pizza East located on Portobello Road, Notting Hill.

The nearest tube stops are Westbourne Park or Ladbroke Grove, but you can also hop off at Notting Hill Gate tube station, and have a 15-20 minute walk and nosey in the cute shops on your way to Pizza East.

We went on a Thursday night, and didn’t book ahead. It was quite busy but there were a few seat up at the Pizza counter. So if you go, may be best to book a table to make sure you don’t miss out.

But honestly, I thought they were the best seats in the house…
I just hate missing out on the action…

We had a quick browse through the menu, but the overwhemling smell coming from the ovens in front of us forced to make a quick decision.

To keep us going whilst we waited for out pizzas to cook, we shared some Garlic Bread. (£4)

I’ve never seen garlic bread flaunt such a wonderful shade of green…

…Personally I love my garlic bread really, you know… garlicy, otherwise i’d have just ordered bread.

So I was more than impressed by the garlic generosity this particular garlic bread had to offer.

Juicy, tangy and warm straight out of the oven… YUM.

I think I may have enjoyed that a little?

By this time we were starting to realise why the only spare seats were at the pizza counter- it was getting a little warm.

But at least from first hand observation you have confidence that the pizzas aren’t shoved into the oven straight from the freezer!

Taking extra special care over our pizzas- obviously needed all 3 of them to make sure it was perfect…

‘Is this one ours?’ Nope.

‘Is this one ours?’ Um… Nope.

‘What about this one?’

BOOM.

Pizza is served.

My friend went for the:

Spicy sausage, Mozzarella + Broccoli pizza. (£12)

Whilst I went for the:

Portobello mushrooms, tomato, fontina (tangy type of Italian cheese) + oregano. (£9)

Verdict?

I love ‘propa’ oven pizzas. The crispy, slightly charred pizza edge combined with the fresh, juiciness of the toppings perfectly compliment eachother. Whilst I had never tried fontina cheese, it perfectly complimented the portobello mushrooms so mine was a winner.

I had a cheeky taste of my friends, and i found the same with the brocolli and sausage combo – it just worked. I would note that we definitely needed to order extra water to wash down the spice from the sausage. (I am particularly spice sensitive though).

Considering I was HUNGRY when we arrived, I got half way through my pizza and was starting to struggle. So next time i would probably share a pizza and starter between us. And if it just so happened i still had some room, well, perfect. Because I’m sure their Salted chocolate caramel tart or Pear Pannacotta would go down perfectly…

Anyway, it was a very fairly priced meal, the staff were really friendly and the atmosphere was ‘as casual as you like’. So perfect to head over with a couple of girlfriends, treat your date or just for a yummy spot of lunch at the weekend.
(But if you want to sit up at the pizza counter make sure you are able to remove a few clothing layers for when it gets a bit heated).

They kindly boxed up the remains of my pizza to take home with me, and we headed home through the pretty lit streets.

I’m not sure why I’m about to take off and fly home in this photo but after all I am in a film…