It was on a chilly and wet December evening, the rains fell for hours, taking one of the electricity polls outside my compound victim – I picked up the phone to place my first order with Naked Pizza, which had only opened a month before in Nairobi.  Twenty-five minutes later, a drenched deliveryman courteously introduced himself at my door, presenting me with my order, the box still hot to the touch.  It was then my faith in dependable and timely delivery in Nairobi had been renewed, and ultimately introduced me to how good it can be to go “Naked.”

Located in Fedha House in the Westlands neighbourhood of Nairobi, Naked Pizza looks and sounds like a cheap takeaway; but be warned – its food is dangerously addictive.

Naked Pizza is located In Fedha House in the Westlands area, Nairobi, Kenya.The average meal costs Ksh 850. To book, click here. Special thanks to Eat Out Kenya.

A large communal table sits in the space and stylish minimalistic bar stools with stainless steel and wooden accents complete the dining room.  There are bare functional wooden tables outside, bare green walls inside, and at the back, an open kitchen basking under bright white fluorescent strip lights.  More importantly is the massive stainless steel chiller cabinet filled of Halal ingredients – fresh herbs, colourful vegetables, olives, turkey ham, beef pepperoni and cheese – all ready to be sprinkled on to hand-stretched pizza dough, which has been carefully left to raise in a controlled environment.

Here, you will not find a romantic brick oven, where traditional pizzas from the pizza Mecca – central and southern Italy – are baked.  Instead, a stainless steel oven, capable of baking hundreds of pizzas in an hour, specifically set at the optimum temperature to only perfect Naked Pizza’s crusts, and nobody else’s, is used.

Naked Pizza’s crusts boasts ten grains with prebiotic agave fiber and probiotics – healthy bacteria – that helps balance and maintain good digestive health.  Oats, brown rice, buckwheat, quinoa, amaranth, teff, spelt and tapioca give the crust not only its superior nutritional value, but also a distinctive delicious nuttier taste.  And thanks to this combination of slow-energy-releasing grains, experiencing a crippling food coma, sugar crash or itis is a thing of the past.

I will be the first to admit that I am one of those people who rarely eat the remaining crust and leave pitiful pieces squandering on my plate.  Bland, hard, and worrying that I’ve consumed too many bad carbohydrates; Naked Pizza’s crust is the first crust I’ve managed to finish, ever.  Worth noting is that the thin crust wasn’t too thin like a cracker, it still had a little chew and texture.

Currently with eight types of pizzas and an option to build your own, Naked Pizza is looking forward to launching new favourites in the near future.  The vegetarian Macrobiotic, which is the global bestseller, was surprisingly mind-blowing good.  In fairness, I’m not sure what I was expecting.  But the oil and herb, coriander, fresh parsley, spring onion, green pepper and garlic combination revealed a robust explosion of fragrant flavours – lightly touched with heat, drawing out flavour while retaining their vibrant colours. The Omnivore, pepperoni, hamburger, turkey ham, bell peppers, and mushrooms combine well with the saltiness of the black olives.  The ideal amount of sauce was slathered on the pizza – just enough to taste and not enough to render the dough soggy.

The surprising favourite is the Mediterranean Salad with farm-fresh mixed greens, sun-dried tomatoes, artichokes, black olives and hunks of feta.  Please ask for Raspberry Dressing – you will thank me later on Twitter.

Pizzas begin at Ksh 450 for a small, Ksh 650 for medium and Ksh 850 for a large at Naked Pizza.  All salads with a choice of Raspberry or Honey and Balsamic dressings – Mediterranean, Garden and Gourmet – will set you back Ksh 300.

Naked Pizza has a simple menu, with few options, but options that will not disappoint.  I would encourage sampling their delivery service, which is unparalleled by another establishment in Nairobi right now.  If you live outside of a thirty minute radius from their flagship store in Westlands, don’t feel bad if the phone operator declines taking your order, it’s nothing personal.

Naked Pizza will not deliver unless they are confident your order will reach you within forty minutes from the moment you called to it arriving fresh and hot at your door.  For those eagerly waiting for Naked Pizzas to sprout up around Nairobi, don’t worry, there are two or three in the works.  In the meantime, head to Fedha Plaza in Westlands to pickup your order where you can hang out in their hip space.

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