PickyWops' Vegan Pizza Packs A Meaty Punch

Vegan pizza is everywhere right now. From big brands, to independent stores, everyone is suddenly desperate to cater towards the dairy-dodging audience. There are two routes to go down: cheeseless pizza or cheese-substituted pizza. PickyWops are firmly in the latter camp, but they're not just a bunch of copycats hopping on the bandwagon. They've been doing this for a while, starting out in west London, but now they're venturing down south, and trendy Peckham. It doesn't matter where they go, as long as their pizza tastes this good.

As a long time veggie, I've never really had any meat pizzas. In all honesty they never appealed to me even when I did eat meat. However, I'm feeling adventurous, so give the Protein Punch — covered in seitan Doner — a chance. It's an excellent decision, the 'meat' combining with the pesto to create vivid flavours and colours, while the Violife coconut oil based mozzarella does its bit to provide a cheesy consistency to the dish. Another stand out pizza is the Parmigiana — an ambitious dish for PickyWops to tackle considering the main ingredient is the eponymous cheese. It's slightly less successful; the coconut parmesan is noticeably not your normal parmesan, but the plethora of aubergine underneath carries the food the distance.

PickyWops' pizzas have customisable bases — an enjoyable touch — although it's difficult to discern a difference in flavour between the burned wheat and the hemp. That's not to say they aren't both excellent — with just the right level of thickness, it's satisfying when you bite in.

The picky in 'PickyWops' comes from the slang for fussy eaters, and it's a word most vegans will recognise from when it's lumped in their direction. Well, there's absolutely no need to be picky here — the menu is deep, varied and delicious.

PickyWops, Peckham Levels, 95A Rye Lane, Peckham, SE15 4AT