Draft house

[bawdy-nan]

I went today for early tea with the kids. We got there about 6 ish and had to wait 5 minutes for a table. Really good value easy eating: friendly staff, fun to watch the pizzas being made, nice wine, nice pizzas (hardly any choice, hurray), nice homemade style lemondade. All in all for 3 (3 pizzas, extra toppings, salad, 2 glasses of wine and two lemonades it was under 35 quid which is a bargain and it was a nice, good treat. We could have easily made do with two pizzas between 3 of us (we had some left).

[jacks09]

Are people really saying the queuing was dangerous?? Get a grip. This is going to be a great addition to the lane

[spark67]

If you don't like pizza, fair enough don't go, if you do fill yer boots, quite simple, What I don't is get people making snarky comments about what other people might want to spend their own money on...also high streets are busy, great to see ours getting lively, it's not as if they've opened on a quiet residential rd.

ps the "bit of bread with topping' or "cheese on toast" pizza analogies are getting old and boring now ;)

[KidKruger]

Word

[Earl Aelfheah]

Spot on Spark67. To the miserablists- move along, nothing to see.

[Sue]

Love it.

Went there this afternoon late-ish. Didn't have to queue.

Two yummy pizzas, two yummy glasses of wine, all for just over twenty pounds. Absolute bargain.

Capers, anchovies, olives, all much yummier than my basics from Sainsbury's :))

Really friendly service and a buzzy vibe.

They really deserve to do well, and I'm sure they will.

A great addition to the Lane, and we will deffo be back.

ETA: Shouldn't this be in a thread headed Franco Manca rather than Draft House? Really really impressed with what they've done with the space, btw.

[Falklands]

Info on franco manca - Talked to Giuseppe the founder owner outside lordship lane on Friday night - he said the staff + builders and suppliers own a quarter of the business. Prices are low and quality high to drive sales , he is a Neapolitan who used to teach at the london school of economics - plus they take small places so every square foot is used - seems to work

[MrBen]

Interesting Falklands and I'm liking their equitable business approach. I did some rough sums on a completely ill informed, unsubstantiated basis and figured about 77,000 pizzas will get them to cost neutral for this branch. Which is actually very doable given the popularity at other branches and equates to 1 to 2 years trading max. High volume, low price point.

Does anyone know how easy it is to do your own sour dough pizza at home and if so how close can you get to the real thing?

[StraferJack]

Domestic oven heat is your problem at home. Most ovens will only go to half the required heat for proper pizza

[Otta]

Agree with Spark67 about the negativity seemingly for the sake of it.

And agree their prices sound very reasonable by today's standards. But would people please stop describing it as a bargain, because it isn't.

[Seabag]

StraferJack Wrote:

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> Domestic oven heat is your problem at home. Most

> ovens will only go to half the required heat for

> proper pizza

Unless you've got a Big Green Egg or two, knocking around outside

[worldwiser]

I look forward to hearing where you can go and get 2 delicious pizzas and wine for twenty quid. Until you can do that, I'm going to agree that FM is a bargain. Hell you can't even get the pizzas at any of the major chains for that money. And they're also crap.

[Otta]

I'd be happy with the price. I still wouldn't think I'd found a right bargain.

[StraferJack]

And a couple of spare hands to help you, seabag

Heavy mothers

[Seabag]

I'm curious to see what happens when the new Sushi & Cocktail place opens

"Raw fish and alchol, what are people thinking?"

[MrBen]

This thread is getting more surreal by the day. Where will it go next...when will it end?

Seabag - is a Big Green Egg for all of the amateur and professional enthusiasts who need heat without having to build a kiln in their back garden?

[MrBen]

And where can I get one and how much?

[Alan Medic]

Number of pizza places in LL

One minute - none

Next minute - one

A bit later - two

A bit later still - back to one?

[Otta]

Seabag Wrote:

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> I'm curious to see what happens when the new Sushi

> & Cocktail place opens

>

> "Raw fish and alchol, what are people thinking?"

I'll be with them on the sushi front.

Although the raw just adds to the grimness of fish full stop.

[Seabag]

MrBen Wrote:

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> This thread is getting more surreal by the day.

> Where will it go next...when will it end?

>

> Seabag - is a Big Green Egg for all of the amateur

> and professional enthusiasts who need heat without

> having to build a kiln in their back garden?

Pizza 'kilns' (ahem) are all the rage

But you can have just as much fun, all be it on a smaller scale, with a Big Green Egg

If you havn't got one (or two) like I have, then you're missing out Mr Ben. In fact, what are you thinking, not having one (or two)

On Boxing day at #SeabagTowers, mine will be fired up with a Ham inside and other delights

And, there'll be homemade sourdough pizzas, cooked in no time at 400+ degrees

Duh, it's a no-brainer

So, no need to queue at FM for us

Ps. I have a Extra Large one, and a Mini one

[Sue]

Otta Wrote:

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> And agree their prices sound very reasonable by

> today's standards. But would people please stop

> describing it as a bargain, because it isn't.

I'm genuinely interested to know what you would consider a bargain when eating round here, then, Otta?

Two large pizzas, very good quality ingredients, two glasses of very nice organic (I think) wine, for just over twenty quid? And you don't think that's a bargain?! It could have been even less if we had chosen cheaper pizzas.

OK there was a tip on top, and it was very well deserved - quick, friendly and efficient service. And all tips genuinely go to the staff - we checked.

And a nice vibe in the place.

Bargain describes it pretty well in my opinion. At what price would you call it a bargain? I don't know how they can do it for that price as it is, but I'm very very happy to take advantage of it :)

[Otta]

You don't know how they can do a pizza for those prices? Really?

Look I am not having a go or being negative about the place. The prices sound great, I'm not suggesting they should be any lower, and you wouldn't find many places where two people can eat and have a glass of wine for a score.

It's just the word bargain. A bargain for me is when you pick something really cool up for way below the odds. Spending ?20 on a meal for two people will never be a bargain in my book (and yes I am aware you could spend way more than that in many other places locally).

We make pizza at home a fair bit, because even if you use 100% fresh organic stuff, they are easy and cheap to make.

The posh cheese on toast thing IS tiresome, I agree. But when you're talking about cost, pizza is just dough, some cheese and a small amount of other stuff. Even if they are very generous with the toppings, how much can you actually get on to a pizza?

Aaaaanyway, I look forward to trying them sometime. IOt will be a nice very reasonably priced meal.

Just not a bargain.

[Otta]

Otta Wrote:

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> Spending ?20 on a meal for two people will never be a bargain in my book

Unless you have a voucher, and that ?20 is buying you something that should cost way more. That would be getting a bargain.

[MrBen]

Well??this chit chat?..you've all got me fired up to knock out some home made pizza tomorrow night. With anchovies, capers and olives. All from a NEFF oven on "pizza" setting operating at 245 degrees to start with :-)

[Louisa]

If it's a bargain you want then wait 'Orange Wednesday' it used to be called, bogof on pizzas at pizza express and various chain cinemas. Now that is definitely a bargain night out including meal and entertainment. But I agree with Otta, paying over a score for two pizzas and a few glasses of wine cannot be described as a bargain.

Louisa.