Rudy's Pizzeria, Leeds Serves Up A Slice Of Pizza Perfection

You can make the best laid plans but that does not necessarily mean that they will go to plan.

Take Rudy's a well established Neapolitan style pizzeria restaurant with outlets the other side of the Pennines. The Leeds launch had been planned for months yet within a few weeks of the restaurant opening in late February the restaurant was soon to be closed due to the current pandemic. Is it worth visiting when they eventually reopen? Read on to find out.

The new Leeds restaurant is handy if coming by train - the station is only a few minutes away. The first thing you notice when entering the buzzing restaurant is that the mood is very relaxed - the staff do not have any uniform, instead they wear jeans, T Shirt and trainers. You might expect the service to be relaxed - it is in a fashion but the young and enthusiastic team are super efficient.

Even when the pandemic was starting to get a grip the staff were forever wiping tables and chairs and wiping down door handles and switches at every opportunity.

The vibe is youthful, breezy and contagious with an open plan kitchen adding to the mix.

The menu isn't that vast, instead I got the impression that they were going for quality rather than quantity. Our starter of Burrata came with Cherry tomatoes, wild rocket and house baked bread priced at £6.20.

You have 12 choices for their Neapolitan style pizzas which range in price from £4.90 to £8.90. I opted for the Salame pizza, I've eaten enough of them in Italy from the local village pizzeria to the street corner vendors in Naples itself, dodging the mad Italians on their scooters as they traverse the slim alleyways, to fully know what a good pizza should taste like.

My Salame could be ordered as a white pizza but I decided upon the traditional tomato one with lashings of Napoli Salame with basil and olive oil. I could have closed my eyes and I would have been back in Naples itself albeit without the kamikaze scooter drivers!

My partner decided upon the Romagnola pizza which consisted of Margherita, rocket,cured ham, Parmesan shavings and olive oil. It must have been good as she finished the lot.

Like most proper Italian restaurants the dessert menu is small with the standard such as Tiramisu and Ice Cream. A "Specials" board caught my eye with the tempting Chocolate Brownie made locally by Leeds A Slice of Home. At £3.50 it seemed only right to add the ice cream from Manchester based Ginger Comfort Emporium for an extra £2.00. A guilty pleasure indeed.

The Tartifo, a classic Italian dessert comes with different flavours - try the Lemon one with chocolate or hazelnut and you will be happy.

The quasi industrial decor might not be to everyone's tastes but you don't come for that, you will come for the authentic tasting pizzas, good service and value for money.

Rudy's, 2 New Station Street, Leeds LS1 5DL
https://www.rudyspizza.co.uk/leeds/