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Four Hundred Rabbits
Finding my way through London has never been an easy task. And even though 400 Rabbits is located right in the middle of the high street in West Norwood, I still had difficulty. That was until my eager eating companion spotted it. There it was, so neatly nestled into the high street that you could almost miss it if you didn’t stop to take a look.
From the outside, Four Hundred Rabbits could be your favourite local secret. Inside, thanks to low lighting and small intimate tables that are surrounded by diners, you feel like you could be sat right in the middle of the city.
Using a hand-crafted stone floor Gozney oven that boasts a traditional wood-fire design Four Hundred Rabbits, we had heard, make the best Neapolitan pizza in town. And you can’t miss them when you enter - they set the tone to the restaurant and make you feel right at home. But do they really make the difference to your pizza? So, we deliberated as we waited for our starters.
We shared pickled cucumbers and green pork and chilli beer sticks to start, which were full of flavour, but I’m sorry to say didn’t excite us as much as we hoped. Perhaps we should have tried the wood roasted Padron peppers instead, which are coated in oil and sprinkled with Maldon salt (mmm). My cocktail of choice; the gin Campari vermouth, however, made me forget all about my poor choice in starters. The infamous Italian cocktail, which is made up of gin, vermouth and Campari was, to say the least, strong but was easily saved thanks to the orange peel garnish.
A few minutes after our starters were taken away our pizzas arrived. The restaurant’s new Gozney Classic 1250 oven can cook up to six pizzas at a time, which means stopping in to grab a pizza is that much quicker if you’re on the go.
My wood-fired sourdough pizza was served with Brindisa Iberico chorizo, pickled chillies, tomato, mozzarella and basil toppings. With one bite, it was everything that I had hoped for and more. Overwhelmingly delicious, the dough was perfect and I can honestly say I’ve never had a better-cooked pizza. My more adventurous date had tried the wood roasted octopus pizza topped with chorizo, delicious capers, chives, tomato and a drizzle of flavoursome lemon oil and crushed garlic.
The restaurant also boasts a great vegan pizza selection and have developed a special base using cauliflower. And even these are supposed to be incredible. Using the Gozney ovens once again to roast the cauliflower, it gives the base of the pizza a smoky flavour from the burning wood.
Although the restaurant had an ice cream bar that was full of glorious, tempting options, we were too full. We had finished every slice and did not regret it.
The service, of course, throughout was very friendly and very quick. For a Friday night, the atmosphere was full of bustling families and lovers. And the food, incomparable. Even better than the many pizzas I’ve consumed in Rome. I guess traditional, wood-fired pizzas rule over all - just might have to buy myself a Gozney oven now, which you can actually do. Gozney has launched new Black Edition and Stone Core ovens which bring restaurant quality food to the comfort of your own home. Not bad ey?
