St James's, Pizza Restaurant Guide

“The glitz, the glamour, the bling” – this Mayfair outpost of Mikhail Gokhner’s Moscow-based chain dishes up wood-fired pizza and Italian comfort food with mixed results: to critics it’s extravagant pricing is far too OTT, but there is also the odd fan who “wanted to dislike it but was charmed”.

“Pizza with imported sea water from Naples! What’s not to like...?” ask fans of this studiedly authentic Neapolitan duo on Borough’s main drag and in St James’s Market. Portions are “generous”, too.

“Simple Italian dishes”, with everything freshly made in the kitchen, are on the menu at this ten-year-old independent in Soho, whose standout culinary feature is the range of house-made vermouths in the bar. Praise is pretty muted, though – and “the room really lacks something despite good service”.

“Much better than the long-established, tired pizza chains!” – the Elliot brothers’ growing group is the most-mentioned of London’s more artisanal pizza multiples in our annual diners’ poll, inspiring joy with their “authentic Neapolitan preparation, with quality ingredients” and featuring “yummy crusts and interesting flavour combinations”. And you get “consistent quality irrespective of the branch visited” too, even if conditions can be “a little cramped and chaotic”.

“Much better than the long-established, tired pizza chains!” – the Elliot brothers’ growing group is the most-mentioned of London’s more artisanal pizza multiples in our annual diners’ poll, inspiring joy with their “authentic Neapolitan preparation, with quality ingredients” and featuring “yummy crusts and interesting flavour combinations”. And you get “consistent quality irrespective of the branch visited” too, even if conditions can be “a little cramped and chaotic”.

“Excellent value and decent pizzas” using ingredients imported from Naples win a solid thumbs up – if not quite full-on raves – from fans of this Mancunian import, on the Soho site recently vacated by Wahaca (which nowadays is expanding countrywide). A Birmingham branch is in the pipeline, and more locations around the capital are on the wishlist.

This “consistently excellent” “family Italian restaurant” has knocked out “authentic pizza, pasta and secondi dishes” in Mount Street for more than 50 years – and all at decidedly un-Mayfair prices. It closed briefly for a make-over in summer 2022.

2019 Review: “Pizza isn’t my favourite, but the truffled one here tastes better than it smells… and it smells great!” – this fun pizza stop (nowadays incorporated into the ‘Mews of Mayfair’ empire, to which it’s a neighbour) is worth knowing about for a light, relatively affordable bite, off Bond Street.

The “outstanding pizzas” – “huge, delicious and authentically Neapolitan” – win top marks for the two London outposts of a Naples original dating back 150 years, which featured in Elizabeth Gilbert’s global bestseller ‘Eat Pray Love’. The toppings are “mostly traditional”, with some “interesting combinations and extras”. Don’t be misled by the “plain exterior, which makes it look like all the cheap restaurants and snack places along Baker Street” – this branch and its Soho sibling are “very good indeed”.

2019 Review: “An old treasure given the Nick Jones treatment… welcome back!” – this resurrected Soho landmark gets the thumbs-up from most who have visited after its swish revamp care of the Soho House group, certainly for its “handsome looks” (including the gorgeous bar). Its “initially underwhelming-looking” brasserie menu can “deliver real joy”, even if overall ratings for the cooking are rather more middling.

“The original location is by far the best” – “almost Continental in feel, and opposite the back entrance of the Royal Academy in Burlington Arcade”: “a regular haunt” for Mayfair types where “a seat at the bar is the best possible place in the world”. “Always buzzy and with exceptional Bellinis, it’s best for breakfast or brunch”. On the downside, “the high prices of the food reflect the area and locale”. Its simpler spin-offs (most notably pizza joints in Soho and Shoreditch) capture a fragment of this “fun and upmarket” style.

“Properly Italian pizza” – “the best in London, possibly in the UK” – is hiding in plain sight in the heart of the West End, just off Trafalgar Square. Ciro Salvo is a third-generation pizza maestro based in Naples, and his London offshoot showcases his secret-formula high-hydration and long fermentation ‘50 Kalo’ dough. “The dough is the fluffiest ever and every ingredient used is the best of the best, from olive taggiasche to Cetara anchovies to Piennolo pomodori. Incredible!”.