We needed a pre-gig dinner near the Gasometer and Red Sparrow fit the bill perfectly. They've doubled their floorspace since we last visited, but they still had to squish us in on a pretty busy Saturday evening.
We split a couple of pizzas and a side between three of us, starting with one of the specials - The Zoe ($22). It comes with a pesto base, fior di latte, cherry tomatoes, mock bacon, mushrooms, pine nuts and basil.
This was solid - the bases at Red Sparrow are excellent, but the fillings were a bit lacking in punchy flavours. The risk of mock cheese and mock meat is that things get a bit samey - I wonder if punching this one up with some tabasco or a sprinkling of olives might have helped?
Our other pizza had no problems with flavour - the sausage pizza comes with a tomato and bbq base, house pickled jalapenos, red onion, mozzarella and aioli (plus sausage of course, $20).
This is one of the best vegan pizzas in town - highly, highly recommended.
We finished things off with a serve of the buffalo fried chicken from the specials menu ($12). These little drumsticks came with a super spicy sauce slathered on them, with a ranch dipping sauce to take the heat down and some house pickles to cut through all the fried. I loved these, but the hot sauce will be too much for some people.
It's great to see Red Sparrow doing so well - they make really fantastic vegan pizzas. They're better in the shop than delivered - the bases really are spectacular fresh out of the oven. We'll be back!
____________
Read about our first visit to Red Sparrow here. Since then there have been positive reviews on Whatever Floats Your Bloat and Vegan in Brighton.
____________
Red Sparrow Pizza
406 Smith St, Collingwood
9417 1454
Accessibility: There's a flat entryway into a fairly crowded interior, plus some tables on the street. Seating is a mix of high stools and regular tables and payment happens at a high counter. The toilets are unisex, but in a pretty inaccessible courtyard out the back.
I will definitely steer clear of those buffalo wings!
ReplyDeleteI've been there twice on my visits to Melbourne, and they have both been very good visits.
I recently bought a frozen pizza that has a brand name I can't remember but is apparently made by Red Sparrow.
Susan, the wings would almost certainly be beyond your comfort levels. :D That's so interesting about your frozen pizza! I had no idea they were selling those.
Delete