Friday is National Pizza Day and, if there’s any excuse to eat pizza, you don’t need to tell me twice.

I’ve tried them all, from Neapolitan pizza in Italy to cheap slices from the local takeaway, and I can honestly say I’ve never tasted one I didn’t like.

So, after a week of suffering from the winter lurgy, what better way to put a spring back in my step than trying a slice of Kent’s best pizza?

KentOnline readers voted Faversham’s Papà Bianco as their top-rated pizza place in the county last year and, in honour of the nationwide cheese-and-tomato day, I decided to check it out.

The restaurant, located on the waterfront at Standard Quay, stood out immediately thanks to its striking black-panelled exterior and modern look.

We visited early on a Saturday evening to beat the dinner rush and grab a table.

The restaurant has a ‘no reservations’ policy; instead, you pre-order your food online, let the staff know you’ve arrived and, if you’re lucky, you can nab a table and the servers will bring the food over to you.

However, if the place is full you’ll be handed your pizza in a cardboard box and can either wait for a space to free up or go back to your car and take it home.

There were plenty of indoor tables during our visit - thank goodness, as it was a cold February evening and I didn’t fancy eating al fresco.

I noticed a game of rugby being projected onto a big screen when we walked in, but it was muted and, as I turned my back on the screen to admire the restaurant’s nautical theming, I soon forgot that sport was even on.

There was a casual, laid-back vibe to it all, right down to the soft pop music playing in the background - I think I heard James Morrison and Paolo Nutini while we were there.

After selecting two Diet Cokes to drink, our starter arrived in less than 10 minutes.

We’d ordered garlic bread topped with mozzarella cheese and caramelised red onions. The dough was crisp, the cheese was gooey and the red onions were perfectly sweet; a great start.

However, I didn’t realise at first that it cost £11 and, in all honesty, I don’t know if any garlic bread is worth more than a tenner!

The rest of our food then turned up and it was all, in a word, delicious.

Our first pizza, the Marinara (£8.50), was a simple pizza topped with tomato sauce and shaved garlic that we’d previously tried on a trip to Naples.

I was keen to relive some holiday memories and it certainly didn’t disappoint - the tomato sauce was rich and herby, the garlic was punchy and sweet and the base was thin and well-cooked.

Also, I didn’t miss the cheese at all. In fact, as someone who recently took on Veganuary, this cheeseless pizza is a great plant-based option without compromising on flavour.

We wanted to try something different with the Courgetto pizza (£12), which had strips of courgette, pine nuts, pesto and a cheese blend.

Once again, the flavours were big and bold, with a tang from the pesto and freshness from the courgette.

We finished off with parmesan and truffle fries (£5.50), a portion of hot, crunchy chips absolutely smothered with parmesan cheese and a dash of truffle oil.

You can’t have pizza without something to dip the crusts into, so we each had a pot of pesto aioli (£1.50) which was zingy with herbs and even more garlic. It got a little rich towards the end, but it’s definitely one for condiment lovers to try.

Our eyes were much bigger than our bellies, but the staff were more than happy to hand over a spare pizza box to take our leftovers home.

I grew up in Faversham in the 1990s and Noughties when your only choices were Yeung’s Chinese buffet or the Wimpy, so it’s great to see the town getting new places to dine out.

However, part of me is glad that Papà Bianco wasn’t open when I lived here because I probably would’ve never saved enough money to move out and would’ve spent it all on garlic bread instead.

Out of five:

Food: I’m a pizza connoisseur (if there is such a thing) and I thoroughly enjoyed all of the food. Although, don’t pick this place for a first date unless you know your other half definitely doesn’t mind the smell of garlic! ****

Drink: We only had two cans of Diet Coke but the cocktail menu looked great and they also do their own Papà Bianco beers. ***

Decor: The nautical cabin decor suited the waterfront location and even having sport on in the background didn’t spoil the calm, casual atmosphere. ****

Staff: The pre-ordering system meant the staff were incredibly efficient. A private party of at least 30 people came downstairs to order at one point, and even that didn’t throw them. We could also see them making the food in the kitchen area so you know it’s all fresh to order. ***

Price: Two pizzas, parmesan fries, cheesy garlic bread and two dips came to £40. Given that we had almost an entire pizza box of food leftover and a Dominos pizza will set you back around £20 these days, the portion size and quality was great value for money. ****