Top 3 places for pizza in London

By Umberto Tabalappi

Spoiler: Pizza Hut is not included!

We have all been there. You have just moved to London from Italy and your non-Italian mates want to go for a pizza. Some of the proposed restaurants are just atrocious (to say the least!). The first one that they propose to you is Pizza Express, which has among its choices the abominable ‘Carbonara Pizza’, that has chunks of bacon, bechamel and a sunny side-up egg as main topping (WTF!). After that you politely reject this first option, your mates propose another option: Domino’s. Now, we really have to make it clear: Domino’s does not make Italian pizza. It serves pizza with ham and pineapple, which is pretty much considered a criminal offence in Italy. So again, you decide to politely reject Domino’s. Now your friends will probably think the usual: Italians are unbearable food snobs. They will ask you to choose for a pizzeria but, given that you are a novice in London, you don’t know where to go. This article is here to help!

The truth is that there are dozens of amazing pizzerias in London and, forgive this apparent blasphemy, some are even better than the ones in Italy. Here is my personal favourite list, so that you don’t disappoint your non-Italian friends.

50Kalò

Trafalgar Square

£

Fresh winner of the prize for ‘Best Italian pizzeria in London’ for Gambero Rosso’s Top Italian Restaurants Guide, 50 Kalò originally opened in Naples. Its owner, Ciro Salvo, is one of only 6 pizza makers to have been included in Italy’s Michelin Guide. The name of the restaurant has a fascinating story: 50 is a number that in the Neapolitan tradition of interpreting dreams, means “bread” (or “dough ball”), and Kalò in the ancient spoken language of pizza makers means “good”. The design of the place is very minimal but, of course, you go there to eat and not judge the interiors! And the food does indeed make up for the relative lack of posh furniture. The menu has a wide selection of starters but it’s the quality of the pizza that makes 50Kalò stand out. The range from which you can choose is just overwhelming, going from the classic ‘Margherita’ to the less common ‘Ricotta, Provola e Cicoli’, that has as toppings ricotta, smoke cheese and cured pork meat. The only problem is that the restaurant does not take reservations, meaning that during the weekends the waiting time for a table is extremely long.

TOP TIP: after the pizza, make sure you still have some space for the desserts!

Source: SquareMeal

L’antica pizzeria da Michele

Baker Street

££

Founded in Naples by Michele Condurro in 1870, this pizzeria is perhaps one of the most famous worldwide. Besides the excellent quality of its pizza, which is widely revered as the best one in the world, it also owes its fame to the movie ‘Eat, Pray, Love’, in which Julia Roberts appears eating at the branch in Naples. The furniture looks a bit shabby and, overall, the interior design of the place is very meagre. Yet, it’s the quality of the food that makes this pizzeria one of my favourites in London. The selection of starters and pizzas is fairly limited (surely less varied than at 50Kalò) but the size of the portions compensates for that. The pizza is done in the classic Neapolitan style, with a thick but soft crust and a diameter that hardly fits the plate (it really is a huge pizza!). The restaurant does take reservations, so make sure that you book a table to avoid disappointment.

TOP TIP: make sure you try the ‘Truffle Mushroom’ pizza, winner of 2019 London’s pizza festival

Source: TimeOut

Santa Maria

Fitzrovia

£

Source: Santa Maria

Located in one of London’s most famous neighbourhoods, this pizzeria opened in 2010. Their mission is simple but effective: feeding everyone, from penniless students to VIPs, with the authentic taste of Neapolitan pizza. The pizza served in Santa Maria, is exactly the same as the pizza you can eat on the streets of Naples, using the same ingredients and adopting the same cooking method. The restaurant is decorated with a combination of old and modern furniture, definitely giving cool vibes once you step in. Even though it is unrelated to the quality of the food, one must appreciate how cool the logo of the restaurant is: it is a graphic modern art style redesign of the traditional image of Santa Maria di Merino (the patron saint of Vieste, a gorgeous little town in Puglia). The menu is also very innovative, in the sense that every pizza has the name of traditional italian saints. The starters are not many and fairly average, but the pizzas do stand out! The pizzeria does not take reservations, so again it is better to avoid it during the weekends, as it can get fairly busy and have long waiting times.

TOP TIP: make sure you try the ‘San Salvatore’, a folded pizza with tomato sauce, mozzarella, ricotta, cotto ham, salame and parmesan.