Saporitalia

This Naples style pizzeria was established by Franco and Valentino Ferro, brothers who have lived in London for many years. There is a large wood-fired oven in the dining room, the room having a rustic feel with its terracotta tiles and exposed brickwork.

A classic Margherita pizza was priced at £8.50, with a dozen alternative topping variations available, the most expensive at £12.50. Desserts were priced from £3.50 to £5. As well as pizzas, there was a full a la carte menu available. Antipasti dishes were from £4.50 to £10.95, pastas £9.50 to £14.50 and main courses from £15.95 to £18.95.

There was a basic wine list of a dozen wines but no vintages or even growers listed, just the generic types of wine and region of Italy starting at £15.95 and going up to £30. A little bruschetta appeared as we sat down, a nice gesture, but the toast was very hard, as if made some time ago, the tomato fairly tasteless (10/20).

A starter of sardines (£4.95) with salad was generous, but again the ingredients let things down. The salad components were of basic supermarket level, the sardines oddly tasteless for a fish with such a distinct flavour (11/20). What did impress me was the bread, which turned out to be made from scratch in the kitchen, and had a good crust (14/20).

Pizza piccante (£10.50) had a quite thin crust, the base a little firm and crisp by comparison with those of my benchmark pizzerias Sacro Cuore and Franco Manca. Still, this was a very decent pizza, the topping being tomato, mozzarella, mushrooms, spicy cured Calabrian salami, basil Parmesan and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil (12/20). Spaghetti (£9.50) with tomato sauce had pleasant pasta and a garnish of basil leaves, but the tomatoes once again had very limited flavour, the garlic barely coming through and the dish needed more seasoning (11/20). Tiramisu (£4.50) was made on the premises, and while it lacked enough coffee flavour to be memorable, it was nice enough (13/20).

The bill came to £31 a head, with beer to drink. Service was friendly though rather disorganised, and it was difficult to get the attention of the waitresses, who often seemed to be huddling in a corner. However the manager was very welcoming. Saporitalia provided a nice enough experience, and somewhere I would go back to if it was located at the bottom of my road, though it is hardly a destination restaurant.