On our recent trip to Sydney, I finally got to visit the famous Gigi's Pizzeria and taste how amazing their vegan pizza can be. We turned up at 5.45pm, hoping for an early dinner, only to find that the restaurant did not open til 6pm and there was already a decent amount of people. I first heard of Gigi's Pizzeria when they decided to make the restaurant 100% vegan in 2015. It is amazing that 2 and a half years on, there still quite a buzz about the place.
Did I mention that they don't take bookings? I think this adds to the buzz of people queuing on the street. We felt quite special to get a table considering that there were a lot of people waiting. However we felt less special inside. We had a table at the back, it took a long time to be served and it was really noisy and dim. It was too noisy to chat the waiters and they did not hang around long because it was so busy.
It was not my finest restaurant experience. We were given peanuts in shells on the table but this did not help make the wait easier as Sylvia was a bit nervous about them, given her allergy, so I took them back to the counter. My friends ordered a salad each but an extra salad was brought out that we needed to take back. They enjoyed the salad though Martin needed more seasoning on his. As well it being very noisy for chatting, the meals were all brought out in stages. First the salads. Then my pizza. Finally Sylvia's pizza. And as if to emphasise that no exceptions were made for kids, we had one strange moment when two soft drinks had been served and the waiter stood with a soft drink and a wine looking from 9 year old Sylvia to Martin as if unsure who had what.
I wonder if we got a bad night or Gigi's gets away with such service because the pizzas are so good. Sylvia had the Marinara Tradizionale ($17) which had a fairly saucy topping of tomato, garlic, fresh oregano and extra virgin olive oil. Sylvia scrapped off most of the sauce. I was not a fan but I suspect it might appeal to those who like a tomato sandwich. The base was very good, though.
I swithered over which pizza to try. There were lots that appealed. Finally I chose the Cavolo ($22) with cauliflower puree, artichokes, pinenuts, capers, currants, garlic, parsley and extra virgin olive oil (photo at top of page). It was magnificent. It would be enough to convince me to go without cheese on pizzas, as the flavour was just lovely and the toppings were just right. The base like Sylvia's was lovely. Very thin in the middle and puffy and slightly charred on the edge. This pizza showed me why the place was so very busy. I would have loved to have tasted more pizzas but it could be some time until I am there again.
While we waited outside at the start of the night more people came and started queuing around the side of the building. When Sylvia and I came out, our friends having rushed off to catch their bus (that was replacing the train), we walked around the corner and looked at the street art. Newtown is the sort of place for street art. Lots of cafes and bustle and happening. Here is a sample of the art on the wall of Gigi's.
Read more about my recent
Sydney visit.
Gigi's Pizzeria
379 King Street
Newtown NSW 2042
Phone: 02 9557 2224
Operning: 6pm-10.30pm Mon-Sun
www.gigipizzeria.com.au
I do love the pizza at Gigi's but gosh it's hard to hear yourself think in that place! Their tiramisu is also incredible and those potato croquettes covered in slivered almonds, now that is the stuff of dreams
ReplyDeleteThe pizzas sound pretty amazing and the art looks great, too! So fun!
ReplyDeleteThe pizzas there are great. I still love a diavola but would happily eat a Gigi's pizza too.
ReplyDeleteI like you honesty Johanna and wonder if your right that they can get away with such service because the vegan pizzas are in demand. Your experience reminded me of when we went to Terre Terre in Brighton and we also felt less special inside as we had to ask to be moved twice as the seats they gave us were terrible, first was by the reception where people were lining up to get in and the second time was by the clattering of kitchen noise, where the staff bumped into us as the walked in and out of the kitchen. we eventually got moved again. The food was good, but it was really noisy and dim. Enjoyed looking at the art. PS I may be the exception here, but vegan or vegetarian pizzas don't get me that excited.
ReplyDeleteYou'd think given they'd cracked all the hard parts of opening a vegan pizzeria (making nice pizza, getting all customers in), they could manage the relatively easy bit of offering good service as well. What a shame they couldn't pull it all together.
ReplyDeleteI love the wall art, especially the first floral one. Shame about the service - if Ihad queued I would expect better, even though it was busy.
ReplyDeleteAh, I'm sorry to hear you didn't have a more comfortable experience at Gigi! It is busy and loud, and I've not put the 'kid-friendly' part to the test as you did. At least we have common positive experiences of the cavolo pizza. :)
ReplyDeleteBringing a child's pizza out last does seem particularly badly thought out. It sounds like the pizzas made the service worth it but perhaps only just!
ReplyDelete