Despite having spent the day stuffing our faces at Stylist Live, Lauren & I showed up to Pizza Union for our pizza feed bang on dinner time.

Pizza Union is the new kid on the block, but a popular one at that, serving super fast 12” pizza at incredibly low prices.

The dining space is casual and laid-back with a mismatch of ‘trendy’ décor; exposed brick walls; communal tables; low-hanging industrial lamps; and neon lighting.

Although a feature which sets it apart from similarly decorated pizza parlours are the antique Portuguese tiles that feature on the high tables, which introduce an element of charm to the room.

Plus, the option to have olives or chili crackers whilst you wait brings an air of sophistication uncommon to most pizza places.

However, ultimately, I would describe Pizza Union as a crossbreed between a fast food joint and a restaurant.

The fact that you queue to order, pay before you eat, and wait for your buzzer to spring to life, combined with the conveyor belt-style churning out of pizzas, makes the vibe a little more ‘post’ drinks than ‘pre’.

Lauren & I placed our orders, grabbed a bottle of white wine (£12.50) and settled in to our little alcove.

Not 5 minutes later, the table was abuzz and our pizzas ready for collection.

We shared the ‘Calabria’ with tomato sauce, mozzarella, mascarpone, N’duja spicy sausage and rocket (£5.95).

And the ‘Stagioni’ with tomato sauce, mozzarella, cotto ham, pepperoni, mushrooms, artichoke and black olives (£6.50).

I enjoyed them both equally, with the mascarpone on the Calabria bringing a creaminess to the fore that balanced the spicy N’duja and bitter rocket beautifully, and the meat feast on the Stagioni being one that I simply could not turn my nose up at.

They were both excellent versions of a ‘healthy’ fast food pizza; incredibly thin crust, fresh and light, but in the same league as Homeslice, Pizza Pilgrims and Franco Manca, they were not.

Value for money, however, you certainly get.

For ‘pre-dessert’ we sampled the cannoli’s, which were sadly a real let down. The pastry was far too thick & dry and the ricotta fairly flavourless.

Thankfully, the main event was better.

We tried both the ‘Classico’ dessert pizza ring with Nutella and mascarpone (£2.95), and the ‘Caramello’ with salted caramel, peanuts, chocolate and mascarpone (£3.95).

The Classico was by far the superior of the two, with the comfortingly familiar childhood taste of Nutella blending well with the creamy mascarpone.

Although I would have preferred the ratio of Nutella to mascarpone to have been upped.

And perhaps for Pizza Pilgrims’ (EPIC) Nutella & ricotta pizza ring to have been placed before me instead.

The Caramello description had me sold, but the culmination of so many ingredients ended up being a bit of a sloppy rich mess, with the peanut flavour overpowering all of the other elements (which were what I was most interested in anyway).

In essence, I’d really recommend Pizza Union for a quick lunch or booze munch, but not as a restaurant to enjoy a sit down meal.

The prices are hard to beat, but the food is not, so it depends what you are looking for.

Needless to say, Lauren & I had a great time together and enjoyed our carb feast just fine.

‘til the next time.

5/10

I dined as a guest of Pizza Union, but all opinions are my own.