Hidden down a side street, under an arch and with trains rumbling beside it, lies Pizza e Porchetta a new Italian restaurant by restaurateur Ronan Ryan. It is a very unique space, all curves and slanty ceilings, and the interior is modern, sleek and very white. There is a cosiness to the place though helped in part by the wood-fired oven. It isn't a cold restaurant to sit in!
We were careful to make a booking for this place as we had heard it was busy and when we arrived at 6pm the room was already half full. We were shown to a nice little table in the corner and were given the menu. As the girl at the table beside us pointed out to a staff member it was the lunch menu but apparently it is the same food so no problem there. And yes you may have noticed that we could hear the girl at the table beside us and no the tables aren't too close she was just a loud talker!! The only problem anyone will have with the tables is trying to get out to the loo. It is a tight squeeze when all the tables are full!
So after a few minutes our waiter came back to take our order. I ordered, Niamh asked a question, he went to the kitchen to check, came back with the answer and then wandered away without finishing taking our order. We were perplexed to say the least. It took us about five minutes but finally we caught one of the staff's attention and were able to order again. Then the alarm went off, a big loud siren of noise!! Safe to say we weren't having the best experience of the place so far but then the food arrived and we forgot about everything else.
I couldn't decide whether I wanted pizza or porchetta so I decided to get both and ordered a porchetta covered pizza! I'm 'pazza' about pizza and this pizza was perfect and brought me right back to the years I spent living in Rome. The base was light, thin and crispy and topped with tomato sauce, mozzarella and porchetta. The slices of porchetta were thin, tasty and salty but not overpoweringly so. Not one slice was left.
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| Porchetta Pizza |
My friend went for a margarita with an extra topping of aubergine. It was also a great pizza but a few more slices of aubergine wouldn't have gone astray.
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| Margarita Pizza with Aubergine |
The meal ended with a creamy Tiramisu which I enjoyed but personally like a bigger kick of alcohol in it. That's probably just me though! My friend ordered a coffee and it would have been nice to have them arrive at the same time so she wasn't just watching me gorge on dessert.
Our whole meal came to €49 which was for two pizzas, two glasses of wine, a dessert and coffee. They do offer a pre-theatre menu for €19 from 5 - 7 which includes pizza, a side and a glass of wine but we didn't realise this till after we left and the staff never mentioned it to us. Is it worth a visit? Definitely. The restaurant is still finding its feet so random service is sometimes an occurance and something that will hopefully be sorted out with time. The food though is fantastic and if you have ever been to Italy it will transport you back there for a little while.
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