Restaurants

Situated five minutes’ walk from Clapham’s main drag, Verso appears to play second fiddle to the busier, better-located and better-known Eco . But pizza-lovers take note: we think both the ingredients and cooking at Verso are palpably better. It’s true that this shop unit of a room lacks atmosphere (other than that generated by annoying radio muzak), but staff are cheerful and food arrives quickly. Pizza bases are foot-wide discs of thin and crisp dough, baked at searing temperatures and topped with either classic or more unusual topping combos. We savoured the speck (smoked ‘prosciutto’) with artichoke hearts, mozzarella and gorgonzola cheese. There are plenty more interesting dishes to choose from too: big bicycle inner-tubes of pasta served with a robustly textured ragu of duck, for example. The standard size of wine glass is a mighty 250ml (that’s a third of a bottle), but they’re not just serving plonk; an appealing nero d’avola from Sicily costs a very reasonable £4.90.

Time Out Eating & Drinking Guide 2008