After a summer spent in Italy trying the very best pizza places, I was inspired to comb London for what is on offer for pizza loving Brits. The burger craze seems to be taking a much deserved break, making room for European fast food, and pizza is top of the menu. Quick, easy and with so many varieties and styles, it is clear why pizza is so popular all over the globe.
Pizza Pilgrims: After thrilling the streets of London with their pop-up pizza van, the Pizza Pilgrims (brothers Tom and James) have finally opened up a restaurant on Dean Street, smack bang between Jazz Pizza Express and Soho Joe’s Pizzeria! They are using all the precious knowledge and experience gathered on their Pizza Pilgrimage across Italy to present Londoners with tasty pizzas and a fun retro café to enjoy them in. After an hour wait, we were ravenous and really enjoyed the Salsiccia e Friarielli and Nduja pizzas. Yum.
Franco Manca: Now with five branches across London, enthusiasm for Franco Manca’s sourdough-based pizzas is growing at speed. They are made with the best tomatoes, cheese, meat and vegetables and the taste has a Mediterranean freshness about it. I thought my pizza was the best, number 6: tomato, organic cured chorizo (dry and semi-dry) and mozzarella (£6.95) – a soft and airy base topped with peppery chorizo, rich in flavour and blissfully luxurious.
Santa Maria: This adorable little pizzeria is located in Ealing and is always heaving with hungry locals. The traditional Neapolitan is cooked in the wood fired oven giving a lovely taste and crisp base. Often voted as the best pizza in London, this fiercely authentic little restaurant is worth seeking out. There are so many delicious choices, but the Sant’Anna is a firm favourite with regular visitors.
Homeslice: Another new fixture on the London streets is Homeslice, a passionate company who spent two years serving from a mobile wood fired oven in the courtyard of London Fields brewery. Located in lovely Covent Garden, this pizzeria is ideal for a shopping refuel. You can either have a mega slice (roughly 20 inches) for sharing between two or three people, or a half and half 20 inch of two flavours of your choice. They are extra thin and topped with intriguing and wonderful toppings like pork belly, chimichurri and smoked onion… mmmmm.
Pizza East: Each of the Pizza East venues has an industrial but charming feel, providing a lovely place to relax and feast. I have been meaning to visit this modern pizzeria for a while and was glad to finally tick it off my list after eating at the seriously trendy Portobello branch. The place was very busy, and I observed the obvious enjoyment around me. Pizzas are piled high with vibrantly fresh ingredients, but be warned the prices are ludicrously high. We shared the Spicy sausage, mozzarella and broccoli and the Aubergine with tomato, buffalo mozzarella and pesto, and enjoyed the flavours but not the bill!
Pick your pizzeria of choice and gorge on Italy’s finest contribution to the British restaurant scene.