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

£54
   ££
4
Very Good
4
Very Good
4
Very Good
* Based on a three course dinner, half a bottle of wine, coffee, cover charge, service and VAT.

“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.

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.

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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