Crisp

This is the pizza with all the buzz right now. Pick a restaurant-going Londoner at random for their favourite pizza, and chances are they'll point to Crisp. Set in a small pub a stone's throw from Hammersmith station (my back yard), the lines spill out of the front door on any given day. Texting or calling to book isn't essential, but it sure helps because the wait times can be pretty extensive. This is a place whose pizzas are very much in demand, as evidenced by the volume of people who post their pizza pics on Instagram with Crisp tagged in.

I visited on a sunny Saturday afternoon in August at 3pm, just as they were getting more walk-ins for the day. We pulled up a pew, ordered drinks and two 12-inch pizzas (they were all out of 16 inch), and waited a good 45 minutes for our pizzas to arrive.

They were very much worth the wait. Both the Margherita and Funghi pizzas we ordered had been drizzled with olive oil to finish, had a thin (but not wafer thin) base and crispy crusts that had been seemingly parkbaked with an oil coating. Normally I wouldn't go in for these types of crusts, but the pizzas were delicious front to back. Something of a modern take on the Neapolitan style, the evolution of the pizza is alive and well at Crisp. The herb and mayo dip that you can order on the side is also exceptional - full of flavour and depth. 

I don't want to say that this is necessarily my preferred pizza over the VBQ at Yard Sale, but as Yard Sale is NY style and this is a modern twist on the Neapolitan, I'd say you're well served by both establishments across these categories.

Go to Crisp! And be in pizza heaven.

Update April 5th, 2024:

There is no Friday lunch in Hammersmith better than than a trip to Crisp. If you can get a seat, that is. Fortunately, it wasn't that busy when I went, and I was able to chow down on the Vecna, a pie with pepperoni, hot honey drizzle and burrata. I actually prefer the two pizzas I had previously to this, but the consistency of the dough is in evidence once again. Still the pizza place to go to, next to Napoli on the Road.