Street Food Pizzerias

Pizza is without doubt one of the UK’s favourite foods. Back in 2010 it was revealed that the UK spends £749 million a year on Pizza*, making it the nation’s most popular dish. Whether it’s from a local takeaway, gourmet pizza restaurant or a national chain, 90% of Britons eat pizza at least once a week.*

2012 is no exception… the popularity for pizza is well and truly alive on the streets, and Britain's street food movement is home to some great pizza. In fact, the Dorset based Jalopy Pizza took home Best Snack at The British Street Food Awards 2011.

 In London, there are three fantastic traders that I wanted to share with you. First up is the Pizza Pilgrims, who can be found at Berwick Street Market in Soho. Before ever selling a single pizza, they set off to Italy to do some serious research of the gourmet kind!  Once in Italy, these pizza lovers purchased the little 3-wheel Piaggio van and drove it across Italy, taste testing the best pizza that the country has to offer along the way.

And that research really shows in their pizzas, which are cooked in the gas fired oven in the back of their van using quality ingredients that the guys import from Italy - just delicious!

The second of London's great street food pizzerias is Homeslice, run by a few New Zealand expats. These pizza lovers sell by the slice, which is perfect for eating on the street. The pizza is cooked in their homemade wood fired oven on wheels, which guarantees you a nicely charred and perfectly crisp base.  

  

Homeslice are regulars at 'Eat.St at Kings Cross' and you can also find them on Saturdays in the London Fields School Yard, Hackney.  I can’t recommend these guys enough, as they are responsible for one my favourite street food meals of the last year.

Finally, we have a South London contender in the Well Kneaded Wagon, which can be found at various markets in the Battersea area. The Wagon serves what they call ‘firebreads’, which is basically just a fancy name for pizza. Their cute red and cream van (which I think might be one of my favourite looking vans in London) has its own clay pizza oven built in, so the pizza is made right in front of you in about two minutes.  They use a sourdough base and you can pick from a range of toppings, including beetroot, goats cheese and spinach, or chorizo, chilli and portobello mushrooms. They even cater for a sweet tooth with their maple syrup, apple and cinnamon firebread.

If you’re a pizza lover, and lets face it most of us are, then there’s definitely some exciting street food for you to try in London… And chances are you’ll enjoy it more than a trip to the local takeaway. 

* Metro 9th August 2010