Quality pizza for very little dough
GOOGLE ‘Gingerino’s Kitchen’ and one of the first things that’ll come up is a glowing Tripadvisor review claiming that this small Ouseburn cafe serves the “best pizza in Newcastle”.
Now, I think we can all agree this is a pretty high bar to set. Our fair city isn’t short of a place to grab a slice or two, from old favourites like Cal’s Own (one of only two places in the UK deemed to make ‘proper’ Neapolitan pizza) to newcomers like Flint (now regularly attracting queues out the door). So does Gingerino’s live up to, or even beat, that standard?
Approaching the restaurant on a drizzly Monday night, I certainly hoped it would, because the other thing you’ll find if you Google Gingerino’s is its menu. And on the menu, you’ll see the prices.
At a mere £2.50 for a slice, Gingerino’s is clearly a budget pizza option, and if the food was really as good as online reviews suggested, this could prove an excellent discovery...
WHAT’S IT LIKE?
It’s very much a casual, cafe vibe inside, with scrubbed tables, wooden floor and posters for local events on the walls. We settle into some incredibly comfortable armchairs to await our pizza, which, we’re informed apologetically, might take about 15 minutes to arrive. This is absolutely fine by me, and suggests that on a different night you’d hardly be waiting at all.
If I were being really picky, I might ask that the radio be turned down a little – Capital was blasting out at a rather ear-splitting volume when I visited, though since we were the only customers on a quiet Monday night, it’s possible the staff merely wanted something to listen to, and that things would ordinarily be a little quieter.
WHAT ARE YOU EATING?
Pizza, mainly – or perhaps mini calzone, if you’re feeling fancy. In our case, all of the above (reviewing’s a hard job, but someone’s got to do it).
For your £2.50 you get a quarter of a 14in pizza, a slice so large it overhangs the small paper plate it’s served on – on all sides.
The dough is thinly stretched and nicely charred from the oven, with a thick, pillowy crust around the edge. This is good pizza. Really, really good pizza.
Tomato sauce, while thinly spread, is rich in flavour, with the depth of oregano, the fragrance of basil and a hint of garlic.
The different topping combinations don’t especially stand out from each other as it’s very much the sauce and dough which take centre stage, but the slow-cooked garlic chicken was as soft and flavourful as I’d
hoped, while the salty, slightly spicy pepperoni sausage spoke to the quality of ingredients they’re clearly using here.
The calzone were compact little parcels, about the size of a small brick, and so beautifully dense they’d probably be similarly effective for throwing through a window! I’d recommend eating them instead, though, for their crisp surface, which gives way to soft, chewy dough and generously packed filling. My mushroom choice was about as mushroomy a thing as I can imagine: absolutely stuffed with thin slices of earthy, rich fungi laced with herbs and garlic.
The best dish of the night was probably the ‘four formaggi’ calzone, which was so stuffed with cheese my arteries are probably clogging at the mere thought of it, and completely delicious. Each of the cheeses was distinct, and the best of them was a perfectly pungent, punchy brie.
ANY DESSERTS?
For £2.50 a pop you can also enjoy a homemade cake bar after your pizza. We shared two of the brownies, salted caramel and banana and white chocolate. These both had a strong cocoa kick to them but, for my money, verged on being too dense and claggy, while the advertised flavours appeared to be merely toppings on a plain chocolate brownie, and felt a bit like an afterthought.
Both were perfectly fine, but I certainly wouldn’t rush to Gingerino’s just for them.
OVERALL IMPRESSION
Gingerino’s pricing is simple, so it’s hard to be surprised by the prices of £2.50 for a slice or a calzone and £1 for a soft drink can. Even so, I still manage to walk away surprised: how can we have paid no more than £22 for such an impressive amount of such impressive quality food.
The best pizza in Newcastle? I’m not sure I could definitively say, but it’s certainly up there. The best value pizza in Newcastle? It could well be.