Rudy’s Pizza Ancoats – Worth The Dough
Rudy’s Neapolitan Pizza has taken Manchester by storm, so much so, Napoli has become my second team. Entry to the Ancoats site was a lottery: like a meek sixteen-year-old slipping into Wetherspoons with fake ID and an even faker moustache, I prayed for access. Rudy’s Neapolitan Pizza was too cool for bookings and the queue was an hour. The Mrs started to panic. Fortuitously, Seven Bro7hers BeerHouse was ready and waiting moments away, temporarily quenching hunger pangs with excellent craft ales.
Despite Rudy’s Neapolitan Pizza being consistently busy, I was chirpily greeted and ushered to ring side seats opposite the chefs in a welcoming manner. I asked about the different Mozzarella – I couldn’t tell a word they said – but felt their passion the way deaf people hear the vibrations of an orchestra. I gratefully received delicious samples of the different Mozzerella, even though the pizzas where scarily quick to be served.
Rudy’s Neapolitan Pizza is about simplicity; dough contains only four ingredients (flour, water, salt and yeast) and pizzas are only cooked for one minute. Rudy’s is proudly Neapolitan – not ‘thin and crispy’ and absolutely not ‘deep pan’.
Rudy’s pizzas are a thing of beauty. Billowing doughy crusts, rising and falling, before popping with lightly charred edges, run down to tissue paper thin bases. This is the pizza you lament you’ve only had in Italy. The luxurious salty cheese, nostril filling basil aromas, umami pumped tomatoes – this is what no frills Italian cooking is all about. However, toppings inelegantly slide from base to plate, like a collapsed drunk falling from a taxi and everything was very salty; but, with so much savoury deliciousness filling your mouth nobody cared.
How do Rudy’s Neapolitan Pizza create these pieces of magic? It’s simple really. Water, flour, salt & yeast is mixed, before being softened by hand and rolled into perfectly identical balls. To quote these pizza geniuses:” We believe that in order to create a Neapolitan Pizza one must use the freshest, finest and most authentic ingredients; the main event is the Caputo ‘00’ flour which comes straight from Naples to give our dough the bounce it needs”.
Rudy’s Ancoats’ interior was rather plain but the atmosphere carried a real buzz. Considering the characterful wine and reasonable price point – give me Rudy’s Neapolitan Pizza over High Street chains any day.
Rudy’s Neapolitan Pizza Wine Prices
The Rudy’s Neapolitan pizza wine list is small but perfectly formed. They are all Italian wines and despite the small selection, is all you need with pizza. The cheapest bottle of wine is either a Catarratto or a Nero D’Avola, which are both by Palazzo Del Mare, from Sicily at £15.90. The most expensive bottle of wine is a Prosecco by La Vita Sociale at a comfortable £22. If you’re more of a grain than a grape person, the local Runaway Pale Ale is recommended, but I’d suggest the high acidity fruity wines work better with pizza then something just as yeasty.
Rudy’s Neapolitan Pizza Ancoats
Review Score
When the food is this delicious, affordable and service is friendly, it’s hard not to love. Having to walk through Ancoats and being put on a waiting list is a bit of a faff; still, Rudy’s is definitely worth it.
Atmosphere 8/10 Cost 10/10 Quality 9/10 Service 8/10
Find Rudy’s Neapolitan Pizza
Ancoats Manchester
Find Rudy’s Neapolitan Pizza
Ancoats Manchester
- Confidentials: “…to ward off the nasty folk possessed of the evil eye you have to touch your genitals or make the sign of the horns…”
- Food Geek Blog: “The space is very basic inside but that doesn’t matter if the food’s up to their usual standard.”
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