Last Monday I was lucky enough to reserve a table at Novapizza Vegetarian Kitchen on their night to celebrate the addition of vegan pizza carbonara (oh yes – that is pasta sauce on pizza!) to their menu.
Novapizza Vegetarian Kitchen itself is an intimate restaurant nestled on Howe Street in New Town. Through the use of chequered tablecloths, the views of Italy painted on the walls, and artificial grapes hanging from photo frames I might as well have been in Italy. It was authentic, romantic and memorable.
First up was the pizza and I opted for Nova’s Smoky Mheat Pizza Amatriciana. The ‘mheat’ is made by Sgaia foods and tastes astonishingly similar to real meat, except it is made from plants – it is one you have to taste to believe. My pizza was certainly delicious, although others chose the new carbonara pizza and it looked a little overly creamy to me.
After this came dessert. My friend and I chose to share one mocha cake with hazelnut gelato and one brownie with chocolate orange gelato. I will remind you that this entire night was vegan. I believe the mocha cake would receive five stars from anyone; it had the texture of a decadent ganache with a seriously intense coffee flavour and had my mouth watering from the first bite to the last.
The brownie was not quite on the same level, but still thoroughly enjoyable. Both of these products were provided by Shire Snax, an Edinburgh based business.
Finally, the ice cream that accompanied dessert deserves a paragraph to itself. Personally, I would rate soya ice cream higher than regular ice-cream. Affogato were responsible for providing this particular highlight of the meal. They offer both vegan and non-vegan flavours, and from my experience I would say it is assured that any product of theirs will taste amazing.
[Image: Saskia Peach]
