(RIP Fromage pizza)

I’m a little on the Dickensian side of things, so I’ll be going back on previous eats of a less glamorous nature and reviewing them. I even hope to pull out some old cookbooks and review them like I would books (which is what I do on my personal blog). This could be great fun if I manage to find some of my mother’s old cookbooks!

It’s no secret that I’m a fan of Crust Pizza. When I first heard about them, I didn’t think they’d be that good, truly. I was sorely mistaken. I’ve reviewed one other before on this blog to attest to my enjoyment of them. I’m expecting any minute now for the gourmet pizza bar to be the subject matter of a blog post on Things Bogans Like and for a lecture on how the bogan cannot appreciate true haute cuisine and thus finds the non-threatening gourmet pizza its closest match. I don’t consider myself particularly bogan (though perhaps my closest friends might contest this), but I’m a little hooked on Crust’s pizzas. Great, now you all know I’m a bogan. Just give me some warning before you come round to mine so I can hide the slab of VB and Carlton Cold. Hey, I might even get the goon out – just for you.

A few weeks ago on a whim, I decided to call up my mate Colin and ask him if he fancied a few slices of Crust. Tris came along and we three shared two pizzas – the garlic prawn one, and one of the newer upper crust ones, the Peking duck. I’m a bit put out by the Peking duck because it replaced my beloved Fromage (see above). I really should know by now – I always think “nah, this flavour can’t possibly work, they’ll stuff up” but they never do. The Peking duck pizza was the perfect balance of duck meat, hoisin and bok choy – so not traditional per se, but a great translation to pizza.

After seeing Tris and Colin nearly kill themselves on chilli sauce at Mamasita, no way was I game to bite into the single chilli that adorned the pizza, no matter how enticing it looked.

The garlic prawn pizza is less confronting. The prawns are so damn juicy. I nearly forgot to squeeze the lemon wedge on them, oops!

By the end of the evening, Colin was a convert.

On a more recent occasion, I tried my gourmet pizza conversion skills on Mum. Dad had been away for a few weeks and Mum had been subject to my cooking for a few days in a row (that which I would wish upon no one. Well, maybe not till I get a bit better…). I suggested one evening we share two pizzas and I promised I would pick ones that weren’t too…quirky. I figured it’d be safe to go with one seafood and one meat. I went with the smoked salmon one, and the prosciutto one.

I think you are probably all aware of my prosciutto adoration, but even this looked pretty plain. Can you even see the prosciutto? I can’t! However, I wasn’t let down – the meat, cheese and dough base ratios were just right. If I couldn’t decide what to get, this would most likely be my default pizza.

Mum really loves her seafood, and on Fridays, doesn’t eat meat as is the practice among old-school Catholics. She said she’d prefer to order the smoked salmon pizza instead of Friday fish and chips. If you look carefully, there is a liberal amount of Spanish (red) onion, and capers! Mmm. None of us felt we needed to use the condiments supplied.

The nearest locations to where I live are on Smith Street in Fitzroy, and in Doncaster. I’ve heard that one will be opening soon a little nearer in Ivanhoe (20 minutes’ drive from me, as opposed to 30 like Fitzroy and Doncaster) – I sure hope so as it’s a bit of a shame to drive home and have lukewarm pizza, sob.

I told you I would go through their entire menu. Am getting there…

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