Have a pizza this!

Anybody who has been to West Didsbury at any point will have come across The Metropolitan which sits proudly on the corner of Lapwing Lane and Burton Road.

Known to most as The Met, this grand bar and restaurant serves a full range of dishes from dainty afternoon teas in the sunny conservatory to delicious home cooked Sunday roasts in front of the fire. It also has a large outside seating area with its own bar which proves extremely popular at weekends (with or without the South Manchester sunshine).

Well expect this area to get busier because they have built a huge stone baked pizza oven which can churn out up to 140 pizzas an hour, so should keep everybody happy. With nine types on offer; all with various toppings and quirky names I thought it only best to pop down yesterday and try a few out.

I feel like I’m in a good position to give a fair verdict, I’ve eaten more pizza than Michelangelo (the turtle, not the Sistine Chapel artist) and spent most of my childhood eating my way through the many pizzerias of Western Italy. To me, pizza is in my blood.

I managed to try five of the nine varieties which were all unusual and different from the norm. For example, the bacon cheeseburger pizza was as if somebody had melted a Whopper onto my pizza (seriously, what’s not to like?!), the tandoori chicken and Bombay potato pizza was scrumptious and one with tuna and pepperoni was salty, spicy and a great surf & turf pizza.

Although I normally opt for a margarita or simple veggie pizza, I was impressed with these new unorthodox pizzas. It was all splendid.

My particular favourite from the oven was the BBQ chicken, red peppers and large slivers of corn fresh from the cob. This was fresh, meaty and managed to stay on the base – often a flaw with any top heavy pizza. I also enjoyed a BBQ pulled pork and sun dried tomato pizza; smoky and sweet, it was very good indeed.

I dare say they will be offering the normal ‘safe’ options but I say give one of these beauties a whirl. With the sun shining, a glass of Pinot and a fresh pizza in the vibrant beer garden and you’ll feel like you’re hanging out in the centro storico of Sorrento.

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Posted: Thursday 3rd April 2014
ID: 2578 - 1129