Base Pizza — Restaurant in England

Five stars for Base Pizza… the sort of place that makes you wonder why every other restaurant even bothers opening its doors. Christina and I drove up from Surrey to Bowness-on-Windermere, long enough to, get properly irritable if the food’s rubbish, but then… bang. Two pizzas later and I’m practically writing them into my will.

The crust? Light, yet packed with flavour, like biting into a cloud that’s been on a Mediterranean holiday.

The toppings?

Fresh, balanced, so good you start looking around suspiciously, thinking someone must be cheating. And that wood-fired aroma, dear God, it’s less a smell, more a religious experience.

Now, the atmosphere… warm, inviting, almost dangerously friendly. The staff aren’t just good, they’re suspiciously good. You half expect them to follow you home and tuck you in at night. Laura deserves a medal, or at the very least, her own statue in the town square.

It’s not just pizza, it’s a sort of culinary ambush. One moment you’re sitting down thinking, “Alright, let’s have a bite,” and the next you’re emotionally compromised and considering moving house just to be closer.

So yes: five stars, no hesitation. If you want dinner, go anywhere. If you want the best night of your life that involves dough and fire,...

Visited with my wife whilst on holiday in the Lake District. No reservation made, walked in having paid 80p parking across the road after 1900. Research led us to choose this pizzeria in spite of a lengthy drive.

There is raised bench seating at the front window for people watching and plenty of other tables besides. There was no issue with space on our visit with our dogs.

We were at the back in a intimate corner table. 20th century rock & popular music overhead with some artful lake paraphernalia on the walls.

•Garlic Bread with Mozarella •Margherita Pizza with Mushrooms & Pepperoni •Special #2: Pesto base, Courgette, Mozarella & Tomatoes

On their official website it refers to their accolade as being voted one of "The Times Top 50 Best Pizzeria in The UK". We agreed this was well justified.

Sourdough proved over 48hrs with a fast bake and good quality ingredients made for a lovely meal. A simple recipe yet many struggle to perfect it. Base was a worthwhile drive from Penrith and made our first restaurant meal as husband & wife...

Really enjoyed our pizzas here. Toppings were good quality and generous, and the base was superb. I got nduja and peperoni, my wife went for margherita with a side of pesto. We also shared a garlic bread with cheese. The garlic bread was a tiny bit dry of I had to nitpick, but otherwise it was all excellent. The margherita sauce seemed to be very garlicky and I found chunks of garlic in it, but actually it was really nice and added another dimension.

The staff were really good, friendly, and eager to help.

I would point out though that is really irritating to pay the bill and be faced with the americanised disease of turning the payment machine around and saying "It's just going to ask you a question" then that 'question' is "how much extra do you want to pay? 15%, 20%, or 25%?" It's really bad, and it needs to stop. Yes, I've been to the US and this is exactly how they do it there. I've dropped 2 stars from my rating for this reason. 1 for the ridiculous amounts recommended, and 1 for the pure theatre of it all. We don't want it...