Santa Maria, Ealing

On Valentine's Day of this year Ealing acquired a new patron saint; Santa Maria on the eponymous St. Mary's Road arose and ushered in a new era of culinary excellence. This pizzeria is the newest addition to a burgeoning list of gastronomic destinations in West London. But the owner's of this small eatery have designs on the whole city and for good reason: the pizza here is excellent. On my visit the display was adorned with copies of the latest edition of Time Out London which had conducted a tasting of London's best pizzas with Santa Maria heading the pile. On the pizzeria's website they say that they never had any doubt about being London's premier pizzeria but my pie did not arrive without fault. 

The pizzeria is a well-designed and petite, reflecting the intricacies in the foundations of pizza. The stylish building has few seats indoors and two tables outdoors for those warmer days. The menu is single sided (always a plus point) and the pizzas begin at £4.50 (the Santa Maria Pie/Marinara). They recently acquired an alcohol license and serve beer, limoncello and other digestifs. An interesting addition to the menu is the inclusion of Gelato from Oddono's of South Kensington which is perfect in the run up to the British Summer. 

 A single pizzaiolo shapes the pies and bakes them for 90 seconds in the wood-fired oven. The oak gives a consistent smoky taste to the pies and the blistering heat of the Neapolitan built oven makes sure each pizza is cooked for just a minute and a half.

 The finished pies come out well blistered and in only one size (12 inch pie). 

 

 I ordered the Santa Margherita (£5.20) - tomato, mozzarella, basil, olive oil and salt. The true test of any pizzeria is the strength of their Margherita and this scored highly on several fronts.

 The dough was soft, springy and well charred with an excellent tasting cornicione. The cheese:sauce ratio was very nearly perfect with tangy but sweet tomato giving way to creamy islands of mozzarella. The basil perfumed the pie consistently which heightened the eating experience. The olive oil and salt adding the perfect finishing touches to a very good pie.

 The much fabled 'upskirt' shot provided a better insight into the strength of the oven. The base was well charred and gave a clean smoky taste. 

 The side-on shot provided greater insight into the air pocket structure of the base and this is where the pie dropped some points. Although the base was light and springy it lacked a certain 'lift' from the air bubbles that would have afforded the pie an even greater lightness. The dough was well formed but this pie was still susceptible to sogginess in the middle.

The final bill provides another big plus in favour of this pizzeria. Pizza should be affordable and this is definitely wallet-friendly..

On a whole this pizzeria impressed me on several fronts from the friendly owners to the well constructed pies and deserves all the success it will inevitably get. The pies were a great example of the Neapolitan sltyle but being only two months in after opening issues regarding consistency and longevity cannot be answered. If this truly is the King of the London pizza scene then it has a lot of competition that will be ready to usurp it should it ever falter. For the first time ever in London we have multiple options when it comes to great pizza and we should not take that for granted. Bon ap'!

Franco Manca, Chiswick

Lucky Chiswick? Perhaps that is the case, as the residents of W4 can now claim to have an outpost of probably the best Neapolitan pizza London has to offer. Along with Ground the dining-out scene is looking very promising, with the second branch of Franco Manca offering locals a taste of their now famous sourdough pizzas.

My pizza was not without fault, carrying on the inconsistencies I experienced at the Brixton original. I ordered the number 6: a Neapolitan marinara (£4.50) which consisted of their signature sourdough base topped with tomatoes, garlic and oregano. I decided to forego the addition of buffalo mozzarella due to a recent decision to cut out all dairy and in all honesty, the flavour of the pizza wasn't lacking in any way because of this. The sauce was, well, very tomatoey and well seasoned. The oregano and garlic (rather harsh) adding to the complexity, while the three or four leaves of fresh basil on top rounded things off. In terms of taste, it was a little bit like a pizza with za'atar on top, with some tomato sauce. Not necessarily a bad thing, if you like the flavours.

My main problem with the pizza was regarding the base which is usually a contentious issue among visitors to Franco Manca. This is usually due to the thinness of the pizza dough at the centre which causes the crisp underside to go soggy when the watery mozzarella is added. With no cheese on my pizza, this was not an issue, but the centre of the pizza was far too thick and was subsequently slightly undercooked. It seems the pizzaiolo could have been doing this to combat the sogginess issues, although it was slightly odd.

To drink I chose a large lemonade (at £3.60, almost as much as the pizza!) which was pleasant and tangy, but too large and too expensive; more expensive than I remember it being, anyway. This brought my bill to £9 including the service (already put on) which isn't bad for a pizza of this high quality, but a little too much for a weekday lunch. The room is much larger and has better opening times for those who cannot get to Brixton between 12pm and 5pm, from Monday to Saturday. This branch is open from 12pm till 11pm every day. The service was fine although I wasn't informed of any specials and the waitresses understandably looked a little bored, unlike the servers at Brixton whose movement would make a Premiership striker proud.

This is fast food. Unless you have a long wait for a seat, you'll be done fairly quickly; I was done in around fifteen minutes, due to the speed at which my pizza was cooked and the emptiness of the restaurant, unlike it's Brixton counterpart. It will get busier, and it deserves to, despite some early niggles and I'll definitely be back soon.