Beyoncé wowed Wearside earlier this week in a stunning show at the Stadium of Light for her Renaissance tour - and during her visit to the North East of England, the superstar's crew reportedly made the most of some of the superb scran on offer.
Queen B's crew allegedly tucked into numerous goodies from Northern Rye, inclusive of handmade pastries - with the Riverside Walk business sharing their VIP order on Instagram.
And her crew also reportedly made the most of Washington's Bombay Barn on the night of the gig itself, ordering a curry tapas box - made up of chicken masala, lamb curry, chicken bhuna, vegetable bhajis, pilau rice and Indian chunky chips - as well as a coveted smashed pizza burger, setting them back £41.98.
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After cooking, the Concord business say that the takeaway was delivered straight to the stage door of the football stadium turned music venue for the night. But is the food from the Bombay Barn fit for a Queen? I ordered some myself to find out.
The smashed pizza burger in particular wasn't exactly straightforward to track down, and had me questioning if it was especially made up from Queen B and her entourage. My first thought was to head to Just Eat, where I was greeted by a litany of delightful sounding dishes - grill boxes, Currybabs, loaded fries, Parmos and wraps alike.
And while there are three separate sections for pizza on the just eat page, normal, curry and Indian, the smash burger pizza evades every single one. Thankfully though, Bombay Barn have a website - and after scanning their 'Facebook Specials' section I quickly found and ordered the dish sought after.
On their site, Bombay Barn describe the main attraction as: "Our standard fresh pizza base smothered in our signature house burger sauce, layered with smash burger pieces fresh off the grill. Topped with American burger cheese, diced onion, diced gherkins and topped with mozzarella cheese then topped with burger sauce again. A new pizza experience."
'A new pizza experience' is quite the statement, I expected big things - especially when it came in at £13.99 (plus delivery) for a 12 inch medium pan crust.
To my pleasant surprise, it arrived fresh and still 'piping hot' as the Facebook foodies would say, far earlier than expected. Speedy service, check.
Lifting the lid of the box up, I was greeted with what I would describe as a chunky and funky pizza in terms of appearance. The medium pan crust base was incredibly thick, and the cheese was on the heavier side - I knew it was going to be a classic, dense takeaway pizza...the sort you would usually get from a good chippy.
The main scent I received from the dish was that of the pungent lashings of burger sauce dabbed over the top of the cheese, combined with the pickles and fresh ground beef. I was a little conflicted, was this going to taste more of a burger or a pizza?
I dug in to find out.
What I will say is that in terms of taste, Bombay Barn have found a relatively good balance here in terms of flavours. The southwestern burger sauce base is a tad spicy, and goes beautifully hand in hand with the saltiness of the crunchy pickles.
The thick blankets of gooey cheese mixed with the diced onions are a taste sensation, with the sturdy base holding the weight well. It wasn't as messy of a job as I first anticipated. You can also tell that the base is very fresh, I would predict that they're made daily - as it didn't have the stale and chewy texture that you get from some cheaper and nastier outlets.
And while I will say that the positives of the dish outweigh the negatives, I do have a couple of things to say which were a little bit of a let down.
First and foremost, the smashed burger pieces were a little on the dry side, as opposed to what you would expect from a traditional juicy burger. Don't get me wrong, it was seasoned well - and while I can't speak for every smash burger pizza they have put out, I can say that mine was maybe a little overdone.
Secondly, the toppings - as you can see in the photos - were a little few and far between. I feel as though there were more pickles than anything else on this one.
Finally, the price point. You can usually get a pizza from your local fish and chip shop for less than a tenner - and after delivery was tallied up, this cost me just shy of £20 (£17.99 to be precise). Don't get me wrong, I know there's a cost of living crisis on at the moment, and it's not as badly priced as a similar Domino's product would set you back - but it is a touch on the steep side for what it is.
In summary, I think Bombay Barn have a canny enough thing going for them here, and it's a pleasing dish overall. I just think that with a little bit better distribution in terms of topping, and a touch more attention to detail on the smash burger chunks, it could be a real show stopper.
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