Review of 'Pizza Metro Pizza'

This small restaurant is located at the end of the shops in the Notting Hill area as you head towards Holland Park. A small restaurant with a clean interior decorated tastefully with a mural along one wall and pictures of Italy on the other walls. The main feature of the restaurant is the massive mosaic-covered pizza oven that faces you when you first enter with it's elegant copper chimney.

Of course, as is the want for such a restaurant, takeaway is available but we were lucky enough to visit just before the lunch deal finished (at 5:30 pm) - Any appetiser (priced less than £5.95) plus any pizza (priced less than £9.95) for £8.95. This was quite a deal but proved a lot of food…The menu is full of simple, inexpensive, truly Italian dishes and is refreshingly small. I selected a starter of “Palle di Riso” (“crispy fried rice balls filled with melting mozzarella, salami, parmesan and basil”, £5.95) which was quite bland but not bad (I had to add salt to get any sort of flavour out of it). My companion had the “Polpette al Sugo” (“Beef meatballs in tomato sauce, parmesan and basil”, £5.95) which turned out to be a wise choice - Tasty and tender with lots of flavour. The only complaint about the meatballs would be the size of the portion - Massive!

I had the “Salsiccia e Friarielli” pizza (“Mozzarella, sausage, neapolitans green and parmesan”, £9.95) and my dining companion had the “Prosciutto e Funghi” pizza (“Mozzarella, tomato, ham, mushrooms and basil”, £9.95). Our order was delivered as a single, long pizza (one half, one half my companion's), placed on an elevated platform put into the middle of our table. Again, I chose wrongly as the “Prosciutto e Funghi” was very flavourful and mine was terribly mild (even the sausage). I had to resort to hot sauce to add some sort of flavour…The pizzas were served in the Napoli-style - Flat with very few, fresh, toppings which was refreshing to see right out of the oven. The fresh basil on the top was a lovely touch as was the fresh mozzarella. Much simpler and less fat than pizzas elsewhere.

We had no room for dessert, that is for sure.

The service was quite good and very friendly (we had a bit of chat about what REAL pizza should be like…such as what they serve here). It was amusing to hear how some people order pizzas from them and ask for extra toppings (which the restaurant will provide) but are disappointed - This style of pizza is not really suited to lots of toppings.

So, other than slightly bland choices by myself I think we will be back to sample other items on the menu. Additionally, the lunch deal is certainly well worth the trip (tip: be hungry).

Rating: “Really good but I have some issues”

Review Date: 2011-03-02

Cuisine: Italian

Address: 147 - 149 Notting Hill Gate, London W11 3LF ENGLAND

Public Transport: Notting Hill Gate

Location: London (England) - Notting Hill

Map:

Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7727 8877

URL: http://pizzametropizza.com/