London Pizza Depot (25% OFF) – Ilford, London

Fasten your seatbelts! We’re taking your taste buds on a mouth-watering ride around the globe… through our wonderful world of pizza.

Headed by an owner who boasts two decades of experience in the pizza industry, London Pizza Depot in Newbury Park, Ilford, isn’t your typical Halal pizza joint.

With nine years each at Domino’s and Papa John’s, respectively, Muniba has launched a brand that is aiming to become the next big player in the market.

And she appears to be off to the perfect start too as she prepares, having only recently launched this one in June, to open her second branch very soon in east London’s happening place of Plaistow.

Located on the corner of Eastern Avenue and Aldborough Road South, this expansive takeaway establishment offers limited seating for eight in a clean and airy environment that’s Covid secure, with all staff wearing protective gloves and face coverings.

XLT Ovens straight from the States!

London Pizza Depot offer both delivery and takeaway services, with their pizzas cooked at 240°C in a mere 6 minutes, courtesy of an impressive automated XLT Oven procured from the States, and ready for collection in less than 12 minutes.

While delivery is currently restricted to a 3-mile radius and usually takes around 35 mins, during the busy weekend period, it can take between 40-45 mins.

More impressively perhaps is their menu, which aims at “taking your taste buds on a mouth-watering ride around the globe”.

Specially sourced peppadew peppers, Mexican barbacoa beef & chicken tinga, Calabrian Nduja beef.

These guys offer pizzas not just inspired by a number of cuisines, but also topped with unique ingredients diligently sourced by Muniba and her husband Azhar, which you simply will not find at your local takeaway.

And there appears to be no skimping either, with none of that cheap 70/30 ratio of cheese being used here. Instead, they use 100% mozzarella cheese that’s been carefully sourced from the north of the country.

In terms of their ingredients, then not only do they have bespoke mini falafel balls made especially for them, but there’s also roquito chilli pepper; South African peppadew peppers; Mexican barbacoa beef and chicken tinga; Spanish chorizo sausage; and their most expensive element, Italian Nduja beef from Calabria.

Spanish Meatball and Pepperoni (large, original crust) – Fresh Mozzarella, rich tomato sauce, spicy meatballs, pepperoni, £19.49

And neither does the London Pizza Depot use plain flour. Rather, they prefer to use the very fine Italian Semola, which is twice-milled, and thus doesn’t leave that annoying floury residue you’ll typically find on some of these pizzas going about.

Italian Semola flour

As for this freshly made Spanish Meatball & Pepperoni thick crust pizza, then it’s the first of three new additions we got to try on an otherwise fairly expansive menu.

What immediately stood out for us was how well the dough held up, with enough firmess there to ensure a good bite, coupled with a truly delicious crispy-cum-crunchy perimeter.

Looks-wise, this had a beautiful deep rosey red tinge across its surface, with the toasted cheese having taken on a gorgeously brown and blistered appearance, with chunks of pepperoni protruding therefrom.

And though the tiny spherical meatballs did look a tad anaemic, they were full of this sausage-like taste with the hint of rosemary therein. Absolutely delicious!

Chicken Tinga (large, thick crust) – Fresh mozzarella, rich tomato sauce, shredded chicken tinga, red onion, green pepper, red pepper, jalapeno, red chilli, hot fruity drizzle, £19.49

We really wanted to buck the trend and start off by taking a big munch out of the rustic-looking, crusty edge on this newly added Chicken Tinga.

With plenty of cheese on top, just as you’d want, the heat of the zingy and potent jalapenos was the first thing to come through – with quite some intensity too we might add – before slowly being doused by the sweetness of the pizza’s rich tomato base.

The chicken was shredded, however, and amidst the competing addition of red onions, green and red peppers, and red chillis, wasn’t quite as discernible as it could have been had it perhaps been of a more chunkier variety.

Nonetheless, this was another scrumptious pizza which we’d happily devour anew.

Mediterranean Mezze (medium, thin crust) – Fresh mozzarella, sundried tomato and garlic sauce, smoked chilli Mediterranean grilled vegetables, spinach, feta and balsamic drizzle, £17.49

As vegetarian pizzas go, you simply are not going to get anything much better than this wonderfully conceived, well executed and cleverly named Mediterranean Mezza.

With a perfectly cooked, crispy thin crust, there was more than enough happening here to have us going right till the end, with no one single bite being the same.

There were prominent pieces of baby tomatoes, slices of courgettes, soft segments of baby aubergines, salty chunks of feta cheese, and the iron richness of spinach, all dotted about the surface, and drizzled with a semi-viscous balsamic sauce, which added that familiar touch of tangy-sweetness.

Cali Cheeseburger (medium, cheese stuffed crust) – Fresh mozzarella, rich tomato sauce, double ground beef, fresh tomato, red onion, gherkin, special burger sauce drizzle, £17.49

That huge contraption of an oven is quite some piece of kit as it continued to churn out the most mesmerisingly addictive crusty exteriors.

The one on this Cali Cheeseburger was a cheese stuffed crust; and we just couldn’t get enough of it!

As for the pizza itself though, then it might have been a good one, except that we found the “special burger sauce drizzle” over the top to be far too strong for any of the other more subtle flavours to live against.

The idea seems sound enough – a play on a Californian cheeseburger. But this one, for us, wasn’t anywhere near as balanced as it should have been.

A word too about the four dips we tried: Sour Cream, Hot Chilli, Hickory Smoked BBQ, and a Tartare sauce.

These may not be inhouse made; but, as with everything else that’s been so carefully sourced, these were some of the better ones we’ve come across.

Both the Tartare and the Sour Cream were fairly thick and creamy, with the former having that tart richness, and the latter just enough sourness to make both of them good ones.

While the Hot Chilli offered a delayed fuse of sorts, the Hickory Smoked BBQ was deep and smoky and lip-smackingly tasty.

Mac ‘n’ Cheese – Freshly baked bowl of pasta and melted cheese, breadcrumbs, cayenne pepper sprinkle, £5.99

This Mac ‘n’ Cheese is version 2.0, having recently been improved both in terms of size and price.

While it isn’t entirely inhouse made, it is enhanced with the addition of that quality mozzarella cheese, a sprinkle of pepper, and the topping of breadcrumbs.

What we got was a classic and very tasty Mac ‘n’ Cheese, which was ultra creamy and stringy, as it ought to be, with a good warmth lingering in the background.

However, despite the improvement in size, would we part with £5.99 for what is ostensibly pasta and cheese? We’re not so sure.

Buffalo Hot Wings (6 pcs) – Signature slow roasted chicken wings · classic buffalo hot sauce, £4.99

Six pieces of quite small Buffalo Hot Wings which were based in a mildly hot, though nonetheless tasty, buffalo sauce, and then passed through the XLT pizza oven.

As a result, although the top was nicely charred, the bottom turned out near enough soft and squidgy, which made for a rather peculiar chicken wing. Not quite there.

Classic Nachos – corn tortilla chips · topped with melted cheese, chunky salsa, guacamole, sour cream and jalapenos, £4.95; add spicy beef or chicken for £2.00

Classic Nachos though done ordinarily, with standard crisps! And perhaps a fairly meagre portion too at £4.95.

White Chocolate Chunk Cookie Dough – Freshly baked white chocolate chunk cookie dough, luxury chocolate sauce, served with soft vanilla ice cream, £5.95

Turning out well baked on the outside, with nice, soft and gooey parts therein, the White Chocolate Chunk Cookie Dough was easily the pick of the two desserts had.

This was also presented with a small tub of Beechdean Farmhouse Dairy Ice Cream, which wasn’t just a satisfying scoop of vanilla ice cream, but also had an almost gelatinous texture to it, which we enjoyed. Perhaps this was the reason why the entire dessert, and a fairly small one at that, cost a hefty £5.95.

Belgium Waffles – Fluffy Belgium waffles, luxury chocolate sauce, milk chocolate flakes, served with soft vanilla ice cream, £5.95

Nothing fluffy about these stodgy, premade Belgium Waffles though, which were simply drizzled with some chocolate sauce before being covered with shavings of tiny chocolate curls. Again, quite dear for just two small waffles, albeit partnered with the aforementioned quality tub of ice cream.