Pizza : Say "NO" to soggy bottoms

Capriciosa at Scopa , Wellington, NZ

I am a massive Pizza snob. I can't stand those thick bread based, processed meat feast horrors, with pineapple toppings and crusts injected with artery hardening processed cheese! No thank you! However, it is my guilty secret shame that given an Italian thin crusted number with just a few delicious toppings, I will fall head over heels and eat the whole thing before you have had a chance to order.. You know how Miss Piggy said 'never eat anything bigger than your head?" Well it does not apply to a proper wood fired thin base pizza!

It really is NOT diet food and I only allow myself to have one maybe once a month depending on whether I have somewhere good to try. I have eaten Pizza's around the world and I have my top 5 places:

1. La Marina, Trois Ilets, Martinique: I had the thinnest crispy based pizza with an unusual sprinkle of parsley, garlic and olive oil crushed together over my pizza and it was heavenly! This was during my honey moon and will be forever remembered as the best pizza I ever had... Sigh!

2. Scopa, Cuba St, Wellington, New Zealand: [Picture above and below] One of the best pizza joints I have been to, with a group of friends - thin crust, good quality Italian gourmet ingredients!

Salami and red peppers

3. Al Parco, Parliament Hill, Highgate: This tiny family run Italian place is always packed and has the best thin crust options. I used to frequent this place before I got married and it was my favourite hangover cure on a Sunday - ahhh memories...they used to have these pickled mushroom they used along side artichoke hearts - they were delicious!

4. The Duck, Battersea Rise, Clapham Junction: This pub has a wood fired oven and the chefs make individual pizza's to order about the size of your head - maybe a little bit bigger] for next to nothing - great deals are on offer [like Pizza and a glass of red/beer for under a tenner] especially when the Rugby is on the big screen. Needless to say thin crispy crusts prevail!

5. .. Well Number 5 spot on my top 5 is still open ..It was going to be D.O.C. in Melbourne but my last visit there was ruined by yet another soggy bottomed pizza.. Then I was advised that Franco Manco in Brixton, London was the best  [I have yet to make it down there on a Saturday before midday to queue up for the pleasure] and the other spot was Sting Rays in the East End of London ... but to be honest I am still looking...

In HK I was told 208 Deucento Otto was the best pizza in town - so I went to check it out:

We went in the evening when it was full of beautiful people and the bar was pumping. We were given seats outside which is okay as you get some air con blasting out and there are fans but it is not great being near the constant flow of traffic and fumes! The pizza menu is short and sweet and it boasts that all their pizzas come with buffalo mozarella. I must say the toppings were fantastic quality ingredients and divine BUT both pizzas we shared had SOGGY BOTTOMS! I hate that! It feels like eating wet paper with glue - what a disappointment! So my verdict for 208 is Pizza: 3/5 Service 4/5 Total: 7/10

Proscuitto e Funghi

Diavolo

left over soggy base - ate all the gorgeous toppings!

The next week I was walking down past 208 further down Hollywood road and I spied some impossibly thin women sharing [shock! horror!] an impossibly thin based pizza at Classifieds. This is a stylish ex-pat hang out well known for cheese, cheese and wine tasting classes and fabulous brunch/lunch. So I decide to give them a go and I was pleasantly surprised that they had the all important thin crispy base! No soggy bottoms here! However the toppings were not really Italian [leant more towards the French/English] and they used Mozarella made of Cow's milk not Buffalo - but maybe that's why their bases were still crunchy? Who knows! All I know is that Classified won hands down... Pizza 4/5 service 4/5 Total: 8/10

Spice Lover's Heaven

Classifieds is a great place to hang out for brekkie on the weekends and they bake really fresh yummy seeded breads on site that you can buy and take home.

Eggs Benedict

Poached egg on chorizo and beans

They have a extensive [expensive] wine list and an even longer cheese list!

NZ Pinot Noir and a Spanish Manchego - You can't beat that!

 If you know of somewhere I could go to have the best thin crust Italian pizza please let me know! I would very much like to have my top 5 list completed! It can only be somewhere I can give a 10/10!