Ask Pizza - gluten free pizza and chips

I haven't tried Ask Pizza for quite a while, and the last time I had a very mundane gluey gf pasta as the only safe option.  Today I visited Ask Pizza in Lichfield, and was pleasantly surprised to see they have got a fully labelled menu with plenty of choices.  I tried a pizza and also had chips as it was a pleasure to be able to.  The chips were crisp on the outside though a bit pasty in the middle - I suspect the very bad summer weather has made it harder than usual to get good potatoes for various uses.  The main thing was that I didn't have to go through the rigmarole of how do you cook you chips with staff that had no idea why I was asking.

The pizza came on the same type of flat object that the ordinary pizza came on (not a plate and not a slate...don't know what to call it) and with an identical pizza roller, which worried me slightly.  It was, however, very obviously the gf option as it looked more like a thin flatbread than the wheat pizza.  It was excellent in that the base didn't suck all the flavour out of the toppings the way the Pizza Hut pizzabase did, further enhanced by generously applied and flavoursome ingredients.  It would have been better if the base had been crisped up a little on a hot griddle, but I was told that would be too hard on top of all the other avoiding contamination activities they needed to do.  I find my own pizza bases benefit from a blast of bottom heat to avoid a stodgy bottom.

So, full marks for a clear menu and plenty of choice.  Pity I couldn't find out what the ingredients were. And I haven't become ill, so their anti-contamination processes were effective.

Pizza Hut square gluten free pizza

Pizza Hut worked with the UK Coeliac Society to produce a gf pizza.  I finally tried one today, having had a family party cancelled due to illness- what better to do on a day of filthy weather than potter off to an office supplies store and grab the opportunity to try this pizza in the cafe next door.

We don't tend to use Pizza Hut as their normal pizzas have been dull in the past. However, there at the door minutes before they opened meant that the place would be clean and the atmosphere not too thick with flour.

I ordered something called a Veggie Hot.  I decided to try the standard pizza rather than telling them to leave off the cheese.  I took some Lactase but didn't take any glutenzyme, so I could see if I got contaminated.  I asked for (sorry folks) an extra topping of Pineapple - partly because other reviews I had seen said the pizzas were dry.

The pizza looked fine. The base held together.  It could be eaten by hand or with a knife and fork.  The base itself was rather sweet and had a flavour-deadening effect on the topping.  By scraping all the topping onto half the pizza I had a bit of flavour, but it was astonishing that they could take tomato paste, cheese, green pepper (capsicum), chillies, onion, fresh tomatoes and pineapple and combine them in such a flavourless way.  The extra pineapple topping was not enough to add much succulence, and it cost £1.10 extra.

I was offered a salad bowl - you can just fill up at their salad bar while you wait for your pizza.  I said I didn't think it was a good idea given that avoiding cross contamination might be difficult, to which the waitress smiled, shrugged, and said it probably wasn't a good idea.  I didn't push this, but I was surprised she didn't offer to get a simple fresh salad from the kitchen.  Maybe they put out all the vegetables at the start of the day - but that seems unlikely as some of the pizzas come with rocket.

So, full marks for making an effort.  Having the pizzas arrive a different shape is very sensible - the better quality gf food is them more essential it is that it is very clearly identifiable.   It also reminds that staff at every stage that they are dealing with gf food.

As we were leaving a group of eight young people arrived and I noticed two of them ordered a gf pizza.  I am sure that being able to get a gf pizza makes the social side of life much easier.  It is just a pity that the flavour is so lacking.  This pizza felt as if whoever invented it had never eaten it but had focused solely on the construction and contamination sides of the issue.  I still feel fine an hour later so I think this pizza was safe.

Twenty hours later, still fine.  Pizza Hut managed to feed me safely if a bit boringly.