We tried and compared Brighton’s Fatto a Mano and VIP Pizza

It was a busy afternoon in our Bond Street office, but the arrival of pizzas made it a little more bearable.

We tried the magherita, napoletana, diavola and pesto pizzas from Very Italian Pizza in Old Steine – all four came to £47.50.

A mountain of pizzas was delivered to our Bond Street office (Image: The Argus)

To have the best chance at comparing like for like, we also ordered the magherita and diavola from Fatto A Mano’s North Laine branch.

We spent £47 in Fatto, adding a pesto, courgette and buffalo bocconcini pizza and dough sticks covered in Nutella for dessert.

Our budget allowed us to get three pizzas and a dessert from Fatto a Mano (Image: The Argus)

Fatto pizzas are a little pricier than VIP – so VIP wins there.

Looking at Deliveroo’s estimated wait times, we ordered Fatto a little earlier than VIP and both arrived at the same time.

We didn’t have to wait long for either, though, so it would be unfair to give VIP the upper hand on that.

Now was time for the important part: the taste test.

Everyone rushed to try the diavola pizzas.

Fatto’s diavola pizza had a kick with red chilli (Image: The Argus)

VIP’s was a bit bigger than Fatto’s – and a little warmer. It was generously topped with salty pepperoni which balanced out perfectly with the slight sweetness of the tomato base.

Fatto’s dough was slightly more charred, which added a nice flavour, and the meat tasted delicious alongside tangy tomato sauce, gooey cheese and a bit of chilli.

VIP’s diavola was topped generously with pepperoni (Image: The Argus)

VIP’s pizza was slightly greasier than Fatto’s version but for us it was just a little bit tastier and received votes from three team members as their favourite of all the seven pizzas we tried.

Next up we tried VIP’s pesto pizza. It had a white base and was topped with garlicky pesto, fior di latte provola (a smoked cheese) and sun-blushed tomatoes.

VIP’s pesto pizza was a little too greasy (Image: The Argus)

We compared it with Fatto’s pesto, courgette and buffalo mozzarella.

Fatto’s was the winner this time as the veggies tasted a bit fresher and it was less greasy.

Fatto’s pesto pizza was topped with fresh vegetables (Image: The Argus)

It was also topped with parmesan and oregano which added nice flavour.

But the winning pizza with the most votes from team members was VIP’s napoletana.

The sweetness of the tomato base, married with the strong flavours of garlic, chilli, capers, olives and anchovies was divine.

Four out of seven of us chose it as our favourite.

So it seems there is a winner.

VIP Pizza, which was listed as a travellers’ choice on Tripadvisor, has pipped Fatto a Mano to the post.

But, cheesy though it is – sorry! – both are indeed fantastic pizzerias that we are lucky to have in Brighton.

If you find it hard to choose what to order at a restaurant, perhaps Fatto would be better for you, with its concise menu covering a range of delicious options.

And if you want to try something new, VIP is a great shout.

We can’t wait to find out which gets the Deliveroo award and both would be deserving winners.