More on KentOnline
More on KentOnline
ON PIZZA in Ashford boldly claims to be "A pizza place with a difference".
As the town's self-appointed pizza critic, I decided to find out whether the takeaway delivered on its motto, or would it turn me OFF PIZZA (see what I did there?)
ON PIZZA opened in the ex-Warren's Bakery branch in County Square in May.
It offers 20in pizzas, which they claim are the biggest in town, alongside regular ones.
As well as the usual sides such as chicken wings and cheesy garlic bread, the takeaway also offers creative dishes, such as Bombay doughballs (doughballs stuffed with tikka sauce, cheese, mushrooms and garlic) and tikzza sticks (oven-baked flatbread topped with tikka sauce and cheese).
Here's something to consider - perhaps this is the start of tikka-pizza hybrid snacks sweeping the nation? You read it here first!
They also make dessert pizzas - but more on those wondrous things later.
My boyfriend's family were here for the weekend and like any good Kent couple whose relatives are visiting we promptly ferried them to Canterbury Cathedral, and then for a mooch around the city's cobbled streets.
All the mooching, plaque-reading and gazing in wonder had made us pretty hungry. I tell you this so you will not judge my picture of the huge stack of Zebra-style striped cardboard boxes which held our dinner.
We ordered two 'game night on the sofa deals', which included two 12-inch pizzas, seasoned potato wedges, a dessert pizza and a large bottle of Coke, for £25.99.
I had ordered the pepperoni and we also went for cheesy pesto sticks BBQ chicken wings, which weren't included in the deal.
I was aghast when I saw there was no garlic and herb dip, but I have since checked the website and it is now an option, so whether they added it in the last couple of days or in my hungry state I just scrolled past it I will never know...
Apart from that all was well until we realised that we would prefer Diet Coke to regular Coke (we're a very health conscious bunch as you can see from our order). I rang ON PIZZA to see if we could make the swap and the man kindly agreed to give us Diet Coke cans instead, as they didn't have bottles.
As well as the cans we also got a bottle of regular coke which I suppose one of us can drink this week, if we get very desperate...
I'm afraid the wedges were dry, although the BBQ dip, which cost 49p, did help. I wasn't a big fan of the cheesy pesto sticks either, but one of my companions declared they were "banging", so mixed reviews there.
The best thing about the pizza was the rich tomato sauce, which added real flavour and punch to the meal, and the dough was not too stodgy, as Domino's can be.
Save for the tomato sauce, my pizza did not particularly stand out compared to other takeaways or restaurants I've eaten at. It was tasty and hit the spot for a Saturday night dinner but I expect it will soon fade from my memory, to join the forgotten pizzas of yore.
The dessert pizzas however were a different story.
My sole experience of dessert pizzas (topped with sweet ingredients rather than savoury) comes from my first year of university, when my friends and I slathered Nutella over a Co-op pizza base and chucked chocolate on top. I remember feeling slightly queasy after eating it.
These glorious treats put our efforts to shame. We had ordered the chocolate lovers, which consisted of sweet ricotta, raspberry coulis, chocolate brownie, crushed hazelnuts, chocolate sauce, icing sugar, mascarpone and chocolate flakes.
Our second choice was summer nights: sweet ricotta, summer fruit, chocolate sauce, mascarpone and icing sugar. Both cost £4.99 and were, to put it simply, delicious.
The ricotta and fruits were a great combination and the brownies weren't too sweet either. We all agreed they had gone over and above our expectations.
We probably only needed one between four as I was so full I could only manage a few slices, but I was very tempted to have more.
So is ON PIZZA "a pizza place with a difference"? It might not seem so at first, but they save the best until last.
Ratings out of five
Food: The pizza was tasty, but not mind blowing. The wedges were dry but the dessert pizzas were incredible. ***
Drink: They accommodated our requests for Diet Coke rather than Coke and the cans were very cold upon arrival - which isn't always the case with some places. ****
Staff: Friendly and polite on the phone and the delivery was prompt. ****
Price: Four 12in pizzas, two portions of seasoned wedges, two dessert pizzas, cheesy pesto sticks, BBQ chicken wings plus drinks for £72. It was definitely good value for money and you could have a cheaper night without the extras or two pizzas between four. ****
