Croma Pizza

I confess, with the wedding and everything, I’ve been a little behind on happenings of late. This explains why I missed the opening of Croma, a new pizza place.  It’s situated in the ground floor lobby of the Odeon cinema on Lothian Road, so a good location of passing people, and of course ideal if you want a quick bite before a screening. In 2000, the original gorgeous art-deco cinema  (The ABC) which stood in the same spot was closed, interior demolished and the space re-built for office space, thankfully maintaining the original facade.  I have great memories of going to the ABC (one of the last films I was there was the Buena Vista Social Club during EIFF 1999 ) with the obligatory stop-off for sweets at Woolworths along the road beforehand.

But, back to Croma, this branch the latest in a small-ish chain of Italian-inspired eateries which began in Manchester in 2000, and the Edinburgh resto is their second project with Odeon. You should know that whilst there are many contenders which sound fancier, the truth is that pizza is right up there in my top favourite things to eat, so Croma was an appetising prospect.

If, on walking in, you think the shiny-new interior is more than a little reminiscent of Pizza Express (bright murals, wood & chrome furniture, gerbera in a vase), it’s not entirely surprising, as it was designed by Italian artist and restaurant designer Enzo Apicella, who’s worked with PE since the 1960s. Whilst it followed certain predicted themes (starters/pizza/pastas) I was excited that the menu presented some fresh ideas, particularly in some of their house pizza creations. 

From the starters we picked the baked mushrooms and the buffalo mozzarella with tomatoes and basil. I thought these dishes would give a good reflection of the quality of ingredients the kitchen were working with, and these turned out to be really good. Fresh and simple are really the cornerstones of Italian cooking, and and we began with well-seasoned, garlicky baked mushrooms, which a handful of rocket leaves happily wilted into. The accompanying slice of olive bread would been better served grilled so as to contrast a crunch to the other items, but no biggie. The Buffalo mozzarella with tomatoes was just as it should be, the young cheese was soft and creamy and The Silver Fox and I had mini-tussle going on for the marinated olives. Simple, tasty stuff. One small point, I always prefer to have salt & pepper on the table, in this case I would have thrown an extra sprinkle of salt on the tomatoes.

The pizzas would be the real test, and lo! , they were really good. You can instantly recognise a good pizza dough, and Croma have a nice house style. A little puffier than I maybe expected, but crisp on the bottom and with a discernibly fresh taste. You just know when a dough’s been loitering around too long ,there’s a certain sourness to it. Croma are evidently keeping things fresh, and I liked the house tomato sauce. I chose the classy Pizza Parma, with shaved salty Proscuitto di Parma, parmesan, olives and a sprinkling of rocket. I LOVED it, so much so that it’s making me totally peckish writing about it and starting at that photo. The Fox went a little spicy with the Piri-Piri pizza, all covered in spicy chicken bites, mushrooms, green peppers and a healthy kick from jalapenos. I suggested it was more of a ‘man’ pizza, and he responded by promptly scoffing every last morsel.

We couldn’t hang around too long with a couple of fringe shows to head off to, so no time for puds, but I can say that the food and service at Croma were a nice surprise. Whilst it hardly pushes the envelope out in terms of concept, good simple food is key in this type of operation, and with quick friendly service, reasonable prices (all mains are around the £8 mark) Croma has got it spot-on. I’ll definitely be back for a pre-movie bite.

Thanks to Roisin at Red Consultancy for organising complimentary main courses and a drink each.