Vegan eating at Paesano Pizza


The vegan pizza option at Paesano Pizza

If you've spoken to my friend Charlotte recently (or stopped by her blog, or any of her social media accounts) you'll have become accustomed to her raving about one of Glasgow's newest pizza places. Paesano Pizza in the Merchant City is a rustic Italian pizza joint with stylish decor, wood-fired ovens and, as Charlotte has promised, some of the most delicious pizza around. When myself, Charlotte and Hayley caught up in Glasgow a while back Charlotte naturally convinced us to try it out for ourselves. 

If you've been following my own blog (and social media accounts) for a while you'll know I'm always on the look-out for scrumptious vegan pizza (heck, it even says so in my Instagram bio!). Paesano Pizza by chance has their own vegan pizza offering so it didn't take much convincing from Charlotte to try the place out.

Hayley and Charlotte's pizzas


The vegan offering on their menu is topped with their signature tomato sugo sauce, garlic, oregano and evoo (it's basically olive oil, I had to look that one up). Admittedly, I did feel a bit disappointed that Paesano - even though they had something vegan on the menu - hadn't come up with something more interesting. When I ordered it the waitress reminded me that it didn't come with cheese - or anything else, really. And yes, when the order arrived it did look a bit under-privileged compared to Charlotte and Hayley's pizzas. 

HOWEVER, once my taste-buds became acquainted I totally forgot about my negative pre-conceptions. This pizza was BLOODY FUCKING DELICIOUS. Not even delicious for a plain pizza, just actual delicious. The base is a hybrid of yeast and sourdough and resulted in a stretchy thin base - I imagine this is what Italians eat. The tomato sauce was also as flavoursome as flavoursome gets - I'm not sure what they do to it in their kitchen but I want that recipe. I've since learnt (through the writing and research I do for work) that cheese-free pizzas are commonplace in Italy, so I was actually getting quite an authentic experience.

Sun-blushed tomatoes and artichokes side


As a side I ordered the artichokes and sun-blushed tomatoes. These were lovely though the tomatoes were a bit...chewy? The artichokes were spot on however and reminded me why they are one of my favourite vegetables. They also have a small but impressive beer menu with many brands that aren't commonly served in the UK. 

As for the rest of the restaurant, it was rustic, had benches, was dimly lit and perhaps a little hipster. It was stylish but the benches were a bit uncomfortable and the lighting )or lack of) meant I couldn't get a good photo (#bloggerproblems). The queue can also get long - which supports my review, really. So try and organise a visit during a slower time (our catch-up was right after I finished work but by the time we finished at 7pm the queue was at the door). It's located at 94 Miller Street just down from the Gallery of Modern Art and Royal Exchange Square.  

So yes it was a plain pizza, but because the base and the sauce were spot on I didn't mind at all and would recommenced it to the vegans of Glasgow.