What a way to go aye. We can certainly think of worse things. To say we live for pizza is truly no exaggeration, so we were more than a little intrigued to try Death by Pizza – a wood-fired, traditional pizza joint that’s – wait for it – completely vegan.
Founders Marco and Carla Casadei have previous when it comes to opening unexpectedly vegan restaurants – the first being Young Vegans Pie Shop in Camden. Now they’ve set their sights on Hackney (the vegan capital of the world, surely?), in particular the foodie mecca that is Netil Market. We were lucky enough to be within Deliveroo’s 1-mile radius, so got into our PJs and let the good times come to us.
Firstly, the dough is chewy with those delicious charred air bubbles you only get from a hand-made, wood-fired pizza. The tomato sauce which comes next is a traditional, top secret, family marinara recipe and on top of that comes the banging toppings. The ‘cheese’ is all made in house – we tried the vegan ricotta on their ‘Holy Ghost’, along with red onions, spinach, vegan mozzarella, marinara sauce and oregano and were mightily impressed. Meanwhile, our favourite – the ‘Devils Coglioni’ – is loaded with double pepperoni, loads of vegan mozzarella and basil on a tomato base. We’ve no idea how they make seitan taste SO much like pepperoni but jeez louise it’s good. And don’t even get us started on the vegan garlic mayo – it’s what crusts were made for.
Look out for collaborations as well – the ‘Smokehouse’ with smoked mushrooms, capers & pine nut puree – was originally intended to be a limited edition with Andrew Dargue, chef/founder at vegan restaurant Vanilla Black. However it was so damn popular, it’s now a permanent fixture on the menu.
Just when you think that’s your lot – BOOM – the peanut butter and chocolate mud pie swoops in to put you well and truly into a happy food coma.
You know we’re not vegan ourselves but we would LOVE to eat this meal again and will 100% be seeking it out next time we’re at the market.
Opening Times
Thurs-Sun: Midday-10pm
Find out more here: youngveganspizzashop.com
