Deep Dish Chicago-Style Pizza Finally Arrives In London

Japes, Soho ★★★★☆

By Lydia Manch Last edited 59 months ago

Looks like this article is a bit old. Be aware that information may have changed since it was published.

Deep Dish Chicago-Style Pizza Finally Arrives In London Japes, Soho 4

'They do things big, big I tells ya', Anthony Bourdain said of Chicago. And one of the things they do big has just landed in London: hand-width thick, cheese-covered deep dish pizza.

It's been a mystery/source of woe at Londonist HQ for years that there isn't more Chicago-style pizza in the city. Sure, occasional pop-ups or short-run menus have featured the high-crusted, reverse-toppinged pies, (cheese underneath, tomato sauce on top), but there hasn't been a reliable, steady source of deep dish pizza in London. Until now. Until Japes.

The menu's divided into deep dish pizza and Chicago-style pot pies... and it won't be long before they're covering your feeds on social, because the cheese pulls on both are epic.

The Piccante deep dish is a double-meat, double-cheese knockout. Pepperoni and nduja, mozzarella and parmesan. It looks like it should be denser than a collapsing star, but it's fluffy-crusted, chewy but light like focaccia: the richness and heaviness is all coming from the toppings.   

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Jess (@girlwhobrunch) on

The pizza pot pie is a higher-edged structure, something like a fondue poured into a pastry vessel. The Green Queen (zucchini, broccoli, spinach, ricotta and mozzarella) oozes dairy like lava when you cut into it. Green definitely isn't the prevailing colour; we spot occasional flecks scattered through cartoonishly lavish carpets of cheese. This is food to see you through a Chicago winter... or a Soho drinking session.

The peripheral things are all simple but solid — welcoming service; decent-priced drinks list; a waffle menu that rivals the pizzas for OTT, dairy-covered lavishness.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Japes (@japes_uk) on

It isn't going to be for everybody and you can't use it to replace any Neapolitan pizzas or NY-slices in your life. But Japes is really, really good at what it does.

Maybe this heralds the start of an influx of deep dish pizza to London. But right now, this is the only reliable place we know of to gorge yourself on Chicago-style pie, and we couldn't be happier that it's come to Soho.

Japes Soho, 22-25 Dean Street, W1D 3RY.

Last Updated 12 April 2019