The Atmosphere
On arrival, it is clear where the restaurant’s name derives from, as the pizzeria is located underground in a large and stylish space, which looks to have taken inspiration from a cross of German and French cellar bars. It has a very authentic feel to it, which makes you feel as though you aren’t even in Leeds anymore, but instead could be in another part of Europe.
On entry, you are faced with a welcoming and cosy bar, manned by an extremely friendly barman offering great service, and banter! After choosing from the large selection of lagers and cask ales available (from which we chose Moretti and Peroni), we were then shown to our seats in the corner of the room, offering a full view of the restaurant.
The atmosphere was very calm and collected, as well as being very cultured and authentic. The lighting was dim, with a large selection of candles being used to light up the tables. The interior brickwork gives it a stylish, yet old school, feel and the walls are painted a luxurious red, with cream beams running through the main structure. All this is complemented by the contemporary artwork, which again supports the authenticity of the pizzeria. Both the chairs and the large tables are made of rustic wood, and the music being played was calm and relaxing. All in all, the ambience was perfect for a chilled out meal with friends, or even a date with your partner.
The Food
When we were seated a range of breadsticks, dips, sauces, and olives were there ready for us to nibble on while we decided what we wanted to eat (which was great as we were starving). The menu looked delicious, and the prices were fairly reasonable too. There was almost too much of a selection to just pick one each, so we opted for pizza platters to share.
Whilst it wasn’t what we expected in terms of a platter of different pizzas, the waiters did offer us single pizzas on a continuous basis. The service was a little slow between each pizza, but we felt this was done in order for us to relax and enjoy our drinks. however ssome of the more hungry members of the group were dissapointed with the timing of the service, then advise not to opt for that option if they want quick pizza.”. On average the wait for each pizza was around 15 minutes. It is worth noting that if you are looking for a quick sit down meal, do not opt for the apperativo service, as this form of eating is very much based on taking your time whilst eating and enjoying a drink between courses.
We opted for 6 pizzas in all, which left us extremely satisfied by the time we left. The first pizza we went for was the El Bastardo:
The pizza was delicious. It was bursting with flavour, both meaty from the salami and pepperoni, as well as spicy due to the jalapenos, chilli flakes and bell peppers. The base of the pizza is exactly what you would expect from a traditional italian restaurant, light, thin and crispy dough, but with a little stodge in the middle.
Once we finished this off, which didn’t take long, we straight away ordered our next pizza, which was the Hickory Pig! On arrival, we could immediately smell the barbecue sauce and the sweetness of the pork.
This was voted as the favourite by the vast majority of the group, and it was no surprise. Each of the ingredients on the pizza perfectly complemented each other, with the barbecue sauce soaking into the warm melted cheese!
Once this was demolished, we thought we would be brave and try the chef’s special, which he had named ‘The Widow Maker’. A few members of the group are fans of hot and spicy food, but even they fell victim to the sheer spice!
You can see from the picture that the topping was filled with spicy ingredients, including jalapenos, chiliflakes and other spicy peppers, however it was the sauce that was the killer! Habanero peppers were crushed and mashed with a tomato base and then smeared all over the base of the pizza. On a spice scale of 1-10, this came in at 50! The staff were brilliant at this point, and created a lot of conversation and friendly banter while we attempted to devour this monster, which made the experience even more fun. We couldn’t finish it, but it would make a great challenge if you think you’re up to it.
After a ten minute cool down session from the Widow Maker, we continued with our pizza journey. The following three pizzas were the Currywurst, which consisted of a beautiful blend of german sausage and sweet curry sauce, the Swiss Toni, which included delicious veal meatballs, pancetta and swiss cheese, and finally we ended the night with a Carni, consisting of pepperoni, pancetta, spicy sausage and bolognese sauce.
All in all the night was fantastic, the service was friendly and entertaining, and although there was a little wait between the pizzas, it gave us time to enjoy the range of ales and take in the atmosphere. The pizza was second to none, some of the best we had ever tasted. Here are a few words from the group:
“Great pizza, a step away from the standard toppings you find in most restaurants which was nice to see. All the pizzas had traditional thin bases with good quality toppings. I would highly recommend Buca di Pizza, especially the Swiss Tony”
“Amazing selection of pizza and very delicious too. My favourite was the pulled pork with bbq sauce. Prices were affordable and the location is great, but it can easily be missed which is a shame because the pizza is amazing. All in all, a good place to eat pizza and would definitely recommend it to others.”
“By far the stand out pizza for me (and I think all at the table) was the Hickory Pig. I’m a fan of the thin, crispy base so you fill up more on the topping than stodgy bread. All the pizzas that came out were nice but the contrast of meaty pulled pork, salty pancetta and sweet BBQ sauce was amazing. Definitely one of my favourite pizzas ever!”