i had never visited origano when it was in the smaller premises but had heard that it was the place to visit in the burgh for the best pizza; so took up the opportunity now that they have relocated to a larger premises across the walk.
my initial thoughts on entering - its smells absolutely lip-smacking delicious. if you love the smell of basil, warm bread/dough and cheese, then this is the place that will set your senses alight.
we never booked. we thought as its a thursday at 630pm we should be fine to just walk-in. how wrong we were. this restaurant is busy.
luckily the manager was on hand to find us a table and we were given one of the built in 'breakfast bar' tables right at the entrance. these tables are narrow but we were just thankful to get a table. unfortunately the stools are very high and i really battled to climb up on it (getting off was just as bad). not sure if they were made for giants! the interior of the main restaurant is open with the pizza prep and oven area open for all to see. beautiful large vases with white lilies and plenty of candles makes for a very welcoming relaxed atmosphere.
it took a good 15 minutes before we were even given a menu and asked if we wanted something to drink. a little bit of a disappointing start. our waitress, once appointed to our table was superfriendlybut unfortunately you always remember the bad before the good; the restaurant manager was quite rude and very grumpy - he really needs to brush up on his social skills. service blew hot and cold throughout our meal but the food certainly made up for it.
we ordered the cheese garlic bread to share for a starter. mmmmm. imagine thick soft warm slices of bread smothered in blue cheese and mozzarella, grilled and then sprinkled with parmesan cheese. lush!
next it was time to order pizza. i ordered the origano 14" pizza with mozzarella, tomato, onion, mushroom, red pepper, black olives, garlic and parsley. my dining partner ordered the calabrese 14" with tomato, mozzarella, marscapone, spicy sausage, nduja, garlic and basil.
gosh these were absolutely without a doubt, delicious. the pizza dough is thin and crispy with the occasional air pocket on the crust making it even crispier. all the toppings were generous and just enough of each element to give you a different bite each time. the 14" pizzas are big but we managed to finish them off. we left here very full and very happy. this is the best place in edinburgh for pizza (hopefully they were just having a super busy night when we visited and service in general is good).