Review: Is a slice of Newcastle's Pizza Punks restaurant worth the hype?

Newcastle’s Grey Street is always bustling; it’s awash with independent bars, popular restaurants and makes for a great little stumble down to the Quayside - so the area is pretty ideal for a new food injection in the form of a punked-up pizza joint, right? You betcha.

Pizza Punks is the latest chain restaurant to pop up in Geordie Land - having already made a name for itself in Glasgow and Belfast. Once inside, you’re instantly met with neon lights, exposed brickwork and industrialised props and furniture.

It’s basically what it says on the tin, it’s simple. There are no airs and graces - but you surely can’t expect that when the place has punk in its name.

With a hearty dosage of rock and pop anthems ranging from classics by The Kinks and Foo Fighters - complete with indie Joy Division lyrics emblazoned on a wall in pink neon splashes - it’s hard to call Pizza Punks an anarchy on your senses. It’s actually far from it.

While it doesn’t necessarily deliver in looking punk on the eye - I’m not entirely sure you’d catch John Lydon here - it definitely ticks all the boxes when it comes to, well, the reason you walked through that door. That reason being pizza, of course.

Pizza Punks is no rough and ready headbang towards mohawks and sweaty guys thrashing guitars sadly, but it’s actually all about the company’s ethos in allowing customers to enjoy as many toppings as possible on a pizza for one set price.

The pizza is £10 per head, and it’s damn well worth it. What makes it even better is that there is something for every meat lover and vegan alike. Try the vegan cheese, I have heard very good things.

You can choose from either sourdough or gluten-free bases, then comes your sauce. I opted for barbeque because that’s just how I roll, but you’ve got two other options: Red sauce (tomato, basil and garlic) or white sauce (creme fraiche and double cream).

Being a vegetarian, I decided to load my pizza with falafel (not the norm, but I can confirm it was a very pleasant experience), mozzarella, olives, red peppers, broccoli, sun-dried tomatoes and a huge heap of basil.

This was also the first time I tried tortilla chips on a pizza. It didn’t exactly blow my head off but you may as well wave goodbye to London pizzas forever - chips just aren’t punk enough, guys.

For meat eaters, you’ve got one hell of a selection to choose from. Irn-Bru pulled pork? Chipotle and chocolate pulled pork? Newcastle Brown Ale beef brisket or candied bacon? Are you running to the restaurant already because we, sure as hell, don’t blame you?

Of course, there are also various starters and sides to choose from. Being a table of four, we shared mac ‘n’ cheese (bacon optional) as well as rosemary and sea salt garlic bread, which both look small on arrival but are adequately filling before the star of the show.

And if you’re still feeling rather peckish, post-pizza, there’s a small dessert menu I was too full to venture into. It includes milkshakes and a very sweet-sounding nutella and banana pizza with butterscotch ice cream… Am I planning my second visit? You decide.

So, there you have it. Pizza Punks isn’t exactly an ode to the Sex Pistols or Vivienne Westwood, but it’s an absolute head-banger for good, old-fashioned pizza with a twist.

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