"You Choose" — Poli

Venue: Poli, 21 York Road, Kings Heath B14 7SA; website
Choice: Black pepper cream pizza (£9.50) Chooser: Sophie, Owner

Ever heard of something called the F45 Eight-Week Challenge? We have, because we did it, and after 56 days of (actually rather satisfying) HIIT classes and lean muscle making meal plans, we were hard as nails aaaaand utterly desperate to eat cake at caneat, followed by pizza at Poli. We've talked a lot about the former but the Kings Heath newbie — from the people behind Grace + James — opened mid-challenge, so salivation levels were frankly ludicrous. The fresh, bright, buzzy joint feels lovely, and, as evidenced by the reservation list, is exactly what York Road ordered. We had a bit of a false start with the pickled grapes (£3), which had been hyped to the max but didn't do anything for us. A double win followed. Though pizza is the main event, Poli is big on thoughtful small plates, like meatballs (£7, good), roasted bone marrow (£7, great) and woodfired cauliflower with texture-filled red pesto and hazelnuts (£6, utterly stupendous). The second must order dish is the team's bianca pizza — so a tomato-less creation — here topped with scamorza, mozzarella, pecorino and oodles of cracked black pepper. We're n'duja people — spicy salami a smiley editor makes — but by God the creamy creation Poli has come up with had us reassessing a lifetime of pizza orders. Dunk in squid ink aioli (£2) and a tiny drop of the fiery fermented hot sauce (£2) for the perfect bite. Challenge complete. Menu