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Food & Drink  |
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We started with a mini platter for two people (£9.70) containing 3 excellent salumi, the same ones that you'd assume are used top the pizzas, along with some superb mozzarella which again, feels like part of the general arsenal of prep, finished with a well-dressed rocket salad and a few pieces of bread. Simple, excellent quality, and really enjoyable.
A bottle of Cielo e Terra Puglian Primitivo (£29.50) was the most expensive red on the wine list but still brought good value and was pitched at the right level in both quality and price point. I've done a couple of reviews lately where the main foodstuff was a £14 burger or pizza, and the cheapest bottle of wine weighed in at about £35. Even if the markup is OK, it's just not a balanced price point at all, but Rudy's have it right.
Onto the main events, which are clearly the pizza. Tonno (£12.90), or tuna as we call it in Manchester, is divisive as a pizza topping happens to be my personal favourite. The crusts are light and bouncy yet slightly chewy and full of flavour with slow proving being evident, as per that Napoli blueprint. In short, these are genuinely good Neapolitan style pizzas and for me still stand out in a pizza market which is now flooded, especially in Manchester.
And next up was what surely has to be a best seller; the Carni (£13.50). The same on-point base in terms of dough, topped with an array of quality meats and an added punch from some fresh chilli. Another well made, carefully assembled and broadly delicious plate of happiness.
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And a complementary tiramisu was given to us as we left, served in a little takeaway tub. Im not entirely sure if that's how they come if you order to eat in, or just to go, but either way it was an unexpectedly sweet surprise to end things on.
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The Carni pizza was arguably a bit overly fired. I get that Neapolitan style crusts should be blistered, but this was a touch over the mark for me.
And as much as it was free hence I feel bad being honest, the tiramisu was a miss in terms of delivery. It was just a bit sloppy and lacked any kind of textural mouth feel. Sweet and pleasant enough, but just a bit meh.
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Overall  |
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It's been an age since we penned a Rudy's review. That’s largely because Rudy's is now a fully-fledged chain and no longer the pioneering Manchester based indie which popped up in Ancoats before everything else did. There's just usually no real point in reviewing chains as they don't care what you write about them and will carry on doing exactly as their head office directs, so constructive feedback on their general product is pointless. Furthermore, you already know what you're going to get without reading the thoughts of some food writer. Reviews of chains are usually just pointlessly indulgent blurbs compiled by bloggers and writers who use their copy as a means to go on a self-promoting rant about how everyone should support indies more, and how doing so will somehow make you a better person who loves and supports hospitality… just like the writer in question does, right?
But I wanted to do a re-review of Rudy's as in a now ancient review I highlighted how chains almost always lose their heart and soul if spawned from an indie, should the expansion become aggressive as per Rudy's. And all in all, there's been no notable dilution of quality and they've broadly stuck to what made them a winner from day one. But massive amounts of shade thrown upon chains, and I don’t always agree as much as they are predictable and lack individuality, which are in essence their very intention. I also generally prefer indies of course, but most people with an interest in food forget that most casual customers, which is the majority of the market, just want good value and to know what they are getting when eating out, not a new experience or anything challenging. Consistency and predictability are key especially when people have less cash to spend than normal and just want an all but guaranteed good time.
So, there's a lot of food snobbery about when it comes to high street brands/chains, and a lot of indies somehow feel that they deserve to do well just because they've worked really hard, and hence feel aggrieved when a chain down the road rakes it in by selling a dire product to the masses. And that's understandable, but life isn't always fair and ultimately what sells is what people know about and enjoy. Sure enough, when I checked into Rudy's on Facebook whilst completing this review, I received a message from somebody who runs a Mcr based indie, suggesting that I should have eaten at the lovely indie pizzeria over the road. But I wanted a 'Rudys', not just a pizza generally. And the two are not the same.
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I say that a good predictable chain beats an unremarkable indie, and both chains/indies are valid options when choosing your dining experiences. Not everyone's a 'foodie', in fact the vast majority of people are not and that's fine. There's a reason why Greggs and McDonalds are the UK's most popular food brands. We are not a food focused nation as much as most of those 'foodies' don’t see it. How many chains do you see on high streets in medium sized towns and small cities across France, Italy and Spain compared to the UK? I rest my case.
So yes, there's yet another 'branch' of Rudy's in Manchester. This one has opened in Prestwich and was hammered on a freezing Wednesday evening just after Xmas even without running a January promotion. I feel for that pizzeria over road though as it's a very decent place serving a good product which I like a lot. But as I did on this visit, most people will choose to go to Rudy's as it's bigger, better known. And say what you like about chains; the pizzas at Rudy's are still legit.
As I say, ultimately people will eat where they know and like. And at the end of the day, chain or not, there's an awful lot to like about Rudy's.
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Rudy's Pizzeria Reviews |
29th branch of the popular chain offering authentic Neapolitan pizzas & quality ingredients. Opening December 24 |
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