Genuine Liquorette

As someone who has given up booze this year, my finger has somewhat slipped off the pulse of what is going on in the extremely competitive world of London drinking dens. One that has come to my attention is Genuine Liquorette, which originally hails from New York. It opened towards the end of summer this year, and has quietly been doing it’s thing ever since. So far, not all that interesting to me to be honest – when you stop drinking, cocktail bar openings aren’t very high on the priority list! But then I discovered that they are knocking out pizza, and a friend told me it was worth checking out. Well, it would be remiss for me not to at least give it a whirl…

I popped by, and being fair, it’s a really, really great looking place, especially upstairs. I did get a pang of “I bet this would be an amazing place to get plastered in” go through my head, but thankfully they had a sufficiently interesting selection of soft drinks to keep that thought at bay!

Upstairs, they’ve put the vast majority of drinks in cabinets around the walls, meaning that patrons can casually browse them as they drink, rather than peering over the bar past the bar staff, which can sometimes make things a bit intimidating or pressured for some – the whole concept is built around blurring the lines between bar and home drinking. And as part of this casual approach to things, they have half a dozen cocktails on tap (available as take-aways, and even on Deliveroo apparently!), and a selection that are based around piercing a can of a soft drink, pouring a bit out and topping up with a flavouring and a mini-bottle tipped upside down in the top – they call these “cha-chunkers”, presumably after the sound the mad massive drill thing they use to pierce each can makes.

The “Island of Misfits” section had me experiencing flashbacks to my teen years… The previous incarnation of me would have loved all this – I made do with a mocktail (which I have to say was excellent, just based on me saying “something zesty and citrussy”) and some kombucha.

But I’m waffling about something I wasn’t there to experience… this is about the pizza. We ordered 3. The Vegan (seemed appropriate given my recent reviews on here), and two with meat (the Hot & Bothered, & The Veal Deal).

They came out pretty promptly, and immediately I was taken aback, as these look like no pizza I have ever had before.

The crusts are folded into 5 star points, and sliced along those lines to give 5 slices per pizza. It’s visually very striking, that’s for sure. My big fear was that the visual novelty was there to mask a deficient pizza, and also that it might mean a LOT of crust. I don’t mind crusts, so long as they are tasty, but there’s a limit!

Thankfully, the fillings go into the 5 points of these pizzas, meaning that each slice has a handle to grab on to, and once you’ve eaten the more conventional end of the slice, you are left with a kind of “hot-pocket” mini calzone thing. I do think they are missing a trick by not having a few dips available for these end bits, and when I mentioned that, it seems that’s something they are talking about.

The base itself is a very decent sourdough – springy, light, bubbly, tasty. I’ve had a fair few pizzas recently where I was disappointed by the base – it’s such a fundamental part of a pizza that it’s strange to me that some just see it as an empty vessel to put some toppings on.

I’ve become something of a white pizza convert this year (I almost always order white pizza when I can now), so it was a surprise to me that I didn’t fall head-over-heels for the veal pizza. It was good, don’t get me wrong – but it didn’t quite hit the heights I’d hoped. The balance, and amount, of toppings was very good, the broccoli done just right. Very, very cheesy, which can only be a good thing. I don’t know quite why I didn’t go loopy for this one, but something didn’t click to take it from good to great – still a damn fine pizza.

The Vegan was a very interesting one. The vegan mozzarella, apparently made from soy, did a decent impression of melted cheese, although still wasn’t something I’d say compares in flavour or texture, and as the pizza cooled it did become a bit “claggy” and cloying compared to how real mozzarella behaves as it cools down. But one of the better efforts I’ve seen for sure.

The sweet potatoes were great, almost melted in the mouth, done thoroughly so as to not add any unpleasant hardness to the bite when chomping through a slice. There was maybe a touch more spinach on there then I would have liked, but I was able to take that off if I wanted, and the pine nuts were a lovely touch. The balance of flavours was excellent, with the red onions giving a touch of acidity to offset the sweetness elsewhere. Really a very good pizza – I actually think I preferred this to the Purezza one I had the other week, and that has won awards, so they’re doing something right here.

And finally, the star of the stars. This one was banging. I’d only had honey on a pizza before, the winning effort at this year’s London Pizza Festival. I’d actually found that a little overwhelming in the mouth-feel department, whereas this seemed to be done a bit more sparingly, so you just got the occasional hit of sweetness in between the spicy salami and jalapeno chillis and chilli flakes. The heat isn’t overpowering for anyone that likes it spicy, and the salami is obviously good quality stuff.

I was also pleasantly surprised to see the Bo Derek-themed wallpaper of the gents when nature called. All very in keeping with a distinctly retro, 80s kitsch aesthetic that pops up throughout the venue.

All in all, this was a very good meal – generously topped, tasty pizzas. What’s not to like there? I do think that the design of these still means you are left with a pretty doughy handful at the end, hence why dips would make a lot of sense, to maximise enjoyment of this style. But I will definitely be back (in fact I popped in yesterday to meet a visiting friend, and we shared a Hot & Bothered!), and for the booze-hounds amongst you, this looks like a fun place to get drunk and eat some jolly good pizza.

The Veal Deal 7/10

The Vegan 8/10

Hot & Bothered 9/10



Final Score – 8/10

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