Fish & chips, bacon & eggs, cookies and cream – and now pizzas and waffles according to Japes. Recently launched on Soho’s Dean Street, the idea for Japes came about after owners (and lovers!) Aleksandar Aleksic and Jovana Kostadinovic enjoyed a first date in a waffle house. As you do.We went along to try the winning combination…
Let’s start with the pizza. For a city that’s so obsessed with the stuff, there’s surprisingly little on offer in the infamous ‘Chicago’ style. Japes offer a choice of either deep-dish – where the pizza is baked in a deep pan giving it its characteristically high edge, leaving ample room for cheese. As well as the ‘pot-pie’ which to the uninitiated is made in a ramekin topped with dough and baked like a pie, before being upturned to reveal the cheesy mozzarella topping! Both of which mean a very healthy dose of cheese – hurrah!
Pizzas are just the right size for one, so we’d heartily recommend getting both styles to share, the classic ‘Chicago’ being our favourite, with pepperoni, mozzarella, parmesan and a rich tomato sauce. Having said that we’d like to try the ‘Carbonara’ with pancetta, garlic, mozzarella and parmesan – maybe next time. Veggies will appreciate the Green Queen which is a white-based pot pie with zucchini, broccoli, spinach, ricotta cheese and mozzarella. It’s like a breaded bowl of fondue – which quite frankly sounds marvellous doesn’t it?
Make room for dessert though – waffles are available in either half or full sizes and come with a big dollop of ice-cream, drizzled with sauce and fruit. Kids will love them! Less suitable for the kids are the hardshakes which are like a dessert in themselves. Much thinner than we are used to, these are based on classic cocktails like the Espresso Martini made with chocolate ice-cream, vodka and coffee liqueur and a Grasshopper made with mint ice-cream, vodka, cacao liqueur.
Slap bang in the heart of Soho, it’s a handy little spot to have up your sleeve.
