Bloggers Recommend: Kat from The Purple Page on Ireland’s best pizza

Our Bloggers Recommend series continues with some great tips from Kat, of new food blog The Purple Page, on where to get the best pizzas .

About the Purple Page

Kat says: I started The Purple Page because I love hearing about all the creativity and positivity that is happening in Ireland with so many wonderful foods and food related events on offer and I wanted to share it with others. I also love to cook and bake so there are a few recipes in there which celebrate Irish food. It’s a blog filled with a little cooking, mostly baking and lots of eating!

Blog: thepurplepageireland.blogspot.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/The-Purple-Page
Twitter: @ThePurplePage1

Kat’s Favourite Cheap Eats

Anyone who knows me well will know that I have a slight obsession with pizza! I fell in love with proper pizza the day I moved to Italy. The thin bases covered with the most amazing toppings were a revelation to a 19 year old who up until then was used to eating the ones that came out of boxes. So on moving back to Dublin I was constantly on the lookout for great pizza places. Recently there has been bad press about pizzas and their calorie, salt and saturated fat content. Yet there is nothing as tasty as a proper thin base pizza cooked in a wood – fired oven and topped with the freshest ingredients a chef can find. I don’t know the calorie content but I’m sure these thin based pizzas are as good for you as anything else you might eat out in a restaurant.

These days I have a number of favourite places to go in Ireland that fulfill my pizza cravings. They aren’t all wood–fired pizzerias but they all do delicious pizza!

Dublin

Skinflint is all about the pizza, that’s all it serves and it does it oh so well.  Skinflint has not gone for the standard pizza combinations, so no ham and pineapple if that’s what you’re into. When I was there I ordered myself an Eithne, which was covered in butternut squash, capers and ricotta while he got a Grainne; an amazing combination of bacon and celeriac. The pizzas are grilled so they are thin and crispy and perfect for sharing. They also have a chill honey which they are fermenting themselves that you can dip your pizza into. While this may sound odd it was surprisingly delicious and we were wishing we could have brought some home.  If you would like to see the other delicious pizza combinations on offer at Skinflint have a look at their website. It also tells you how you can eat for free – they are offering a free meal for 2 people on the half hour of every hour so get following Skinflint on Twitter. It’s the ultimate cheap eat!

Dave’s Wood-Fired Pizza Company

Dave’s Wood – Fired Pizza Company now has a home at the Speak Easy Bar and Cafe.  On my last visit there the place was packed and it was obvious why – for only a tenner you can get a delicious pizza and a pint/glass of wine and sit down and eat in a great venue. The menu isn’t huge but there is something for everyone on it including a weekly special, which when we ordered it included toppings of mozzarella, roasted red peppers and goats cheese. The venue has live djs, a really casual laid back atmosphere and you can go there for just drinks or just pizza – the staff don’t seem to mind. Though I would happily bet that no one leaves that place without having tried at least one pizza!

Manifesto

Based in Rathmines, this Italian restaurant offers more than just pizza with pasta and meat dishes completing the menu.  Here though, pizza is the star. As soon as you walk in you are greeted by the big wood–fired oven and given small pieces of salted and herby pizza bread which leave you wanting more. There is an extensive pizza menu with two of their pizzas having won medals as the best pizza in Ireland and the world. Grand claims but as one of my favourite places I can see why. According to my Italian colleague it is due to the way they throw the dough that makes them taste so good!

Sligo

Bistro Bianconi has without doubt the largest pizza menu I have ever seen. It is at the higher end of the  pizza price scale with prices for one being round the 18 euro mark but you won’t need to order any starters or dessert after eating one of these! You can have it Italian style which includes all the old favourites such as the Margarita, Quattro Formaggi and the Hawaiian along with a few new ones such as the Aussie and BBQ Chicken. Then come the Gourmet Pizzas – Brie & Pepperoni, Greek Feta and Salami, Carmelised Onion and Pesto; the list goes on. Basically whatever you have ever wanted on a pizza you will find here… bar banana pizza which only seems to exist on the continent!

If you don’t feel like going out but want to get a great wood-fired takeaway pizza

Base in Terenure and Ballsbridge, Dublin and the Oak Fire Pizzeria in Skibbereen, West Cork both do delicious takeaway pizzas and have good couples and family deals.

On my to eat list

I have heard wonderful things about these places but have never been before. I have it on good authority though that the pizza is wonderful and the prices won’t break the bank – Paulie’s Pizza in Dublin, Stolen Pizza in Kinsale and La Cucina in Limerick.

On my wish list

There is many an Italian restaurant and pizzeria around Ireland who offer doughy, stodgy inadequate pizzas. You don’t need a wood-fired oven to create great pizza (just take a look at Skinflint) but it does depend on the quality of toppings. Please don’t give me processed ham and cheese on top – if I wanted that I would buy a boxed, plastic wrapped pizza from a supermarket!