Esher, Pizza Restaurant Guide

This “good, reliable Italian local” in Wimbledon Village majors in home-made pasta and thin-crust pizza, while “other items like calves’ liver are lovely”. “The midweek offers are not as good as they used to be”, however, while “the menu rarely changes”.

“Worth a detour” – “some of the best pizza outside Italy” is found at this “excellent Neapolitan pizzeria”, “run by an Italian family in an unlikely suburban location” in Ealing. “The barman makes a mean negroni to get the evening off to a great start”.

This seven-year-old independent a couple of doors along from Chez Bruce on the edge of Wandsworth Common is reckoned by fans to offer among the “best pizza in town”. “I only discovered it recently but it has become a favourite”.

“The pizza is second to none”, combining “top-quality ingredients and fabulous bases” at this quartet of “bustling” pizzerias founded 15 years ago by Neapolitan-born Angelo and Pasquale. Since launching in Ealing, they have expanded slowly to Fulham, Islington and Fitzrovia – and the extent to which they’ve maintained their ratings is an achievement for an expanding group.

“Thin and crispy pizza with coarse semolina in the base” is the main focus at this smart Notting Hill pub conversion, where “the tapas-style starters and excellent pizzas are rather more interesting than the main-course choices”. The Oak W12 near Ravenscourt Park and the Bird in Hand at Brook Green operate on similar lines.

A “great old-school Italian” that has provided “engaging” and stalwart service in Clapham’s ‘Nappy Valley’ for decades, with “more than adequate food and a jolly relaxed atmosphere”.

“The pizza is second to none”, combining “top-quality ingredients and fabulous bases” at this quartet of “bustling” pizzerias founded 15 years ago by Neapolitan-born Angelo and Pasquale. Since launching in Ealing, they have expanded slowly to Fulham, Islington and Fitzrovia – and the extent to which they’ve maintained their ratings is an achievement for an expanding group.

Pizza sold by the metre (‘al metro’) was a novelty in 1993 when this simple Neapolitan pizzeria on Battersea Rise first opened its doors. It‘s not the fave rave that once it was, but remains a “good local” and one that the odd fan still crosses town for.

“Lush pizza” that’s reliably “top-quality” has driven the expansion of this Islington-based group that has developed four different 48-hour ferment bases – including gluten-free and ‘black vegetable charcoal’ versions to reduce stomach gas; so “everyone’s happy”. The eight-year-old group now has nine sites in the capital (including a new one labelled as ‘Chelsea’ but on Fulham Broadway) and one in Reading.

This Streatham fixture punches way above its weight, having drawn pizza-hounds from across London for more than a decade. The Head pizza chef is Ferdinando Cirillo.

“More hit ’n’ miss than they used to be, but still a go-to chain” – the Elliot brothers’ successful group is heading towards 20 branches in the capital, but “still producing quality dishes despite becoming quite a brand”: “lovely scorched, pillowy-based pizzas with plenty of power in the ingredients” and “reasonably priced for the quality!” Latest to launch, in June 2024, was a branch by Euston.

“A great pit-stop on a night out” – these “busy, buzzy” rustic spots in Chelsea’s King’s Road and Battersea’s ‘Nappy Valley’ major in a wide selection of sourdough pizzas, although the exact offering is slightly different at the two sites (for example pasta in SW3 but not SW11). Attractive lunch deals too. Top Tip – the ‘La Terrazza’ heated rooftop terrace in Chelsea is worth discovering but walk-ins only and has its own menu.

There’s “a lot to like and not much to dislike” at this duo of “basic neighbourhood Italians” in South Ken and Dulwich Village – even harsher critics (who say the food is “generic” or “just about passable”) find them “pleasant”; and they’re often “full of families” because the “excellent staff make kids very welcome”.

Near the Albert Hall, on a quirky site built in the Venetian Gothic style to please Queen Victoria, this “typically bustling family-run Italian” opened in 1967, and offers a “standard menu, with properly cooked pasta” and dependable pizza. “Kids are really well looked after, just like being in Italy” – as Princess Diana found, when she used to take Wills and Harry out for a treat from nearby Kensington Palace.

“Very good pizzas” are the pick of the broad Italian menu (also with seafood on display) at this Notting Hill Gate fixture, where the best seats in summer are on the large outside terrace. With a “great family atmosphere”, it’s “very much a local restaurant, and all the better for that!”.

This “old-school” Notting Hill Italian has been “a great crowd-pleaser for the whole family” for more than 30 years. According to one local: “you will not have a great meal but on the other hand I’ve never had a bad one” – as a result it can be “extremely busy, but the service is great” and keeps on top of things. Essenza and Mediterraneo in the same street (see also) are its younger stablemates.

“Despite his branches in Hollywood and Dubai having closed, the original staggers on” at Ciro Orisini’s Knightsbridge veteran: an old-fashioned cellar, to which a visit has been a rite of passage for the gilded youth of Knightsbridge since 1978. “It’s not really about the pizza and pasta, which is average in all but price – hit a good night, and with the live music and dancing, a visit to Ciro’s can still hit the spot”.

“Inspirational Sardinian food” and “wonderful pizza” (with 21 different toppings) are on the menu at Mauro Sanna’s smart Belgravia haunt (formerly occupied by its stablemate Olivocarne), which has a distinctive and chic (chilly?) monochrome design. There’s an all-Italian wine list showcasing small producers from Sardinia.

“More hit ’n’ miss than they used to be, but still a go-to chain” – the Elliot brothers’ successful group is heading towards 20 branches in the capital, but “still producing quality dishes despite becoming quite a brand”: “lovely scorched, pillowy-based pizzas with plenty of power in the ingredients” and “reasonably priced for the quality!” Latest to launch, in June 2024, was a branch by Euston.