Nova Pizza – Vegetarian Kitchen

Posted on July 24, 2015 by BKR

Exterior

Exterior

Some places radiate disaster as soon as you cross the threshold. Such was the case with Cafe Cornucopia, which took over when Appetite Direct closed their shop on Howe Street to focus squarely on their catering business (although saying that, they’ve just taken over the cafe at the Festival Theatre). I was unsurprised to see Cornucopia quickly closed, to bereplaced by an interesting looking Italian called Nova Pizza – Vegetarian Kitchen. I popped in to check it out.

In the traditional Italian style, with chequered tablecloths and quite minimal detailing, it’s a nice informal space that feels well suited to lunch service. They’re still bedding things in but I found it quite charming.

Their menu features pizza at the heart of things, but I was lured in by talk of mushroom bruschetta and aubergine pasta so ordered them instead. I’ll come back for the pizza another day.

Bruschetta

Bruschetta

Service is very friendly but, for now, slow. They’re cooking dishes to order, which is great, but it looks like they need an extra of hands as the two fellas running both the kitchen and front of house were rushed off their feet with a half-filled place and relatively steady takeaway trade.

My bruschetta was with me soon enough, looking rather tempting. It proved really tasty with lovely creamy mushrooms atop nicely toasted bread. It got a firm thumbs up.

The pasta was every bit as good, with a lovely tomato and ricotta sauce holding accurately cooked penne and profuse, flavourful aubergine.

Pasta

Pasta

As per the subtitle to their name, the entire menu is vegetarian. Talk of Quorn pepperoni frankly terrrifies me, but everything I tried was fresh and spot on.

So overall, Nova Pizza is a great new addition to our Edinburgh dining family. There’s some polish to be applied to the setting and service, but the food is impressively tasty. I look forward to many future visits.

Scores
Blythe scores Nova Pizza
4/5 for food
3/5 for presentation
3.5/5 for setting
3.5/5 for service
giving an overall 14/20

I ate: funghi bruschetta, penne norma

I drank: water

I wore: linen

Total bill: £10

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7 Responses to Nova Pizza – Vegetarian Kitchen

  1. Keep Calm and Fanny On says:
    July 24, 2015 at 4:07 pm

    Quorn Pepperoni terrifies me too, but this looks like a place to investigate!

    Reply
  2. Mick Geggus says:
    July 30, 2015 at 11:20 am

    Fearties! Terrified by Quorn pepperoni? Give me that over terrified pig and cow any day 😉
    Very much looking forward to trying this place… at last somewhere that seems to comprehend that people give up eating meat not because they don’t like the taste, but because they don’t like cruelty to animals, damage to the environment, and damage to their health…blah blah blah….yes, I know, yawn yawn… :-)
    But never mind all that tedium… PIZZA!
    Hope to see you soon!

    Reply
  3. James W. says:
    August 6, 2015 at 12:39 pm

    Wow! Went off your recommendation and have been 2-3 days in a row now! You have to try the Quattro Formaggi pizza. Best I have ever had!

    Reply

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