Oct. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Soho House is starting to look unstoppable, with sister establishments in New York and across London, and plans for clubs in West Hollywood, Miami and Berlin.

The group now has opened an eatery next door to Shoreditch House, and it’s easy to be lulled into feeling confident that all will be just right from the start. That’s how it felt at the opening party, when diners headed in after a London Restaurant Festival event sponsored by G.H. Mumm Champagne.

That confidence is repaid when you are greeted by smiling staffers and take a look at the venue. It occupies the ground floor of the Tea Building in an area that Soho House founder Nick Jones compares to New York’s Meatpacking District.

Pizza East has an industrial feel that’s entirely in sympathy with the old warehouse and the area, with exposed pipes, wooden floors and bare tables you may share with your fashionable co-diners. It’s a look that makes as much business sense as a pizza: It’s popular and inexpensive to create.

The main letdown at Pizza East is, bizarrely, the pizza, in particular the base, a chewy concoction with a big uneven crust. It’s so distinctive that it distracts from the toppings, which are not as generous as you might expect from Jones. Tackle one of these after a starter such as the excellent mortadella spread, pistachios, mostarda with rustic bread and you’ll need more than a couple of Red Bulls to put on your dancing shoes.

The pizza is all the more disappointing because the food is otherwise good and you already can get great pizza in London. Franco Manca, over at Brixton, is the daddy of them all, but Furnace, just up the road from Pizza East, is also worth a trip.

Quirky Combos

The Pizza East tomato sauce is sweet and lacks depth. Some of the toppings, though, offer surprisingly successful flavor combinations. I can’t say veal meatballs, prosciutto, sage, lemon, parsley and cream (13 pounds/$21.25) would have been high on my list. It is now. Portobello mushrooms, tomato, shallot, parsley, egg (10 pounds) is also an unusual combo that works.

But strip away the razzle-dazzle pizzas and focus on the basic margherita, for example, and the assertive base dominates. Knives won’t even cut through it without a lot of sawing.

The starters are inventive, and the wood-roasted mussels with garlic and fennel aioli are particularly flavorful. These are creamy and soft. There’s also a decent salad of wild rocket, shaved fennel, almonds, parmesan, lemon, extra virgin olive oil.

The sheep-milk ricotta bruschetta, lamb’s lettuce, honeycomb, sea salt has plenty of flavor and sweetness while the chunky calamari with caper aioli are good value at 6 pounds -- though they were overcooked and tough on one visit.

The desserts are as tempting as anything else and I’d go back for the unusual ice creams, including brown sugar and creme fraiche; and grapefruit and quince.

Cocktails by the Jug

Most wines are priced below 30 pounds, and there are about a dozen options by the carafe. The servers may make you a jug of cocktails if you ask nicely. If you’re wondering how “White on Tap-Trebbiano, Italy ‘09” is at 10 pounds for half a liter, it tastes like water, so reading this might save you some money.

This is one of those restaurants where the experience is better than some of the food. Sit down with friends, have a few drinks, check out the other diners, chat with the friendly staffers, don’t over-order pizzas and you may well have a pleasant time. Retro sounds play, each one triggering a memory: Stone Roses, vintage David Bowie, it’s all there.

If you want to eat well, order a bunch of starters and desserts and skip the mains. Pizza East? It’s pizza least.

Pizza East, Tea Building, 56 Shoreditch High Street, London, E1 6JJ. Information: +44-20-7729-1888 or click on http://www.pizzaeast.com/.

The Bloomberg Questions

Cost? Pizzas start at 6 pounds.

Sound level? Buzzy. Music plays. 75-80 decibels.

Inside tip? Save it for post-party dining.

Special feature? Wine on tap.

Will I be back? yes.

Date place? Yes.

Rating? ***

(Richard Vines is the chief food critic for Bloomberg News. Opinions expressed are his own.)

To contact the writer on the story: Richard Vines in London at rvines@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: October 29, 2009 20:00 EDT