Mannys Pizza Deli, Newcastle

There's a new kid in the Toon and he goes by the name of Manny's Pizza Deli. Always wanting to welcome fellow newbies in Newcastle I've been looking forward to Manny's arrival for quite some time.

Unfortunately, Simon beat me to it! Am I bitter that he got to try somewhere new before me? Yes, maybe a little! Admittedly it was my own fault, last Friday I made dinner plans at Fat Hippo that didn't involve him so as pay back my Mr took himself off to the Toon's brand new pizza place without me and then had the cheek to tease me about it on Twitter.

After hearing him go on about how amazing the pizzas were I decided the only way I could possibly forgive him was to try them out for myself as soon as possible. I graciously decided he could come with me, as long as he attempted to pretend that this was his first time.

Manny's have set up shop on Ridley Place, just off Northumberland Street - ideally placed for hungry shoppers, its location very close to Primark means that I will definitely be a regular Saturday lunchtime customer.

Offering a "slice of New York in Newcastle", Manny's serve up whole pizza pies or pizza slices using internationally sourced ingredients, home made sauces and local talent. As a bonus if you're too lazy to leave the comfort of your sofa they deliver to the central Newcastle area and you can even pay by Paypal.

The menu features 15 delicious Pizza Pies, all with New York inspired names. From the classic Manhatten (Mozzarella, Marinara Sauce and Basil) to the Liberty (Prosciutto Ham, Grana Padano, Mozzarella and Marinara Sauce) there's something for everyone and, if there isn't, there's also a nice selection of extra toppings to create your perfect pizza pie.

If you have any room after all that delicious pizza, Manny's also serve homemade desserts and 5 Dolla Shakes for the truly authentic New York experience.

The counter at Manny's is filled with freshly made pizzas for you to buy by the slice. Now we all know that I'm a little greedy so I wasn't sure I was a "slice" kind of girl. However the slices at Manny's are massive and definitely enough to satisfy even the hungriest blogger, mine kept me going for the rest of the evening.

My favourite pizzas tend to feature egg so we opted for a slice of the Empire each - Soppressata, Roasted Chicken and Egg. It came served on a paper plate and we happily grabbed ourselves a window seat to do a spot of people watching whilst devouring our pizza.

Trust me to order the messiest pizza! No regrets here though, getting my hands nice and messy is definitely one of the most enjoyable ways to eat food even if I couldn't quite master eating it like a lady.

It's easy to see that Simon has had a lot of practice when it comes to eating pizza, whilst I was slopping egg and tomato all over the place he had a perfect technique of folding his pizza and shovelling it perfectly into his mouth without wasting any.

I'm considering hiring him out - so if you want tips on how to eat a Manny's Pizza without making a mess let me know and I'll point you in his direction.

The pizza slices were out of this world. They were crispy without being overdone, piping hot and the toppings were plentiful.

Simon is particularly crazy for the tomato base and mentioned how good it was at least five times during our meal. I could also tell by the dopy grin on his face that he has added Manny's to his little list of places that he likes to sneak off to. I'm pretty sure if I lose him at any point over the next few weeks I'll be finding him on Ridley Place.
You'll notice when you first pop into Manny's that it's pretty teeny with not a lot of seats. Well don't worry, I'm about to let you into a secret. There's also a downstairs area and it's really cosy with plenty of room. The perfect place to head with your mates and a freshly made pizza pie.

Next time you're in Toon make sure you head down to Manny's and give them a proper Geordie Welcome!

We were invited to try out some Manny's pizza for the blog but all opinions are our own. If we didn't love it, we wouldn't share it!