The best value for money and fastest pizzas served in Cape Town must be those from the Pizza Club in Hout Bay, which are 30 cm in size and have a very thin base.  One is offered the unusual ability to order a “duo” or a “trio” pizza, with two or three topping combinations out of the list of 23 choices offered.

Celebrating its first anniversary in Hout Bay, the Pizza Club formerly traded in the south-west of France.  Wife Tracy from the United Kingdom and Italian husband Massimo Orione met in an internet chatroom, Tracy tells us and laughs.   Both worked in the UK at that time 12 years ago, and they fell in love, moved to France to start the Pizza Club there, and moved to South Africa after a life-changing holiday.  

The Pizza Club is next door to the Spar at the Oakhurst Farm Park, and for those who have not been there before, the entrance is not easy to find.  We walked past the restaurant, expecting the entrance to be at the back end of the building.  Tracy saw us taking the wrong turn, and called us to guide us.   We sat outside on a lovely Cape summer evening, next to the kids’ jungle gym, overlooking the mountain.   The kids’ screeching was irritating initially, but they were mercifully taken home soon thereafter. 

The menu and winelist is printed on brown paper, to give a pizza look, and is laminated.  It is immediately evident that the PizzaClub is a no-nonsense pizza place with “two non-celebrity pizza designers”, as tweeted by Massimo recently.   The 23 pizza choices include two sweet ones, banana and ricotta cheese, and one served with chocolate spread.   A basic Margarita pizza costs R 44, and the most expensive R 79.  A board advertised four further special topping combinations at R 89 each.   A daily salad costs R24 as a side serving, and the salad of the day was a butternut, spring onion and soy honey sauce one.  Two “bulk” deals are offered: the Pizza Festival offers 6 persons or more an unlimited pizza and side salad for R 98 per person, while the full Italian Experience at R 140 per head for a minimum of 10 persons offers antipasti, unlimited pizza, side salad, dessert and lemoncello.

The menu welcomes one “in our home, and we’ll treat you as such”.  It lays a few ground rules: no doggy bags for their Pizza Festival or Italian Experience, and one is not allowed to bring one’s own food or beverages.

Unbelievably the pizzas were served within 5 minutes of placing our order, and such generosity of ingredients on the pizza has never been seen before – one could not see the pizza base at all, only on the outer edge.  The pizzas are large, larger than a dinner plate.  The pizzas cooled quickly, being so large, so that the last bitefuls are cold by the time one gets to them.  

The dessert choice costs R 32, and was a chocolate mousse and tiramisu, and the latter was made the real Italian way, and pronounced delicious.  Generously Massimo brought a glass each of lemoncello and chocolate liqueur served in a chocolate cup once he had identified the writer as a fellow Twitterer!    Kim Maxwell, a food writer and winetaster, was also at the restaurant.  On its menu the Pizza Club proudly refers to its good reviews on Rossouws’ Restaurants, Eat Out and Relax with Dax websites, and requests patrons to add comments to these websites if they are happy, or to feed back to the owners any dissatisfaction.   The website also reflects the good feedback the Pizza Club has received, and cleverly gives the Italian feel on its homepage, with basil, mozarella and tomatoes representing the colours of the Italian flag. 

The winelist offers Bianco, Roso and Rossato at an unbelievably economical R 18 by the glass.  White wines start at R 65 (Welgemoed Sauvignon Blanc and Perdeberg Chenin Blanc) and the Jordan Chardonnay is the most expensive at R 165.   The price range for the red wines is from R 65 (Rietvallei John Cabernet Sauvignon/Tinta Barrocca) to R 170 for the Warwick Three Cape Ladies.   Three sparkling wines are on the winelist, and range from R 70 for an unknown Vendaye to R 180 for the Steenberg 1682 Brut.

Pizza Club, Oakhurst Farm Park, off Main Road, Hout Bay.  Open Wednesdays – Sundays, from 17h30 onwards.  Tel 021 790 7906, or sms the word “pizza” to 073 390 1373 so that they can return your call. www.pizzaclub.co.za  Twitter: @pizzaclub_hb

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com