Checkpoint Pizza offers value for money pizza heaven
One dish I have really grown to love over the years is pizza. But as a fussy eater this was not always the case. My first encounter with Pizza was back in 1976, when I was six years old and living in Malta. My father was working there for a year and my time there was enjoyable. A Scottish family that we were good friends with decided to come out and visit us. When they visited our villa, my mother made some pizza for them. I did not have any pizza and I did not encounter pizza again for another nine years.
In 1985 I was living in Stavanger in Norway because my father was working there. My parents decided that we would go out and have a meal every Friday night. After our meal we would then rent a movie to watch. My father had spotted a nice Pizzeria for us to go to. Being a fussy eater, I asked what if I don’t like it? My mother replied that we will be going nowhere else. So, we went to La Gondola and my love for pizza was born.
Every Friday I would get the twelve-inch margherita pizza. When I finished it, I always said I won’t be able to eat that again. Every Friday night was like Groundhog Day. I would order and eat the twelve-inch margherita pizza and then comment I won’t be able to eat that again. The pizza La Gondola made was a cross between Italian pizza we used to know and New York pizza. Having a thick base and crust. My parents and my brother and sister always had the pepperoni pizza whilst I had a Margherita without toppings.
That was the best pizza I have ever had but over the years my pizza tastes changed. I now only eat Neapolitan style pizzas made in wood-fired ovens. These pizzas are healthier for you because they are thinner, not too doughy and have less cheese on them. I have also enjoyed my pizza culinary journey by doing one important thing. Adding toppings to pizzas has transformed them giving me a myriad of flavours to explore. I have enjoyed trying various toppings over the years with various degrees of success. This allows fussy eaters to no longer having to stick to margherita pizzas. If like me you are not a pepperoni fan, you can have ham or sausage as a topping instead.
This week’s restaurant is?
So, you will have guessed that this week’s restaurant will be one that serves pizza. Based in the Georges St Arcade, Checkpoint Pizza is a restaurant I have eaten in a few times pre pandemic. Checkpoint Pizza is also a pizzeria that only offers pizza as a main course. Whenever I have eaten there in the past, I always walked away with a big smile on my face. This can be attributed to their great pizza and menu that won’t break the bank.
So what did I order?
Well, I decided to order one of the Checkpoint Pizza specials, a ten inch pizza with two toppings, crispy fries and soft drink. There is twelve different ten inch pizzas to choose from and I choose the Margherita. My toppings were bacon, and tomatoes with Coca-Cola as my soft drink. This was quickly done via the Just Eat app on my iPhone 12.
So how was my Meal?
What I ordered arrived promptly, neatly packaged and warm.
The pizza was divided into slices. It also had a pizza saver ensuring the pizza did not slide around and touch the top of the box. This was a nice touch that I have not seen enough of.
The Fries were crispy, and not too, thick or greasy. They were hot and tasted delicious.
As for the pizza, it had the one thing that you don’t see enough of in a pizza. A nice, thin crispy crust that reminds me of a crunchy pitta bread just out of the oven or toaster. . Some pizzas have a thick crust that is stuffed with cheese, garlic or pesto. Other pizzas have thick crusts that can be dipped into sauces such as BBQ sauce or blue cheese dip. So it’s not uncommon to see me leave the crusts behind when I eat a pizza.
The pizza tasted great and as it had a thick base it was not thick or cheesy. The only thing that slightly let me down was one of my toppings. The fresh cherry tomatoes, were juicy and not at all over cooked. The bacon was a little bit to salty for my liking but thankfully there was not too much of it on the pizza.
If you order toppings on your pizza, they can either add or takeaway from the taste. I would definitely order from Checkpoint Pizza again but I would not order bacon as a topping. The crust was a major selling point to me. It reminded me of eating hot fresh pitta bread from a Cairo bakery when I was a child.
So what did my meal cost?
The ten inch Margherita with two toppings, crispy fries cost €13.00. With a service charge of €0.65, and a delivery fee of €2.99. The bill came to €16.64.
Checkpoint Pizza, Georges St Arcade, Dublin 2, D02 DH79
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