Ecco Pizzeria - Leeds

If you’re from Leeds, then you definitely need to keep reading as I’ve found one of those hidden gems again!

Ecco Pizzeria recently opened a second restaurant in Leeds and I was lucky enough to be invited to go try it before they officially opened. Their first restaurant is in Headingly and most people I’ve spoken to seem to have either been or had takeout from there before, so I had pretty high hopes for their new restaurant. We visited the new Roundhay branch which, if you’re from Leeds, is really easy to find as it’s just past Tropical World.

What I think sets Ecco apart from other pizza places is that they’re one of those places which caters for food intolerances/preferences really well. They do gluten free, vegetarian and even vegan pizzas which is pretty unusual – I’ve certainly never seen a vegan pizza before.

I visited Ecco with Jess (who you’ll all know from Forever Miss Vanity), her husband James and Georgia who is our friend from work. Georgia doesn’t have a blog, but I assure you, she is a hoot. (Her words, not mine). When we arrived we were shown to a table downstairs and the lovely waitress talked us through the menu. We all chose a different pizza (as duh, looks better in the photos) and we were brought a taster of dough balls and pasta to try whilst we waited.

The dough balls were honestly the best I’ve ever tasted, and trust me when I say I’ve tasted a lot. The pasta had beans in which was a new thing to me and something I’m definitely down with.

When our pizzas arrived, it took me a while to get over the sheer size of them. Honestly, they were enormous, and as someone who has a fairly sizeable appetite, I believe that says a lot. I went for the Athens pizza with spinach, feta, black olives, tomatoes, caramelised red onion and oregano and it was quite simply delicious. It’s unusual for me to choose something vegetarian, but I’d definitely have it again. The pizzas were served ½ and ½ on boards and James who was opposite me had the other half which was a margherita. Jess went for the Rucoletta which is mushroom, whild rocket and a pesto base, and Georgia had a Piccante, which is pepperoni, caramelised red onions and chillis. Needless to say, we all finished them and they were delicious.

Naturally, we couldn’t leave without sampling their extensive gelato range and it was pretty damn fabulous. I had a scoop of Nutella gelato and scoop of cookies and cream, both of which were absolutely stunning. I’m a big icecream fan and it was just so rich and creamy and moreish and as I write this I think I might be starting to drool a tad. God I’m sexy sometimes.

Even though Ecco is a bit out of the way for me (and sadly doesn’t deliver to where I live – true heardbreak right there), it is somewhere I’d definitely travel to to visit. Which, given how I’m a fan of places in walking distance, says a lot! The pizzas were great quality, they have a massive range of dishes which are all a little bit different to the basic pizzas you’d expect and it’s very reasonably priced. It’s one of those places where you can go when you have friends to visit and you can be all ‘I know this great little place’ and they think you’re all down with the locals etc. Also, it’s always nice to support an independent business.

What do you think? Are you a pizza fan? Would you like to take me for pizza? (Please say yes).