Dinner For Two
V.I.P. (Very Italian Pizza), Brighton
I think my now it has become abundantly clear that Mr.Boyfriend and I have a thing for Italian food. If it wasn't for me trying to stay in shape and him, wanting a steak every now and then, we'll probably never ever eat anything else. Pizza and pasta are The Best! Full stop. That's why finding a good pizzeria is incredibly important for us, a place on which we can rely on to deliver good quality pizza made with authentic ingredients and without costing us more than a weeks rent.
That said, I've been eyeing a new place new Old Stein, Brighton, for a while now. I've only heard good reviews for this restaurant, which have to say something about it, right? Even our snobby-and-hard-to-satisfy-about-everything-Italian friend Sam gave it his approving nod, so we were ready to give it a shot! So last week, before the whole Christmas craze started, Mr.Boyfriend and I dressed up and paid V.I.P. a visit.
The service is extremely friendly, they are all Italians and this is their family business, so you can imagine the picture. The interior in the restaurant is somewhere between rough chic and authentic Italian smallness. It is nice, but nothing shiny and fancy about it. We were seated on a table close to the door, that wasn't much of a problem but I would've preferred one of the other empty ones that weren't so close to the drift. After a quick look at the menu, we chose to start with Capresse, because this is like the most basic Italian thing ever. Even though it took them good half an hour to slice a tomato and drizzle it with salt and olive oil. On the bright side, this was probably one of the best Capresse salads I have ever had - the tomato was perfectly ripe, juicy and fresh, and the mozzarella was beyond delicious.
For mains we went for pizzas, what a surprise, right! I ordered Quattro Stagioni (tomato, mozzarella, ham, mushrooms, black olives and artichokes) while Mr.Boyfriend decided to have Parma (tomato, mozzarella, Parma ham, parmigiano shavings, rocket). The pizzas arrived promptly right after our starters, hot, fresh and full of aromas, including the one of stone-baked pizza (scored major points with me there). The pizzas were huge, by the way, big enough for sharing, if you ask me, but we all know how greedy we all become when it comes to sharing food. Especially pizza... So, back to the point. V.I.P are not afraid to load the pizzas with the good goods. Well, they are not overloading the pizzas, but they are not Donatello, they are making sure that you're having a bite-full of everything you wanted on your pizza. Mr.Boyfriend raised the point that his pizza was slightly on the salty side, but nothing too extreme and inedible. I was very happy with mine, but I', rarely not happy with pizza.
The only real issue I had with V.I.P. was that they are slow and forgetful. After they served our salad I asked for a glass of tap water and it took them only one whole dinner to remember and to bring my glass of water with the bill. That is unacceptable, but I guess everything cannot be perfect at the same time. Especially at the price that you're paying in V.I.P. - for the quality and quantity of food they are offering, it's dirty cheap! Our whole bill, including a pint of Italian beer and a large glass of the more expensive red wine, came to less than 30 GBP, High five for that!
Overall, this was an amazing experience and I understand why everyone have been praising this plase. They are really good, probably my new favourite staff-my-face-with-pizza place in Brighton. Look out guys, I found a new Italian little gem!
Food: 9/10
Location: 8/10
The only real issue I had with V.I.P. was that they are slow and forgetful. After they served our salad I asked for a glass of tap water and it took them only one whole dinner to remember and to bring my glass of water with the bill. That is unacceptable, but I guess everything cannot be perfect at the same time. Especially at the price that you're paying in V.I.P. - for the quality and quantity of food they are offering, it's dirty cheap! Our whole bill, including a pint of Italian beer and a large glass of the more expensive red wine, came to less than 30 GBP, High five for that!
Overall, this was an amazing experience and I understand why everyone have been praising this plase. They are really good, probably my new favourite staff-my-face-with-pizza place in Brighton. Look out guys, I found a new Italian little gem!
Food: 9/10
Service: 6/10
Interior: 7/10
Location: 8/10
Pricing: 9/10
Overall Grade: 8/10
Would we go back: Yes! Yes! Yes! But they have to speed up their service, you guys. As someone who runs around to serve clients and tries to get back to them with the speed of light - 45-50 minutes for a glass of water is too much! But the food, oh deer god, the food is GOOD!
You can't get lost if you don't know where you're going...
