Yard Sale Pizza - Hoxton
This branch of Yard Sale Pizza is so new that I caught them in their 'soft launch' week, where the walls, the staff and the customers were fresh faced and enthusiastic. There are 4 other branches already; Finsbury Park, Walthamstow, Clapton and Leytonstone.
This branch feels more like a take-away place than a diner, the main reason for this is there isn't much seating upstairs, minimal decor and feels exposed because there is so much window. The Finsbury Park branch feels bigger and more intimate, This branch does have seating downstairs though which I didn't venture to.
The cool graffiti/van view outside is so hackney, love it!
There is only one pizza on the menu that is totally vegan, but they have the option to swap their normal cheese for vegan cheese so I've included all veggie pizzas in the following list. Continuing in the spirit of being accommodating to dietary requirements, they also offer gluten free pizza bases!
Vegan Options:
TEXAS VBQ PIZZA
This isn't chicken nuggets, homemade BBQ sauce, sweetcorn, red onion, guindilla chillies, and 'Holy f*ck vegan mayo'
*VEGAN ON REQUEST* MARGHERITA PIZZA
with olive oil and fresh basil leaves
*VEGAN ON REQUEST* TSB PIZZA
tender stem broccoli, pine nuts, garlic and olive oil
*VEGAN ON REQUEST* THE AUBERGINE PIZZA
Garlic roasted aubergine and fresh basil
*VEGAN ON REQUEST* OOH MAMA
Guindilla chillies, peppadew peppers, and rocket
I wanted to try out the pizza that was inherently vegan so went for the 'Texas VBQ'.
This was an incredibly good pizza. The base was cooked to absolute perfection, the BBQ sauce base and vegan mayo topping were unreal, both contributing to a spicy, tangy and absolutely delicious pizza. There's no vegan cheese on this one and I actually prefer it this way, the mayo on the top makes it juicy and moist and the cheese would just drown out those flavours. There was a good amount of veg on the pizza and all of it was amazing.
Personally I don't really like vegan pizzas with artificial meat on them. I don't think it adds much and I resent the addition of something so processed. I would definitely order this pizza again but I would ask them to remove the vegan chicken strips.
Even though it wasn't on this trip (or at this branch), since I've had their 'Aubergine Pizza' before, and since it's still on the menu, I'm also going to share that with you...
The aubergine on this pizza was so well cooked that it was like a pizza-parmigiana combo, the basil was fresh and the vegan cheese they used was so good. I find some vegan cheeses have a bit of a weird aftertaste, not this one!
It would be a close call as to which of these I prefer and would order again. I honestly think I would go half and half with the two, without the chicken strips, and probably opt for a takeaway next time, unless it was a quick bite with friends after a night out.
One thing I most definitely was not a fan of was that although they gave me a pizza cutter so that I could slice up the pizza, they had disposable cutlery on the table! I always think it is a bit of a shame to see, especially when they're clearly washing up plates and pizza cutters.
Staff were bouncy, enthusiastic and friendly, it was their soft launch and I wouldn't expect them to be anything else, I'm sure once the excitement dies off a bit things might change but I can only judge on what I saw!
The 12 inch 'Texas VBQ Pizza' was priced at £11 which is pretty standard, although I was lucky and got in there whilst they were offering 50% off to everyone in their opening week.
Overall Ratings:
Staff: 5/5
Setting: 2/5
Taste: 5/5
Presentation: 5/5
Value for money: 4/5
Address: 184 Hackney Road, London, E2 7QL
As always these posts are based on places I've listed on www.myveganradar.com - The London Vegan Food Map based on tube stop.