Crust, Glen Waverley by Bureaucrat

I'm still reminiscing about restaurants in the good old days. And it's kinda timely as I write up my post about Crust. As a kid, it was a real (and rare) treat that we went to Pizza Hut. What I liked about it was the thick and chewy crusts. Back then, I couldn't care less about how that delicious crust was prepared (refined wheat flour and lots of oil) - it just tasty damn good. As an aside, that's the same reason why I love focaccias and roti.... so sinful but so good.

These days, if I see a proper wood-fired pizza on the menu, I will order it. It's almost a sacrilige if I didn't. When Crust first opened up in Melbourne I was a ready convert. Although it's not wood-fired pizzas, it's still pretty good in my books.


For those who know me, I have a bit of an OCD when it comes to certain things - and this includes Crust pizzas. I've lost count of how many times I've done this, but I have ordered a whole pizza from Crust and shared it with me, myself and I. The fact that Crust offers gluten-free bases is the reason why I can allow myself to indulge.

For those who haven't tried Crust pizzas, they're a more upmarket and gourmet version of the typical pizza takeaway shop. The crust/base is thin and they have quite a range of toppings to choose from. Having said that, they do have deep dish pizzas, but I haven't tried them...yet.

Recently, we ordered...


...capricciosa with ham, 'shrooms, olives and anchovies. What I liked about this one is that they weren't stingy with the anchovies and it has just enough cheese for it be cheesy but at the same time it wasn't an OD of cheese (makes sense, no?).


...prosciutto pizza which came with fresh tomato, garlic, shaved parmesan and topped with rocket. The prosciutto was really nice with the sweetness of the fresh tomato and the bitterness of the rocket.


...seafood pizza! This is our favourite with a fairly generous serve of tiger prawns, scallops, mussels (but thankfully, they give more scallops than they do for mussels... I'm not a fan of mussels, as they're cheaper ingredient and frankly, don't taste as nice as other shellfish), sun dried toms, garlic, bocconcini and served with a wedge of lemon. Juicy, tender seafood that hasn't been over-cooked in the oven.

Overall
The pizzas are a bit pricier than the average takeaway pizza shop, but you definitely get it back in terms of the wider range (and better quality) of toppings. Extra points for offering gluten-free bases.

Verdict
Food – 8
Service – 6.5 (take away)
Ambience – 6.5 (this is a notional score, as it's primarily a takeaway shop, but it does have some tables at each shop)
Price – 7

Address
Crust
700 High Street
Glen Waverley 3150
Telephone: 8833 0204