Review of 'Mod Pizza (NOW CLOSED)'

Mod Pizza only just recently jumped across the pond to land in England so when I tried a free sample (or, ok, several samples) of their pizza after they first opened just to the south-east of Leicester Square (near the Wagamama's) I was determined to come back and give it a more through try-out. The other night we decided to give them a try particularly drawn by their promise of being “superfast” given that we had a film to get to on the other side of Leicester Square in less than an hour.

The concept is quite simple: There are a number of pizzas and a couple of salads on offer all at the same price, £7.87 for 11“ pizzas and regular salads, though there is a smaller and larger sized pizza (“for sharing”) available. Assuming you are interested in the pizza (!), there are an assortment of specific pizzas you can chose from or make your own by selecting from any of the “30+” toppings on offer. They, of course, offer takeway but if you are eating in they take your order on a sheet of parchment paper that serves as the eventual cooking base for the pizza then you pay and they bring it out to you wherever you are seated using a nifty homing device:

The restaurant is quite spacious but a lot bigger than you might expect when you look inside with outside, upstairs and basement seating areas. The wood floors, brick walls with simple tables and bar stools keep the place quite sleek and cool looking.

We decided to both try the “Mad Dog” (red sauce, mozzarella, pepperoni, mild sausage, and ground beef) which we ordered from an open-plan kitchen/bar area (much like a subway). The drinks are what you might expect, no alcohol with self-serve fountain drinks, tins and bottles though they also serve milkshakes. We picked from a few tins and took our bit of tech to a table to await our delivery. 5-10 minutes later it arrived piping hot and dropped on our table by a smiling and enthusiastic server who asked if we wanted any dipping sauces which included the normal suspects such as barbecue and mayonnaise but also a few others including pesto and ranch dressing (we picked the later two).

The pizza was a good size with not too many toppings with a delicious thin, crunchy crust that was not soggy in any way (helped by the fact that the toppings were not only thinly applied but also not very wet).

It was really quite tasty, probably one of the best pizzas I have had (so far) in London and, at just over £20 (including our drinks) for the two of us, quite a bargain to boot.

Looking quite satisfied we attracted the attention of some of the staff and one got to talking with us and offered a free sample of one of their deserts for us to try, their “Sweet Strips” - A pizza base covered with a cinnamon topping, cut into strips then baked in the oven. Little did we know our “sample” was the full sized desert (£2.87) and was brought to our table with all of the dipping sauces they offer for it - Chocolate, strawberry and “cinnamon glaze”. Hurrah! We both agreed the “cinnamon glaze” was the best though extremely thick and difficult to scoop up with the strips. The strawberry was wonderfully not a sickly sweet jam but more of a thick puree. The chocolate was the most disappointing - Thin, ultra sweet and not the rich dark chocolate I would have preferred. The strips and dips were very good indeed - Quite a pleasant and welcome free surprise!

Very satisfied we left in plenty of time for our film and made sure to thank the staff as we left…

Inexpensive, delicious pizza in the heart of the west end with spacious seating and wonderful staff. All of these quite rare commodities in the area. Definitely recommended.

Rating: “Nearly perfect, but not quite”

Review Date: 2017-04-06


Cuisine: Pizza

Address: 17-18 Irving St, London WC2H 7AT ENGLAND

Public Transport: TUBE Leicester Square

Location: London (England) - Soho

Map:

 

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Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7839 2714

URL: https://modpizza.co.uk/