Pizza East

It's wet January, payday seems so far away, and everyone in London seems to be taking part in Dry January after inhaling too much alcohol in the lead-up to Christmas and on New Year's Eve.

Myself included.

I spent a little bit more than I should have on presents and Christmas drinking this year, so much so that like everyone else, I am hoping payday would be tomorrow, not a couple of weeks away.

To wash away the grey and gloomy January (seriously, when will the rain stop?), me and Frankie thought a post-Christmas catch up hiding from the rain would be a good way to cheer ourselves up!

Anyone for pizza?

Pizza East is over by Boxpark in Shorditch, and perfect spot to nip in if you are in the area. We settled down at the bar, and grabbed a drink before we fell into non-stop chatter.

Dry January... It was a good run but now we are over. Me and rose wine has rekindled, which went down nicely whilst we looked over the menu (which you can see here) and caught up about how we both saw in 2014...

I know it's only pizza, but there was a few to chose from! 
To start, we went for the lamb meatballs in tomato sauce with melted mozzarella on the top!

With a side of garlic bread that we dipped into the sauce whilst the chefs freshly made our pizza's.

A few more wines later, the chefs lent into the ovens and whipped our pizza's out, cut them up and served them piping hot.

Which was perfect timing, because the wine was starting to go down a little too quickly,

Frankie went for aubergine, smoked mozzarella, and tomato on hers.

Whilst I decided to chose the prosciutto cotto which was hanging nearby...

And mixed it with buffalo mozzarella, provolone and tomatoes to make a little piece of January Heaven.

It might not seem much, but because the ham had been dry-cured and hanging, the taste was so much nicer when mixed with the cheeses and tomato. A bit of olive oil on the side, and it's a bit of Italy in East London.

We didn't speak much whilst eating, which is always a good sign of some good food, and then grabbed another couple glasses of wine before heading round to the pub near Brick Lane.

Which was when our evening was cut-short.

Sat inside the pub by the bar, me and Frankie carried on chatting away, tweeting and having a couple of drinks when her boyfriend arrived. He put his bag down by her feet and went outside for a cigarette. 
In the time he went outside for a cigarette, someone had managed to steal his bag from right beneath our eyes. Being sat by the bar, people were stood next to us ordering their drinks and occasionally knocking us, so it was really easy to distract our attention whilst someone grabbed and ran. With his iPad and barber kit in the bag, not only was it stolen, but he wasn't able to work the next day.
No-one in the pub saw what happened, and with it being busy it would have been even easier to take someones bag without noticing!

Whatever you do, make sure you keep your bag in eyesight by placing it on a hook next to you, or on the chair with you. Especially since it's been Christmas and everyone now has a new kindle, or iPad, or nice new aftershave, so people are on the prowl to make a quick few quid wherever they can! 

Keep those valuables safe!