In a matter of months, Lonsdale has transformed into a pizza paradise. From Pizza Gusto, to Pialligo Urban and the drinking holes along the strip all offering pizza as well, we were surprised (and delighted) to hear Grease Monkey was getting a pizza oven. This transformation required them to build an entire new kitchen for their specialty oven ensuring each pizza is cooked for six minutes.
Before even tasting a slice, it was obvious the team were trying to achieve something a little different than what is currently offered in Canberra – the pizza’s are square! The Detroit Style (DSP) has a fluffy thick base and a caramelised, crisp crust. If you’re dining in the huge pizza arrives to your table on an oven drip tray, which was evidently needed to catch excess cheese, sauce and grease!
“The unique thing about DSP is its shape – it’s cooked in a ‘square’ pan, inspired by auto part trays from the Motor City itself. Because of the shape, the cheese caramelises around the outside of the pizza, so make sure you get to the corner pieces first,” the greasy team said.
Navigating the menu was a tricky one. Nine pizzas on offer, all with a unique topping, secret sauce, and speciality cheese blend. Would we go the Meat Lover with beef brisket, cabanossi, pepporoni, bacon and ham! Or was that a little too much meat? On the other end of the spectrum was the delicious looking Continental, a veg option with baby spinach, mushroom, ricotta, Motor City cheese blend (which can be found on almost every pizza) and a red sauce. We were persuaded into the 8 Mile, made up of bacon, prawns jalapeños, basil, cheese blend and vodka sauce. While we sat anxiously waiting for our order there were whispers on the table next to ours stating that in their opinion the 8 Mile was the winner – phew.
It arrived at our table looking just as impressive as we’d seen in photos, and a waft of fresh basil followed. We definitely made the right decision. After just two slices we were already feeling incredibly satisfied, so we shovelled down one more for good luck and got the remainder take away. On the drive home we wondered why we’d never had vodka sauce before and if it would be inappropriate to ask for the recipe.
Next time you feel like pizza, think outside the circle. Greasy’s Pizza is now available, but please don’t make the mistake of thinking you can take an entire pizza for yourself!
