RestaurantsLondonBalhamSW12

Harden's says

Another branch of the pizza mini-chain famous for their 48-hour slow-fermented doughs opened in August 2021.

survey result

Summary

£53
   ££
3
Good
3
Good
2
Average
* Based on a three course dinner, half a bottle of wine, coffee, cover charge, service and VAT.

“It’s hard to be ‘special’ with pizza these days with so much competition, but the eye-catching options give an edge” to this popular nine-strong chain, whose calling card is a choice of four different 48-hour fermented pizza bases, including the distinctive black vegetable charcoal. Their latest opening is in Canary Wharf.

Summary

£52
   ££
4
Very Good
2
Average
2
Average
* Based on a three course dinner, half a bottle of wine, coffee, cover charge, service and VAT.

“Love the different pizza-base options such as charcoal and gluten-free” (there’s also wholemeal and ‘traditional’) at these popular pizza pit stops, where the dough is fermented for 48 hours then cooked in purpose-built gas and wood ovens. Two branches were added in 2022: in Stoke Newington in April and in Canary Wharf in summer.

Summary

£40
    £
4
Very Good
3
Good
3
Good
* Based on a three course dinner, half a bottle of wine, coffee, cover charge, service and VAT.

“The stunning sourdough pizzas are a proper treat” at these “fast and delicious local favourites” which are a “great addition to the burgeoning London real pizza scene”. There’s a “particularly interesting menu with a variety of crusts including charcoal (looks burnt, tastes like chewy pizza heaven)”. The original Islington branch now has an adjoining home-made pasta specialist, Berto, from founders Claudio Vescovo and Gianluca D’Angelo, while the group’s sixth pizzeria opened on Balham High Road in autumn 2021.

Summary

£36
    £
4
Very Good
4
Very Good
3
Good
* Based on a three course dinner, half a bottle of wine, coffee, cover charge, service and VAT.

“The queuing is now almost part of the trip” to the “frenetic-but-we-love-it” Holloway original: “a terrific local pizzeria that’s always packed” thanks to its “inventive, delicious chewy bases (including charcoal dough), generously finished off with a variety of flavoursome toppings”, and washed down with “great local beers”. Its sibling, north of Brook Green, is in a much less happening location, but already winning feedback as “a great addition to the area, with friendly staff; and where everything on the menu is fresh, and portions are generous”.

For 33 years we've been curating reviews of the UK's most notable restaurant. In a typical year, diners submit over 50,000 reviews to create the most authoritative restaurant guide in the UK. Each year, the guide is re-written from scratch based on this survey (although for the 2021 edition, reviews are little changed from 2020 as no survey could run for that year).

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