I am quite a proponent of solo dining – you get to eat where you want to eat, when you want to eat, without having to share, so when I was asked if I would take part in a solo dining challenge with Pizza Union I was quite happy to say yes.
Planning ahead I had a feeling pizza would be just what I might be craving on a Sunday so I was booked in at the new(ish) Aldgate branch of Pizza Union. (Very close to an existing branch in Spitalfields). Normally, this is not the kind of place you need to book – their MO is superfast pizza, and they have quite big spaces so you can just rock up.
And their pizzas are ready incredibly quickly, which is just what you want if you’re dining alone most of the time. Chances are you’re just grabbing a bite to eat on your way to somewhere else, or, you might not want the world to see what a sad, lonely person you are, so you want to minimize the time you spend in there.
I don’t care about this last bit but was I starving so the rapidity was appreciated. I had ordered the Calabria – spicy nduje and mascarpone with rocket. It was pretty good, especially the first few slices when it was fresh out the oven. They manage to cook it so quickly because the base is superthin. For me, the mascarpone was a bit too creamy, not enough tang, but the nduja was generously dolloped on and I really enjoyed the peppery rocket leaves.
Unfortunately, as the pizza began to cool, the dough, being as thin as it is, does become a bit cardboardy!
I still wolfed the whole thing, and enjoyed my surroundings. The place is spacious and they play chilled music in the background, and most importantly for the solo diner, you don’t feel like an oddball eating alone. In fact there were even several OTHER solo diners around me! #solidarity
I was then treated to this gorgeous doughy Nutella creation which was a bit of a struggle to eat after that whole pizza (they are an ideal size for one but not if you’re planning on dessert straight after). I don’t even really like Nutella but this warm ring of dough, oozing its chocolatey and cream goodness out of it was pretty special.
