These are Luis_Sera89's Top Ten Pizzas ranked for Ed Bellis's What Would You Do.
Top 10 Pizzas[]
Being a student involves a certain delicate balance. You wanna have a good time, but equally you want enough money to survive to the next day! Getting takeaways is standard procedure after a night out, no way can I be bothered going back and cooking something up, assuming my empty fridge even has anything in it, I want cheap food and I want it with as little effort as possible. Pizza of course is normally the food of choice, especially since no-one is this god damn city seems capable of making a half decent burger or chips. At the same time though, I definitely want enough change to get the bus the next day or I'll be walking in! So here's my top 10 tips for great pizzas without leaving yourself stranded.
#10 - Sweet and Sour
Not the most commonly available variety nor is it especially cheap, so it props up my list but damn is that a nice flavour. Its almost like it shouldn't work, but like noodles it invariably manages it. Some chicken, usually flavoured too helps tremendously, pineapple adds to the sweetness and occasionally you'll get some jalapenos thrown in too. Great.
#9 - Bolognaise/Chili/Barbacue
These have all been grouped together because they're essentially the same, saucy pizzas that are goopier than most but crucially offer something different to the usual tomato. They can vary slightly in price and some are more than just sauce but they're always a great alternative. Unfortunately the flavour can be a little much sometimes and you find yourself leaving some for tomorrow morning (wahey!), and they're sometimes on the pricey side, but these are something you should try at least once.
#8 - Make Your Own/50-50/Chef's Special
Obviously these can be tuned to perfection, but they get no higher than 8th because they're also among the priciest options. One-offs for special occasions then.
#7 - Ham and Pineapple/Hawaiian
An old classic, attractively priced, and a variety no-one turns down. You literally can't go wrong with this pizza. Literally the only criticisim that can be labelled at it is that for a non-Margherita pizza it's a little lacking flavourwise, but for the 9 times out of 10 that this doesn't matter, its a safe-as-houses pick :P
#6 - Tandoori Chicken
Ahh, just great. The chicken on it's own is so damn tasty, but the additional herbs, spice, peppers and onions just set it apart from most "one-special-ingredient" pizzas. Its a hotter option than standard chicken or ham pizzas, so some may prefer them, but for me more flavour is usually better, and I'd plump for this everytime. Unless of course the menus also offering...
#5 - Sausage/Garlic Sausage
Takeaways don't always supply this option, hell some don't even have sausage on Meat Feasts. Some places don't offer sausage on it's own, and it's not quite worth forking out extra just to get it under a Make-Your-Own, so this drops it down to 5th. When you can get it though, there's not much better.
#4 - Meat Feast
Probably my favourite pizza I can get in near enough any pizza takeaway or restaurant... if I'm back at home and can get someone else to pay for it :P Up at uni I haven't actually got one yet, because like 8 and 10 they're pretty expensive for a pizza if you can't get it as part of a deal, but the sheer amount of ingredients and variety of meat you get makes it worthy of a place at 4th.
#3 - Margherita
The ultimate in pizza on a budget! Always the cheapest, rarely bad, and the quickest to get. Only outclassed in one area...
#2 - Garlic Margherita
Man I was onto something the other night when I was willing to spend the extra 20p to get this! Ok, so it wasn't really a hard choice and I'm not that stingy with money really, but everyone should try and get this if they're not fussy about a lack of extras. The garlic enhances it tenfold, it's like a thick, juicy piece of garlic bread. Beautiful.
#1 - Pepperoni
More often than not though, I'll find myself getting this pinnacle of pizzadom. Inexpensive, meaty and occasionally draped with extra surprises! THIS, is the all-time classic Pepperoni pizza. I mean, everyone thinks of pepperoni when imagining a pizza in their head, or drawing one as a child, don't they? Its just good good stuff. Pepperoni slices on their own are fairly so-so, but on a pizza it just takes it to another level.
Sometime I chance my arm on the hope that a burger wont suck when odering takeaways, or that a curry won't be ridiculously oily, or that southern fried chicken wings aren't taken from the scrawniest birds in existence. But pizzas are never bad if you know where to go. And that certainly isn't places where they go for £1.50 for 9 inchers >_< Eww, cheese substitute...