Purezza (CLOSED)

Please note, this branch of Purezza has now closed because it has moved to a bigger site next door on 45-47 Parkway. Time Out Food editors, MARCH 2020. 

Are you vegan cheese curious? Step into Camden’s Purezza (Italian for ‘purity’). Its plant-based pizzas have terrific toppings, from smoked tofu to beetroot carpaccio.

It’s a modern, relaxed space with a definite buzz; ditching meat and dairy doesn’t seem to have deterred punters. And no wonder. The dough balls, for example, were sinful little spheres oozing Purezza’s convincing substitute – and then there was the impressive mac ’n’ cheese, which produced the same mixture of satisfaction, guilt and sweats as the regular stuff.

By contrast, the Neapolitan-styled pizzas were relatively ‘light’, thanks to fluffy, bubbly, chewy sourdough bases (or a hemp version with a nutty earthiness). Toppings showcased creative veg combinations, with a few cheese-style and meatier leanings, but things never got too stodgy. Take the Parmigiana Party, topped with rich aubergine pieces and lightly smoked ‘mozzarella’ (made from fermented brown rice milk), a sprinkling of nutritional yeast adding a moreish, salty hit. The only negative was the tofu sausage, or rather the lack of it.

Sometimes though, you just have to say: ‘To hell with it, I’m getting the Oreo Pizza’. What appeared had four on top, plus something approaching Nutella and something else approaching mascarpone, but really, it all just blended into one sweet gooey mess. ‘Purity’, it seems, doesn’t have to exclude good old-fashioned gluttony.