Food Review: Paesano Pizza, 94 Miller Street, Merchant City, Glasgow G1 1DT

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Paesano_pizza_red_pepperBest Pizza in Glasgow already?

Controversial?  We’d been to the opening of Paesano Pizza on Miller Street (right next door to Soho) in August 2015 and wanted to let the dust settle a bit before heading back for a proper visit.  A sudden romantic lunch date for Mr & Mrs Foodie meant that we decided on Paesano (meaning fellow countryman or fellow Italian in Italian).

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Inside Paesano Pizza, Miller Street, Glasgow

Inside it’s pretty sparse with lots of wood and exposed ventilation, looking more like a Bavarian or Czech beer hall than a pizza parlour.  It is laid out with long tables and communal benches running the length of the restaurant right up to the pizza ovens (which were imported from Naples)  We’re told all the chefs are Neapolitan too – or at least from the Campania region. There are some tables for couples down the left-hand side near the door and that’s where we sat to ponder over the single-sided place-mat menu. It sticks to what they know best: pizza, so if you’re not a fan this isn’t the restaurant for you…

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Menu for Paesano Pizza, Miller Street, Glasgow

We are pizza fans of course so we picked out a couple along with some tap water, saving those extra calories for pudding. No 3 (£7)  tomato sugo with capers, olives, anchovies, mozzarella, garlic and extra virgin olive oil and a No 6 (£7) , Roasted red peppers with spinach, tomato sugo, mozzarella, ricotta and extra virgin olive oil were ordered.

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No 3 (£7) tomato sugo with capers, olives, anchovies, mozzarella, garlic and extra virgin olive oil. Paesano Pizza, Miller Street, Glasgow

If you love your garlic fresh you are going to love this one.  Juicy with the right amount of saltiness from the anchovies and capers as well as creamy mozzarella and pretty decent olives by pizza standards.  The crust was worthy of dunking into the juices from the pizza and there was an awful lot of that – they both had a really soft floppy base so when you lifted a slice it collapsed, so sugo dripped everywhere, it was messy but it tasted so good.

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No 6 (£7) , Roasted red peppers with spinach, tomato sugo, mozzarella, ricotta and extra virgin olive oil Paesano Pizza, Miller Street, Glasgow

The chewy, fluffy, spotted crust, red peppers and creamy cheese made this one a winner too but it’s all about the base, rather than the toppings. We agreed that both pizzas tasted great but we weren’t sure if we were supposed to eat with our hands, a knife and fork or the pizza cutter – but of course that’s not authentic Italian so we ruled that out and just tore at it.

The garlic on the first pizza swung it for both of us.

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Dessert menu Paesano Pizza, Miller Street, Glasgow

We resisted the tart of the day, and ordered an Affogato (£4) and Cherry with Ice cream (£4)

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Soft ice cream with cherries Paesano Pizza, Miller Street, Glasgow

What a portion! Hidden underneath this mound of ice-cream were delicious cherries.  My only gripe was that the portion was so huge it smothered the cherries so you have to get a bit of a brain-freeze headache before you reach them!

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Soft ice cream with cherries. Paesano Pizza, Miller Street, Glasgow

Mr Foodie showed off his sophisticated side with an Affogato.  An espresso coffee usually poured over ice cream but this time the ice cream was poured into the coffee. Again a huge portion, so much so that it wasn’t just the pizza that was messy!  Good smooth coffee and creamy ice cream though.

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Affogato Paesano Pizza, Miller Street, Glasgow

Price for lunch was £22 exactly for two pizzas, one affogato and ice cream with cherries.  The place was moderately busy and we were served fairly quickly. Both male and female toilets passed the all important toilet check. I think Peasano will do very well indeed, especially given its central location near to both Central and Queen St stations. A small selection of Italian beer and wine is also available.

TL;DR

+ Possibly the best pizza in Glasgow!
+ Authentic pizza and drinks
+ Quick service
+ Clean toilets
+ Good location

– Messiest pizzas we’ve ever eaten, but messy can be fun right?
– Beware of brain-freeze with the ice-cream!
– If you’re not a pizza fan then there’s nothing for you to see here. Move along now…

Emma

Emma

Hello!

I am Emma and with my husband Mark write Foodie Explorers, which is a food and travel website.

I am a member of the Guild of Food Writers and British Guild of Travel Writers.

We have a wide range of judging experience covering products, hotels and have judged, for example, for Great Taste Awards and Scottish Baker of the Year.

Along the way Mark gained WSET Level 2 in Wine and I have WSET Level 2 in Spirits as well as picking up an award with The Scotsman Food and Drink Awards.    

Usually I can be found sleeping beside a cat.

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