Last TGIF called for pizza. Having frequently raved about Homeslice and promising some of my work friends that I would introduce them to the holy grail, there seemed to be no time like the present last Friday evening (despite that work was hosting a pizza party of its own… but it was of the inferior Papa John’s kind).

We hopped in a (painfully slow) Uber and made our way across town, arriving on Homeslice’s front steps at just gone 8pm. Then came the blow. We were looking at minimum of a 2-hour wait to get stuck in to the circles from heaven. But surrounded by the doughy delight and diners experiencing food ecstasy, it was impossible to say no.

Since I have already reviewed Homeslice and not an iota has changed with regards to the service & ambience (in other words, it’s still pretty epic), I’m not going to detail those categories again. However, I will still share our delicious and slightly ridiculous evening with you and, of course, make good mention of the food.

So work drinks had started at 5pm. It was now 8pm, and somehow we had come away armed with two bottles of what looked suspiciously a lot like unopened bottles of wine. What better way to spend two hours waiting for food than to crack them open and get stuck in? It was a lovely, fresh summer’s evening and I can assure you that Neal’s Yard isn’t the worst place to spend time drinking with friends. By the time the clock had ticked round to 10pm we had successfully managed to finish both bottles; befriended strangers and eaten the last slice of their pizza; (most probably) irritated the lovely staff with persistent pestering of when we would be fed (although that one was all me); and taken one too many selfies. But, we were happy.

Very happy.

And then, finally, it was time.

We sat down and ordered immediately, having had 2 hours to mull over the menu.

As mentioned in my previous review, my favourite thing about Homeslice is their topping combos; they’re so unique yet somehow all still taste bloody fantastic paired with the super thin, sloppy base and most amazing crust ever. (Yes, I like Homeslice.) Whilst we waited for our pizzas to arrive we set about helping ourselves to the magnum of red wine.

OK, so I wouldn’t advise doing that. We understandably had to pay for the whole bottle… Whoops. (All I can say in my defence is that litres of wine had been consumed by this point.)

Food: We ordered two 20” pizzas (£20.00 each); one with goat shoulder with savoy cabbage & sumac yoghurt, and one with split toppings of half anchovy, caramelized onions & kalamata olives, and the other half braised brisket with pickles on a BBQ base.

The goat shoulder with savoy cabbage & sumac yoghurt absolutely took the biscuit for me. Having had almost the exact same topping when I visited to write my first review, I knew that it would not disappoint. And that it most definitely did not.

The chunks of meaty, tender goat shoulder melted in the mouth, whilst the sumac yoghurt added a tangy creaminess, which complemented each other beautifully. Although I will say that I preferred the previous inclusion of kale to cabbage, as it added an earthy flavour and little bites of crispiness. But still, exquisite.

The anchovy, caramelized onions & kalamata olives topping was an equally great hit, achieving salty, sweet & sour notes on pizza, which I think we can all agree is no mean feat. I perhaps thought the olives a tad overpowering in flavour, but on the other hand that is simply testimony to their freshness.

As for the other half of braised brisket with pickles on a BBQ base, this was an error in judgment on my behalf as; firstly, I’m not actually a fan of BBQ sauce, and am a classic Napolitano sauce worshipper, so the odds were already against it ever winning my heart; secondly, the brisket had no discernable depth of flavour, but then it would have needed to have been smoked for days, so I guess it should have been fairly obvious that it was never going to and; thirdly, the pickles were bland with no sharpness and way too thick-cut, reminding me more of celery than anything else. Still, it wasn’t bad (particularly when doused in their super fiery chili oil). It just definitely wasn’t my favourite.

Just because it was late, we were very drunk, greedy, and the pizzas at Homeslice are devastatingly moreish, we decided to clean them out of house & home and finish off the last of their pre-cut slices before they locked up for the night. We therefore shared one slice of salami, rocket & parmesan (£4.00), and one slice of courgette & artichoke (£4.00).

The salami, rocket & parmesan was by far the superior of the two. Having generally steered away from this option on my numerous visits to Homeslice on the basis that it was too safe, I stand corrected in that simplicity is sometimes the key. This was not a slice of your average pepperoni pizza, but rather a taste of incredibly flavoursome & succulent meaty circles, with crisped edges that added delightful texture. The rocket was nicely peppery and the parmesan added a sharp & nutty flavour. It was utterly beautiful and a close second to the goat shoulder for me.

The courgette & artichoke combo was nice enough. The courgette still had a slight bite and provided sweetness whilst the artichoke added juicy sourness. Overall I found it a little bland but I’m not a veggie and I do like meat on my pizza. As far as vegetarian pizzas are concerned though, I really think that the inclusion of aubergine is the way forward.

In short, the 2-hour wait was most definitely a pain but it was most definitely worth it. I think the moral of the story is to arrive before 7pm, and try not to drink an ocean of wine before your meal. The pizzas (& staff) are divine and you won’t regret it.

Price: The total bill for 4 people was £103.50 for 2 20” pizzas, 2 slices of pizza… and a magnum of red wine. Considering this bill could quite easily have been halved for the 4 of us, Homeslice is an incredibly affordable place for a wonderful meal. (I really think that I should be earning commission for this post…). Anyway, I hope you love it as much as me. I’m sure you will!

9/10