I was expecting great things from this pizza restaurant, which has rave reviews on most food and restaurant review sites. We went with an Italian friend, who considers this his favourite Italian restaurant in London, which is another high recommendation.
For those not in the know, this is a traditional and Italian owned pizza and pasta restaurant, about 5 minutes' walk from Clapham Junction station. Its speciality is pizzas to share: they are oblong, and you order 'by the metre' (actually 25cm per person).
It comes on a long platter which, if there are more than two of you, is placed on a metal 'table' put on top of the main table. Three of us had pizza like this, and my other half had pasta. (If there are two of you, they seem to put the smaller platter on the table itself). It's a little pricey - around £9-£10 a head - but freshly made with quality ingredients. Overall, expect to pay around £25 a head for pizza, wine and coffee: 12.5% service charge is added to the bill automatically.
The plus points were that the service, when we arrived, was very friendly and swift, and the house wines completely acceptable (although buying by carafe is more expensive than some of the bottled wine, so be warned). They were also happy to serve us generously with tap water, which is another good sign in my book. By 8pm the restaurant began to fill up, and by 9pm it was packed, with people waiting for a table.
My partner's seafood pasta arrived first, and smelt very fishy, and was by all accounts delicious. Our pizzas - or should that be pizza? - was a little longer in arriving. They/it were absolutely delicious - the roasted and smoked vegetables on mine were as good as anything I've tasted, and there was plenty of it: I was glad not to have had a starter.
The downside, however, was that the platter was metal, and cold, and putting it on the metal stand (also cold) meant that after the first slice my pizza was cooling rapidly, and by the third slice (of four), was completely stone cold. It was also a pain to have a metal stand at nearly at eye level - hardly conducive to good conversation. All in all, this seemed to me like a triumph of gimmickry over food quality.
The second gripe was that, as they got busier, service quality declined alarmingly: my partner had to ask for butter (to go with the bread) four times before it arrived. The bill and payment, in contrast, were sorted quickly.
Overall, the platter concept spoiled our meal: a normal plate, heated beforehand, would have made all the difference, and apparently they will serve it that way, if you prefer. That is what I shall do in future. read more