Serving authentic Neapolitan pizza and nestled on a quiet Maadi side street is true pizza refuge, What the Crust. Owned by an enthusiastic married couple, Dareen and Helmy, who have a deep love for pizza, What the Crust brings us a real and authentic experience of Neapolitan pizza without having to travel.
By Aliaa Elsherbini
With quality Italian ingredients, trained pizza makers, a passion for food, and a cozy ambiance, What the Crust is the new place to be.
Signature Dishes
Margherita two ways: with fresh Fior di Latte, and with Buffalo Mozzarella. Their signature desserts are Cacao Pizza and the Ricotta con Miele, and we recommend you leave room for both.
Dishes Sampled
To cleanse our palate, the helpful staff recommended we try the lemon and basil juice. The juice was fresh and was the perfect balance between the zestiest of the lemon and aromatic basil.
Shortly after, the pizzas came fresh out of the pizza oven—that was custom made specifically for What the Crust and traveled all the way from Italy.
We started with a slice of the Diavola, spicy salami and fresh basil on a Margherita base, with a chili kick. Then we devoured the green pizza aptly called, Al Pesto lined with a base of homemade pesto made with quality pine nuts, mozzarella di Bufala, and topped with fragrant basil and Italian sun-dried tomatoes, you won’t help but fall in love.
What the Crust has perfected the Neapolitan-style pizza, a thin, soft crust topped with simple, basic ingredients, usually just 3. Rightly so, Dareen learned from the best in Italy.
Even though we had no room left for dessert, we couldn’t miss the house special, the Impasto Al Cacao. This pizza dolci is made with house special cocoa dough, topped with Nutella spread, cream, and crushed nuts for texture.
Other Menu Items that Appealed
The menu seems concise, but it contains everything pizza that you would want, including a dolci section. From that part of the menu, we will make sure to save more space for the pizza with ricotta and honey as it seems to be a crowd favorite, and the honey drizzle with sprinkles of pistachios on top smelled divine.
You would think that this is all they serve, but they have another surprise, they make different flavors of the Levantine flatbreads. The pizza’s ancestral relative, Levantine flatbreads, are also made with local Lebanese and Syrian products to ensure the best and most authentic flavor. So we will leave this for lunch next time.
Décor & Ambiance
What the Crust, found a home at a small and cozy venue in Maadi with a little terrace. As soon as you walk in, you will find the pizza station with the big oven and the dough flying around as the pizza experts prepare the meal. You are shortly put at ease because the light is soft with plenty of fairy lights hanging across the space.
The décor is pretty simple with two swings as chairs and a tree in the middle of the venue, adding to the earthiness of What the Crust. It’s a family business, and it shows in each pizza that it is crafted with care and love, then it is served by smiley and friendly waiters or even the dynamic duo themselves.
Chatting with Dareen and Helmy is one of the highlights of the dining experience at What the Crust, so be prepared for a scrumptious meal and a good chat.
Contact information:
Address: Ezbet Fahmy, El Basatin, Maadi
Tel: 0100 576 4631
Instagram: @what_the_crust
Website: www.whatthecrust.com
Facebook: What the Crust
