London's best pizza
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By Time Out editors. Photography Rob Greig.
Posted: Mon Apr 19 2010
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Fratelli la Bufala
Hampstead, 45A South End Rd, NW3 2QB (020 7435 7814 / www.fratellilabufala.com). Belsize Park tube or Hampstead Heath rail.
A beauty of a tiled, wood-fired oven dominates the upper level of this smart neighbourhood Italian, which is a franchise of an international chain. The menu covers a broad sweep of Italian dishes, but we think the pizzas are the principal attraction. On this visit, generous slices of buffalo mozzarella (naturally) were neatly arranged with a generous amount of fresh basil leaves over a huge, 13-inch diameter margherita. The cornicioni (crust) was nicely crisped up and the base not too soggy. Top-quality toppings are used throughout, much of it sourced from certifed producers in Italy. We particularly liked the margaritina, a pizza topped with strips of baked aubergine – a masterstroke. Not sure about the variations with pineapple chunks, though. Margherita £7.90, margaratina £9.90. Read more
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Nonna's
Camden, York & Albany, 127-129 Parkway, NW1 7PS (020 7255 9254/www.gordonramsay.com). Camden Town tube.
Nonna’s is the deli attached to York & Albany, Angela Hartnett’s hotel, bar and restaurant in Camden Town. There are just a few tables, right there in the shop where you can watch the pizzas being lifted in and out of the oven, and the emphasis is therefore necessarily informal. A margherita pizza was a pleasure to eat – but we felt it could be just a little more of a pleasure. It was a beta pizza rather than alpha, with a deeply reduced tomato sauce that some would find excessively sweet and a base that lacked just that final clench of crunchiness. Although it’s not the greatest of pizzerias, we can recommend the charcuterie platter (£9) of world-class quality, the equal of any you’d find in France or Italy. Margherita £9; ‘rustic’ pizza (mozzarella, tomatoes, artichokes, Italian sausage, anchovies, onions) £11.50. Read more
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Red Pepper
Maida Vale, 8 Formosa St, W9 1EE (7266 2708). Warwick Avenue tube.
The margherita at this smart Maida Vale Italian restaurant has an agreeably thin crust, but the cornicione was not as crisp as it should have been, and the base of ours was still very pliable – a little more time in the wood-fired oven would have helped. Instead of buffalo mozzarella, fior de latte (cow’s milk mozzarella) is used, and this particular one had little elasticity and formed indistinct clouds on top of the base. The passata, although decent, lacked tartness, and the basil element consisted of six large, wilting leaves. We liked Red Pepper a lot for the ambience, and for the well-made dishes, from the pert mixed salad to the scrumptious banana tart, but the competition in the pizza stakes is too stiff to make this one a winner. And a meal here can cost a lot if you deviate from the pizza menu – a starter-sized portion of pasta cost a jaw-dropping £12.50. Margherita £8; porcini and goat’s cheese pizza £12. Read more
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Nuraghe Trattoria
Tufnell Park, 12 Dartmouth Park Hill, NW5 1HL (7263 4560 / www.ristorante nuraghe.co.uk). Tufnell Park tube.
We arrived at an almost empty Nuraghe, but it was nearly full when we left and, more surprisingly, bouncy throughout the evening with Italian chatter from the engaging staff. On the menu, specialities such as curulgiones (pecorino- and potato-stuffed ravioli) meet crowd-pleasing puds (zabaglione, cassata) and 12-inch pizzas, generously topped but inconsistent in execution. Chef Oscar refused to serve our first pizza because it was burnt, then was over-cautious with the replacement (crisp cornicione, soggy centre) but still served a third burnt dry. And why the barely cooked little tomatoes on top? The version with bottarga was a subtle balance of sweet passata and salty cured mullet roe, but the margherita was explosively cheesy with sprinkled parmesan on top of the mozzarella and rough-handed scatter of basil leaves. A superb waft from a passing dish of venison ravioli suggested we should ski off-pizza when we return. Margherita £6.70; bottarga £12. Read more
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Tenore
Islington, 14 Barnsbury Rd, N1 0HB (7278 6955 / www.tenore-restaurant.co.uk). Angel tube or bus 73.
The sturdy-looking pizzaioli manning the big pizza oven looks as if he’s just strolled in from the Sardinian countryside. Which he might well have, as most of the staff here are Sardinian, something reflected in the menu which covers pan-Italian staples – pizza the most obvious of these – to more distinctively Sardinian ingredients such as bottarga (dried mullet roe). We’re not sure if all the cross-pollenation of culinary influences are a success – the bottarga-topped pizza, which tasted and smelled like musty fish sauce, is not one we’ll order again – but stick to the classics and you’ll be fine. The margherita was irregularly shaped with a nicely crunchy rim, but unfortunately the topping was unevenly distributed, leaving one side of the pizza ‘dry’. Otherwise, a delightful and charming place for a pizza in Islington. Margherita £6.80; bottarga pizza £9.95. Read more
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117 comments
Santa Maria is the definitely the best pizza in uk. Only for the real conoisseurs, this is the real thing! Grazie di esistere, la vostra pizza mi fa sentire a casa!
Trattoria Sapori know how to make pizza, trust me, their mozz is Frior di latte and thats telling you something.. give them a try...
MADE IN ITALY GROUP RESTAURANTS ARE THE BEST .... I ESPECIALLY LOVE THE KINGS' ROAD BRACH, PERFECT FOR EVERY OCCASION AND DEFINETLY THE BEST PIZZA YOU CAN EAT IN LONDON.
Fair point Pizzalover :) I think i'm perhaps getting too bogged down in the semantics. I suppose the inclusion (or lack thereof) of the term "authentic" is important. Point in case, i lived in NY for a while, and a NY pizza is an entirely different beast to traditional neapolitan pizza, but on occasion i had cravings for a NY pizza rather than a neapolitan one.
One point on which i agree with you 100% is that taste should axiomatically be the most important of the criteria.
I'm not however, sure that i agree that my objectivity remark is as tenuous as you would purport me to believe. While tastes are by their very nature subjective, in order to evaluate objectively the prowess of a pizza, i would think that some sort of authority on the subject should be involved in the decision process, akin to an expert witness at a trial. All i was saying was that in furtherance to this, there are few people who can attest to the merits of a pizza better than someone who grew up surrounded by it :)
Tommaso - I think the reviewers were off in feeling the need to use the word authentic throughout the reviews. However, authentic does not a good pizza make. Creativity, taste, etc. should be the higher bar, so no, I don't think a British person would be best placed to judge the best fish and chips in New York, nor should a Neapolitan with all their local baggage be the best person to judge pizza in London. And your point on objectivity and Neapolitans is a stretch AT BEST!
That said, La Donna Margherita is a yummy, beautiful treat.
Gary, plz shut up. you have no clue and best for you is to do your pub food with the least quality. i ve been there and you pizza is all over the place. dough, tomato sauce, etc were the worst
fix up yourself, then start with other prople
haha, Gary no offence taken mate. i'm guessing your tongue is a little bit in your cheek there re the right-wing comments about london jobs for londoners. For the record, i didnt come to London, i'm a londer born and bread, my parents chose to come here. I had little choice as to where I was born.
As for the "understanding" of pizze being for everyone, i agree 100%, and the promulgation of pizza across the world is something that neapolitans are very proud of. However when it comes to judging whether and item is "authentic", surely logic would dictate that those responsible for having created that item should be the authority, no? For instance a native italian speaker would be in a better position to decide what was correct usage of the italian language than a frenchman who learned italian at school. Would u not agree? The same can be said about many cultural products. To put it another way, would an Englishman in New York not be in a better position to judge what is "authentic" british fish 'n chips, than an American? Or an Indian curry etc...?
PS - they also have awesome pizza in Tokyo, they send all their pizzaioli to Naples to learn from the master pizze makers.
not to be controversial, but i find it nigh on offensive to have a cohort of judges charged with rating the best pizzeria in london, none of whom is italian, let alone neapolitan. Surely the people who gifted the world with the creation of pizze deserve a voice in the matter, particularly if it is to be done with a degree of objectivity!
On behalf of myself and many fellow neapolitans in london, one of the few authentic (if not the only) verace pizza napuletan' is La Donna Margherita, lavendar hill, clapham junction. This place does honest to god neapolitan cuisine, with a veritable cornucopia of dishes, but topping the menu is pizza as good as any street vendor in naples. It's hard not to view the judges nominations as derisible when they fail to mention a place like donna margherita and instead nominate some fancy schmancy, mickey mouse pizzeria like Rocket.
Has any of you tried that small place in Crouch End called Tomo restaurant. For me the best pizza ever! Highly recommended!
Best pizza in london at Franco Manca!
Brixton or Chiswick is the same!
Very nice service!!! Now with out service charge!!!! And amazing pizza. Thatz it.
Rays is dam good as well.
try Trattoria Sapori in newington green, its the north of london, but they do some really good pizza' and they do it the old fashion way.
Try the silver dollar in Rayners lane, been there over 50 years very very unpretentious cafe, visited by Sinatra, jagger et al, has stacks of history, and very good pizzas, a proper time warp .
I agree Chiccos, Camden High Street is the best pizza in London for taste and price
Chiccos is the best pizza in London for taste and price