~ Curious Charlie ~

Foodie Favourites - Zesty Pizza @ Tuesday, September 26, 2017

Charlie & Co. dined as guests.
Monday 18th September

Zesty Pizza on Main Street, Glenferrie near Auburn Station, is a small pizzeria with a big heart and wide range (we mean HUGE!). There's 34 pizzas on the menu and 12 of them are vegetarian, there's also calzones, burgers, pastas and other mains.

Something that sets them apart from the others is that they accomodate ALL dietary requirements whether it is intolerance to lactose, onion, garlic, nuts or something else. That's remarkable as no one either does that, not to that extent.
– Anything can be made GLUTEN FREE.
– Anything can be made VEGAN.
– Anything can be made NUTS FREE

No one we know does this, the vegans are generally not invited or expected to go BYO. My lactose and gluten intolerant neighbours/friends don't go for group pizza night, but now they can! Even FODMAP girl can find something that she likes.

Outside it's drizzling through it's lovely and warm in here, seated by the window watching the peak hour traffic go by. The traffic could been seen but not heard at all! Warm lighting filled the small but intimate space, pizza's mainly a takeaway thing, but you could book a table too here.

We ordered two pizzas to share, it was quite a decision with so many choices! I do love that there are so many vegetarian pizzas, as oppose to one 'The Vegetarian'. So many choices for Meatless Monday (lol, I had souv for lunch).

Animal Lover (M) $19.30

Homemade pizza sauce, mozzarella cheese, red onion, marinated mock chicken,

marinated vege sausage with tofu and BBQ sauce on top.

From the Premium Vegetarian section we were recommendation was the 'Animal Lover'. With a thin and crispy base, it was perfect. So many textures with a bbq sauce that tied it all together. The white thing on top, that's scrambled-looking tofu. The sausage was a bit like meat loaf in texture and the chicken fine, though isn't as good as real chicken :P

*there's something wrong with coding, new format. work in progress*

Chef's Special $19.30 (M)

Homemade pizza sauce, mozzarella cheese, ham, onion, fresh capsicum,

hot salami, bacon, olives, chili flakes, oregano, drizzle of garlic and olive oil (spicy!)

Fernando had the 'Chef's Special' and loved it, so much so that this is the most comprehensive review I have ever seen from a +1.

Crust - Thin and crispy, light yet strong enough to hold itself with ease. This is what a good crust/base is, others have to go really thin to get that crispyness but this was right in the sweet spot.

Cheese - Amazing melt with monster cheese strings, nice coverage without being over powering and golden brown.

Oregano - Thin coverage to subtly add in that extra kick of flavour with every bite, works great with the chilli.

Chilli - After the second slice you begin to notice it - coming in quietly from the background is the heat and burn of the chilli. Slowly rising to a moderate level, it is the right amount of chilli as a background flavour/sensation to the pizza as you get further into your pizza.

Garlic - All across the pizza are little pockets of crushed garlic that go perfectly with the ingredients (notably the pepperoni) to sporadically boost the flavour of any given bite. As a huge fan of garlic these surprise patches were a big favourite.

Toppings were generous and well portioned, and as a result made the medium sized pizza deceptively filling (for the appetite of a boy), especially considering the light base. The medium serves two people in my opinion, for three people order two to share with a salad. While they aren't the biggest pizzas ever (the medium) they're very filling.

The combo of the perfect crust and all the fun but not crazy toppings, makes this place our favourite pizza place on main street! And there's a pizza place on every block, we've been to two others down the road. The most affordable with dine in options.

Look at that cheese!

Fernando polished off ten slices and doesn't have a dessert stomach. Weak XD. So I went on without him.

Mango Mousse (Vegan) $5.50

I love all things mango and coconut, and so this was no expection. With whipped coconut cream it was light and airy, like eating clouds of mango x coconut - two beautiful tropical fruits. In one line I'd describe it as mango lassi but like in a cloud form. Loved it!

Everything was delicious and very reasonable priced too, expect to spend a bit less than $20 for a medium pizza jam packed full of toppings. A little bit more for gluten-free, but it's totally worth it.

Located on the main street around the corner from Auburn Station it was very easy to get to. If you're dropping by for takeaway there's parking on main street after 6.30pm. Note - Dine in requires bookings, as they're often booked out during peaks.

Thank for the invitation, we had a lovely time and can't wait to return for more pizzas!

Zesty also have a liquor license, and serve wine!

580 Burwood Rd, Hawthorn VIC 3122

Open for Dinners M-S, Lunch on Weekends