Food Review: Silence speaks volumes for margherita’s quality

We put that concept (more of which later) to the test at Rudy’s on Division Street in the city centre, a brand new restaurant which opened just last Saturday.

Rudy’s already has restaurants in Leeds and Newcastle and have brought their bright and breezy brand to a former coffee house.

The modern decor is warm and open, with a couple of booths made for people watching outside and other tables centred around the open kitchen.

There chefs can be seen frantically preparing their dough - which is made fresh, daily, on site - and toppings before popping the creations into a pizza oven to cook in just 60 seconds.

We took our toddler to a corner table and were impressed with the rapid service from our waitress.

Nothing was too much trouble, they diplomatically smiled at the shouts for ‘pizza, pizza’ and even sourced a straw from outside the restaurant just for the smallest member of our party.

To start we all shared the campana, basically a platter simply heaving with buffalo mozzarella and meats from wild boar salami to cured ham.

The accompanying semi-dried tomatoes were bursting with flavour and paired beautifully with the ever-so-silky, creamy cheese.

There was crusty house bread and wild, peppery rocket too.

To that margherita then…

Our two-year-old is an avid pizza fan, influenced somewhat by an episode of Peppa Pig.

She was beyond keen to get hold of a piping hot slice of our shared main course and the silence that then engulfed that side of the table for a good ten minutes spoke louder than words.

So on her behalf expect soft, light dough (this is a fold into your mouth ASAP situation, leave elegance at the door) with two types of moreish cheese, basil and San Marzano tomato.

The restaurant team makes the effort to import some of their ingredients, including the tomatoes, from Naples and you really can tell the difference in the quality.

I also added a garlic aioli dip on the side which was smokey and delicious.

My husband’s Cinghiale option was a tastebud-tingling party with complex layers of nduja, wild boar salami and green chillies to boot. There were some deep breaths and gulps of drink taken afterwards.

The ice cream dessert helped. He went for a gelato with a surprise lemon centre, very refreshing and zingy with a crunchy coating. Our tot tirelessly battled her way through a scoop of strawberry gelato.

For the adults there was then a moreish orange version of limoncello, made just for the restaurant, and two espressos. When in Naples, after all.

Rudy’s also offers a ‘white pizza’ without a tomato base which sounded intriguing, specials and vegan options.

The restaurant gave out free meals for the opening weekend, which we were invited to partake in, but the bill would have been £55 including drinks.