Zuccato

[Charlene Leonard]

Went here looking for a quick bite to eat before the cinema. Had my reservations as a) it is in a shopping centre and b) it shares floor space with an Old Orleans Restaurant, a Wetherspoons and Yo Sushi. We had the paperdelle with veal ragu for starter which was very tasty and meaty, the Salmon with tagliatelli was ok. Star of the show though were the pizza's, huge and crisp with generous toppings. They didn't go all soggy in the middle like most other pizza's do half way through eating them. Quite possibly the best pizza I have had in London. Portions are huge, excellent value, light and airy room but terrible music. I think there a a few of these around London, I went to the one in the O2 centre in Finchley Road.

[Tonyfinch]

Charlene. Have you had a pizza from Il Bordello yet?

[Kikujiro]

Quite possibly the best pizza I have had in London.

Fighting words. But thanks. Last (and only) time I visited the O2 centre I ended up in a very sad PizzaExpress, watching the locals order sides of salad dressing to spread on their pizzas.

[Charlene Leonard]

Charlene. Have you had a pizza from Il Bordello yet?

haven't had the pizza, have had a great seafood risotto - HUGE portions!

Kiku - that is gross

[magnolia]

Hmm...I may have to break my self-imposed ban on rising above the ground floor at the 02 Centre to try this pizza. I have almost given up on pizza except for Pizza Metro & Il Bordello (both of which are a real trek from where I live). In case I can't bring myself to take the escalator to the egregious food court, do you think Zuccato delivers?

[Charlene Leonard]

Magnolia, have you tried Basillico on Finchley road (delivery only)?

[magnolia]

Magnolia, have you tried Basillico on Finchley road (delivery only)?

No, I didn't know there was one. A branch opened in Fulham just before I moved NW, so I never had a chance to try it. Maybe I'll give it a try - and also Zuccato - all this talk about pizza is giving me cravings...

[Lucrezia]

I love pizza and have tried several places in London (including the so much loved Pizza Metro, which I didn't find all that special), and I agree with Charlene, Zuccato makes a good pizza, thin, well seasoned and is also good value. I also like the ambience, fresh and unpretentious. I tend to go there when I want a quick dinner before the cinema nearby -also very nice, same standard (if not better) of those in central London.

[magnolia]

OK - two weird things.

1) Had takeaway pizza from Zuccato last night and sadly, I had a different experience. I was really hoping to love it not least because I trust Charlene's taste - but also because all the 'signs' were good - the employees were Italian; they had good customer service (I didn't have a menu, so I called ahead and just started describing what I had in mind and they were very patient, made suggestions etc.); and the pizza was ready when I arrived 15 minutes later (I get the feeling that most places that do takeaway wait until you get there before they start your order, perhaps for 'security' reasons). So all promising. But when I got it home, it was pretty bad. Ordered one with spinach and mushrooms, another with anchovies. Both were kind of blah, the crusts were "fluffy" (like you get when you freeze & then defrost a bread product - though I have no evidence that that's what they do) and the ingredients were kind of piled on & not integrated...the spinach had no flavour whatsoever and there were only about five anchovies on the other one. I wanted to cry ! Perhaps their pizza is really best eaten on-site and not taken away? I might give it another try...

2) the other weird thing is that originally, I was thinking of ordering from Basilico anyway, and my beau (aka Green Card) insisted that he recently saw a review of Basilico on Finchley Road, which indicated that this is not actually one of "the" Basilicos, but another place altogether, that kept the name but is actually a multi-food takeaway and not a pizza specialist. The reviewer supposedly went in in person looking for pizza, and found that it was a totally different joint than that which he'd believed - yet when he went across the street and called from his mobile, they still purported to be Basilico's pizza. So he ended up reviewing another restaurant in Belsize Park.

This sounds really fishy to me, but there's no arguing with him until I have proof to the contrary so I deferred. He can't remember where he read this or who the reviewer was, but says he thinks it was in a Saturday paper on one of the last three Saturdays...Does this ring a bell for anyone??

[Charlene Leonard]

oh dear that sounds terrible I'll have to go again to see if they are consistent, maybe I'd shouldn't have posted until I tried a few times...

Also this is Basilico's website Here and it lists Finchley Road, I've had pizza's from there loads of times and am sure it is the real thing.

[Gary Marshall]

2) the other weird thing is that originally, I was thinking of ordering from Basilico anyway, and my beau (aka Green Card) insisted that he recently saw a review of Basilico on Finchley Road, which indicated that this is not actually one of "the" Basilicos, but another place altogether, that kept the name but is actually a multi-food takeaway and not a pizza specialist. The reviewer supposedly went in in person looking for pizza, and found that it was a totally different joint than that which he'd believed - yet when he went across the street and called from his mobile, they still purported to be Basilico's pizza. So he ended up reviewing another restaurant in Belsize Park.

This sounds really fishy to me, but there's no arguing with him until I have proof to the contrary so I deferred. He can't remember where he read this or who the reviewer was, but says he thinks it was in a Saturday paper on one of the last three Saturdays...Does this ring a bell for anyone??

yes, it was giles coren in the saturday times.

didn't pay much attention to the names of the places but that was certainly his tale.

cheers

gary

[magnolia]

oh dear that sounds terrible I'll  have to go again to see if they are consistent, maybe I'd shouldn't have posted until I tried a few times...

Also this is Basilico's website Here and it lists Finchley Road, I've had pizza's from there loads of times and am sure it is the real thing.

Au contraire, I'm glad you posted it ! It got my hopes up that good pizza can be found in London, and because of all the other factors mentioned, I'm willing to give it another try and eat in, particularly as others chimed in with good reviews too.

And re: Basilico, that whole story did sound a bit weird. E. is going to dig up the review that he's "sure" was of Basilico, and I've bet him a pizza that the reviewer meant a different place. Fingers crossed...I won't be paying for pizza

[Hallie]

I have been lurking here for several weeks but felt compelled to jump in when spotting a thread about Zuccato.

Zuccato has been our saviour; good reliable Italian food at reasonable prices. Yes, the pizza is very good but there are a number of other things on the menu that are worth trying as well - most notably their 'Ambergese' (that's hamburger to you and me). Honestly, this was the last place I ever expected to either be ordering a burger or to find one that was so good that it made my entire body shudder with pleasure. And I'm not even a burger lover. I'm not quite sure what they do it other than use some of the best freshly ground mince I've ever tasted. Their starters and desserts are generally very good as well (try their fabulous waffles).

A perfect place to sit and procrastinate about venturing downstairs to Sainsburys.

[Kikujiro]

Hallie, hi