Nice Slice: the best pizza in London
Who knew that three simple ingredients – flour, yeast and water – stretched into a circular based and topped simply with tomato could form such a universally loved meal? Well, the Italians, for starters, who’ve been pioneering various takes on pizza since the early 16th century. Although the UK has been devouring slices of the stuff since the 1960s, London’s flour-forward restaurants have raised the bar in recent years. In tandem with bread’s sourdough moment, pizza has been elevated to new culinary heights, with a number of buzzy new neighbourhood spots popping up to serve everything from cheesy American slices to thin and crispy Roman bases.
Some say the best way to judge a pizza is in its most simple form: the humble margherita. It’s what purists would order in a traditional Neapolitan pizzeria (Naples being the birthplace of the dish) after all. That said, we won’t blame you for being tempted by something a little more experimental, particularly when London’s best pizza places are topping wide varieties of pillowy dough with seasonal locally sourced fare. From a Hornsey bakery championing the finest planet-friendly flour to a Brockley gem making slices to take away to the park, here’s where to find the best pizza in every corner of the capital.
NORTH
1. Big Jo
Known for using Wildfarmed flour to make its baked goods, Big Jo is the only one of the Jolene fleet to serve pizzas. On the daily menu you’ll usually find a pizza fritta – a small dumpling-like pocket stuffed with cheese and tomato – which comes with aioli and chilli. Big Jo is also known for its bouncy Roman slices – pizza al taglio – which are traditionally rectangular with a thicker base more similar to focaccia and are great to take away at lunchtime. Pizzettes have also been cropping up on the menus recently, featuring classic toppings such as tomato, mozzarella and basil, as well as seasonal specials, including squash, leeks, sage and crème fraîche.
2. Vicoli di Napoli
If you’ve tasted authentically Neapolitan pizzas from this Stoke Newington institution, you might not be surprised to hear its sister restaurant is based in Naples, where most of their staff hail from too. Vicoli di Napoli is so rooted in tradition that for years you could choose only between the two house styles, marinara or a margherita – although more recently it has broadened the menu. Here you’ll get the full Neapolitan treatment: crispy, thin and blistered dough and perfectly seasoned tomato sauce, topped with creamy and salty fior di latte. If you’re a fan of white bases, Vicoli’s salsiccia e friarielli – fennel-laced sausage, spicy wild broccoli and plenty of Grana Padano – is divine.
3. The Dusty Knuckle
Considering The Dusty Knuckle’s reputation for epic loaves and filled focaccia sandwiches, the bakery’s foray into pizza is, unsurprisingly, just as delicious. At its new outpost on Green Lanes in Harringay, it serves sourdough pizzas straight from a woodfired oven, each a riff on the classics – think confit garlic with your marinara, salt-cured egg yolks instead of cheese on a Napoli pizza, and sticky chilli honey melting into spicy ’nduja. There’s tiramisu by the ladle if you’ve got room and beer on tap to wash it all down.
4. L’Antica Pizzeria
A generous drizzle of homemade chilli oil on any one of L’Antica Pizzeria’s Neapolitan pizzas is all that’s needed – unless you’re going straight for a Nutella-slathered slice, that is. Made with a low-salt dough that’s slow-fermented for 36 hours, L’Antica’s trademark dishes are affectionately named after famous Italian thinkers, artists and writers throughout history. The ‘Giacomo Casanova’, for instance, which comes with salami and prosciutto, is a homage to the infamous adventurer and rogue – and is as romantic as a calzone gets.
5. Sweet Thursday
Locals will attest that Sweet Thursday, a quintessential neighbourhood spot in De Beauvoir, serves up comforting, doughy pizzas that stretch far beyond the usual suspects. It’s one of the rare places where a pizza bianco might outdo the classics. The one with creamy pistachio-and-pea pesto with ’nduja and stracciatella tastes like a bowl of basil-laden Genovese tomato sauce, and the carbonara with baked pecorino, sizzling guanciale and soft confit egg yolk is another winner. Opt for a bottle of effervescent natural wine – and maybe a scoop or two of dark-chocolate Hackney Gelato for dessert.
EAST
6. Crate Brewery
There might not be a better time to visit Crate Brewery than during the height of summer when diners can sit outside and make the most of its buzzy waterside location, overlooking the River Lea in Hackney Wick. If the weather doesn’t hold out, however, don’t fret: the industrial interiors – Crate is situated within an old warehouse – are also appealing. But the best bit is the thin and crispy stonebaked pizza. We’ll be ordering either the one with mozzarella, grated potato, parmesan, sage leaves and truffle oil, or with spinach, marinated lamb mince, parmesan, pine nuts, fresh mint and chilli. And it would be rude to leave without trying some of its own beer, wouldn’t it?
7. Lardo
Tucked between London Fields and Hackney Central is Lardo, a disco-balled, industrial Italian eatery where the pizza menu is small but mighty. The eponymous lardo pizza with spinach and egg is rich and indulgent; equally delicious is one that’s more left-of-field: smoked salmon paired with fior di latte. Despite the restaurant’s name (which refers to the cured fat usually found at the back of the pig), there are vegan-friendly pizzas on offer. The one featuring Superstraccia – a dairy-free cheese that’s just as creamy and stretchy as the real thing – and finished with meat-free ’nduja, is a delight.
8. Sodo
One of six scattered across the city (the others being in Clapton, Hoxton, Deptford, Hammersmith and Walthamstow), the branch of Sodo that sits under the railway arches by Bethnal Green station is defined by stripped-back wooden countertop tables and glossy green brick walls. Championing local produce, its pizzas come loaded with fine cured meats from the north London-based charcuterie Cobble Lane, seasonal fare from Growing Communities and Lea Organics, and creamy mozzarella made in Essex using the very best British milk.
SOUTH
9. Theo’s
Walk past Theo’s on any given evening and you’ll see the wood-lined Camberwell local packed with people tucking into sourdough pizzas and its famous tiramisu. The domed woodfired oven (a Gozney, for any interested pizza-making aficionados) is something of a showstopper – it’s what makes such crispy bases and pillowy crusts. Go for pizza finished with melt-in-your-mouth aubergine (add some anchovies for extra umami), or the calzone stuffed with sweet datterini tomatoes, spiced salami and soft ricotta. After dousing your pizza in it, grab a bottle of Theo’s freshly made chilli sauce to go, and finish with an ice-cream panuozzo – a sweet sandwich of vanilla gelato wedged between two thin slices of dough.
10. Dinner for One Hundred
When a pizza chef and ex-London bus tour guide hosted an impromptu dinner party for 100 people in a soon-to-be demolished Hackney warehouse in 2017, it went down a real treat. So much so the duo decided to keep the name and launch a full-time business. Dinner for One Hundred started with the pair selling pizza from one of their family’s gardens, before more recently opening a permanent takeaway spot by Telegraph Hill in Brockley (you can also order their pizza at The Perseverance pub in Bloomsbury). Keep your eyes peeled on its Instagram for news of the weekly special – you might be lucky enough to try the pizza bianca with mushroom, datterini tomato, chilli and wild-garlic pesto – and watch out for the seasonal panuozzo sandwich menu, too.
11. Four Hundred Rabbits
With five locations across south London (including Crystal Palace, West Norwood and Elephant and Castle) Four Hundred Rabbits is famed for its laid-back spirit, delicious sourdough pizzas, craft beers and yummy gelato. In summer, its Herne Hill spot comes into its own when diners can take pizzas away to share at sunset by Brockwell Lido (sundowner, optional – although we’d recommend an ice-cold beer or two). Its Nunhead restaurant, meanwhile, is worth visiting for the kitsch interiors scheme, which makes a lovely setting to dine in. Take comfort in the seasonal specials too: sharp gruyère, salty lardons and tender potatoes arrive in winter, while asparagus, egg and pea shoots signal spring.
12. Made of Dough
Bellenden Road has always been a gastronomical hotspot for south Londoners – and Made of Dough is no exception. It doesn’t take itself too seriously – a notable menu mention goes to the ‘cheeseburger’ pizza (topped with beef patty from Peckham butchers Flock & Herd, and bread-and-butter pickles and kimchi mayo). Armed with the knowledge that fluffy, woodfired crusts need at least one dip, be sure to order both the basil aioli and spicy paprika mayo are must-orders.
WEST
13. Farina
With founding roots in both Naples and neighbouring Salerno, Notting Hill’s Neapolitan-style pizzeria Farina makes slow-fermented sourdough pizzas. There’s something for every member of your dinner party here, from a classic Napoletana to a fleshed-out vegan menu, from which we’d recommend the pizza with a cream-of-courgette base, cherry-tomatoes confit, artichokes and fried basil. If you’ve got an appetite, start with the montanare, crispy fried dough balls slathered in ragù sauce and stretchy mozzarella, and the cucuzza, fried courgettes served with a heady mix of truffle oil and Sicilian salted ricotta.
14. Zia Lucia
Zia Lucia is one of the few pizzerias that offers a selection of four 48-hour slow-fermented doughs, including traditional, wholemeal, gluten-free or even a distinctive charcoal one. Its signature Arianna pizza, which is drizzled with truffle oil and scattered with Italian sausage, gorgonzola and mozzarella, is one of its finest – and is arguably best served on its dark charcoal dough. As well as in Hammersmith, Zia Lucia has seven other spots including Stoke Newington, Islington, Balham and Wandsworth.
15. Santa Maria
Started by two chefs from Naples, Santa Maria has been cooking up Neapolitan pizzas in Ealing since 2010 – but it also has outposts in Islington, Fitzrovia, Fulham and Brentford too. The menu rarely errs from tradition, so expect thin, elastic bases that crisp up in the woodfired oven and springy, blistered crusts, as well as a liberal amount of mozzarella, fior di latte and basil among the classic toppings on offer. The Santa Valentina – studded with salty sausage meat and intensely red ’nduja on a bed of creamy pumpkin and smoked mozzarella – is particularly good with a balsamic-drizzled, parmesan-flecked rocket salad.
CENTRAL
16. Rudy’s
Woodfired ovens built in Naples, a penchant for the region’s juicy San Marzano tomatoes and a dough that’s double-fermented over 24 hours: that’s how pizza is made at Rudy’s. Having started as a pop-up in Manchester before opening its first London location (you can find it all over the UK), Rudy’s has a no-frills menu peppered with generously portioned classics. Our favourite might just be the capricciosa, overflowing with prosciutto cotto, mushrooms, olives and artichoke hearts. Start with a Campari soda for aperitivo and finish with Rudy’s signature Orangecello for a digestivo.
17. Pizzeria Mozza
Nancy Silverton’s first international outpost of her Michelin-starred Osteria Mozza opened as part of the new Regent Street Treehouse Hotel last year. A paean to the chef’s native California – and its laid back, farm-to-table style – as well as traditional Mediterranean cooking, Pizzeria Mozza is known for its golden, bubbling crusts and unique dough recipe, which combines dark rye, wheat germ and barley malt. Don’t veer away from the double cheese, prawn and aglio e olio pizza – it’s an unusual flavour profile that really works. The PLT – smoked pancetta, guanciale, onion cream and roasted tomato – is indulgently creamy and great with the tart vinaigrette of Nancy’s chopped salad.
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