The plan for lunch had been Foster’s chippy but it was at the far end of Didders for where we needed to be later – and it was absolutely pissing down. So, Croma it was. It’s a Manchester based mini-chain, mainly serving pizza (five in the metro area with another three round the country – Edinburgh, Loughborough and Tunbridge Wells).
There’s a mix of pizza styles – around two thirds seem to be the wackier style that you’d never find in Italy. You know the sort of thing – tandoori chicken, Peking duck, “full English breakfast”, and so on. Usually it’s the sort of menu that we’d take one look at outside and decide to go somewhere else. But, as I said, it was pissing down. And there was that remaining third that looked “proper”.
It’s fair to say, these are not the most generous pizza you’re going to come across. Think Pizza Express light. But there’s a decent base albeit a bit on the thin side and a very decent tomato sauce. One came topped with mixed mushrooms and, allegedly, truffle oil. The other topped with mushrooms and pancetta. They were OK.
Then it was off to the fishmonger (mussels, cod, smoked haddock) and the adjacent cheesemonger (Quicke’s cheddar & Hoe’s Red Leicester).
No need to rush to return.
