Santore, Clerkenwell, London

We had a very good pizza from the wood fired oven. (Rustica & Cappricciosa) Soft and crisp! Nice atmosphere, friendly service. Price 40,- for two pizzas, two drinks and one dessert is probably acceptable for London.

Having recently found (yet another) blog discussing the “Top 10 Pizzas in London”, I decided that the time had come to work my way through it, all in the name of research of course…

My quest began close to work in Santore where I was warmly welcomed by a cheery and suitably Italian-accented waiter. I went for the Rustica (£9.45). What can I say? Broccoli is strangely close to my heart so how could the friarielli fail?

As a lover of Exmouth market and its weather-permitting al-fresco style, it’s fair to say that I‘ve worked my way through every eatery in its midst and have rarely been disappointed. In this case, I was yet again impressed. There was a good cheese-to-other-toppings ratio and thankfully it was not the breadfest that I have come to fear from “Italian” pizzerias. The variety of ingredients and availability of metre-long pizzas were further bonuses. In fact, my only concern was the initial lack of chilli oil and the fact that I was on my lunch break and had limited time to savour it.

I wouldn’t say that this pizza changed my life or was the greatest I’ve tasted so far however for Santore’s cool “I’m on holiday” vibe, efficient friendly service and original pizzas I would definitely go back… after work next time.

And so my Ultimate Pizza Quest continues…

Updated update: Easily my numero uno restaurant of choice in London, in love with the gaff.

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Based on a handful of recent experiences, my previous review bemoaning the slow service at Santore warrants a complete overhaul. Previously, like an elephant walking through quicksand with a bellyful of MDMA, the waiters were incredibly friendly but dead slow. We once waited almost an hour for the bill!

The days when after returning home "I needed to listen to two Brian Eno albums to unwind - which kind of defeats the purpose of going out to eat in the first place" it appears can be consigned to history. They now seem to have more staff, all more attentive and adept.

The food on our last four visits – as fortunately this Italian is located only a few minutes from my humble abode - has been immense. The perfectly salted, crusty pizza dough is about as good as I have sampled outside of Roma. The fresh tomato sauce layered teasingly on top is equally impressive, and the pizza al metro option makes a great start to dinner as you can choose size and combination depending on how many of you are eating. Alternatively, the antipasti also come highly recommended.

I then generally, being a creature of culinary habit, plump for one of my favourite dishes: gnocchi alla sorrentina. A simple classic that they manage to pull off with consistent distinction. The desserts are by no means the highlight, the preceding dishes give them a hell of a lot to live up to, but if you still have the room they’re worth investigating.

The atmosphere is vibrant, the mood usually relaxed and on those rare occasions when the sun is shining, the restaurant front opens up and there is plenty of seating for the alfresco-inclined.

After a certain fellow Qyper had raved to me about Santore for the umpteenth time, I went along to investigate for myself. And now I'm in love. I didn't try the famous pizza that everyone always goes on about, but instead opted for gnocchi in tomato sauce. They were heaven in a bowl, with a delicious taste and texture, and a layer of melted cheese baked onto the top. What more could you want?

This is great to go to, especially after seeing a show at Sadlers Wells. Which of late I seem to do on an almost monthly basis.

This is also a place my beloved and I like going to and we have found ourselves going here with friends.

There is a but coming up though. I find the food can be slightly hit and miss. The place has good days and bad days. Things that usually are fail-safe is the pizza. This is what I always have when I come here. The antipasti platter is also a smart option. I find their salads though to be disappointing and the desserts can sometimes be sublime or average.

I shall forever be a fan of the panna cotta for its dome like shape and comedy wobble. It also tastes great but I love the juvenile humour that ordering it can generate.

But if you want pizza that makes you feel happy and leaves you with a slightly better idea about what pizza should be about then come here. I love that you can order by the meter and that it has a smokiness from the wood fired oven.

Every time I have a pizza craving, I come here.

The flavours are always fresh and the balance of ingredients generates the right levels of umami in the mouth to tide over a pizza craving until the next time (or next performance).

Prices here are reasonable and you can eat well for prices that don't break the bank. It does get busy, and sometimes there is a massive wait but it's worth it.

Sadly had the worst experience ever last night in this place. I've been there many times without any problem, good service, good food, good value for money. I walked in with a group of 9 friends after some bar hopping on the street, the manager first asked us to wait for 30minutes, which seemed reasonable as the restaurant was full... but as customers left he started placing groups of 2 on huge tables of 8 ! We tried to talk him into putting us on the next available table and he just went bogus and asked us to leave ??? The final step was him telling us, onhis door step that we had absolutly no knowledge in managing a restaurant, in a very arrogant and condecending way, and we were unwelcome (!!). Would much rather eat a bit less quality pizza but with a friendly management.
If you ask me Santore is not what it used to be !!

Excellent value for your money.
I had recently been at Santore twice with my family. Excellent food, good service, a relaxed but professional team. Will be back next time I 'll be in London.

For pictures please refer to
http://hungryinlondon.com/2010/08/santore-farringdon-the-...

I was strongly critised by my Italian friends (most of which are from Naples, where the pizza was invented) that pizza was completely absent from my blog so far.

This is basically explained by the fact that for me, pizza is absolutely neglectable so I would never dream of ordering it if I can avoid it, let alone go to a dedicated pizzeria.

Gladly, they did not give up in trying to convince me otherwise and they organised an outing to Santore at Exmouth Market which is – according to them – one of the few places where you can get authentic Napolese pizza in London. Apparently the chefs and staff are from Naples and also the ingredients they use are imported from there.

Santore does convey some Italian atmosphere, especially with the outside dining area which makes you feel like you were eating on an Italian piazza. Also the menu sounded very Italian to me and the choice of dishes did not seem to be adapted too much the the non-Italian palate. I thought the pasta dishes sounded fantastic and I wanted to basically try all of them but I had no choice but the go for the pizza (or lose a couple of friends…).

In addition to the conventional round pizza, the pizza can be ordered by the metre. This is firstly very impressive, secondly it’s sociable and the best thing really is that you can try many different pizze without needing to steal food from other people’s plates.

Despite my prejudices against pizza in general I found the version served at Santore really delightful. We tried four different sorts on our metre of pizza made with perfectly thin and tasty if maybe not quite crispy enough dough.

The Pizza Napoletana (7.95) with tomatoes and fresh mozzarella as well as capers, anchovies and olives (7.95) provided a perfect balance between dough, tomatoes and the saltiness of the anchovies and capers.

The Bufalina (9.95) with fresh buffalo mozzarella and generous fresh basil leaves (9.95) was the prettiest of them all, you suddenly know where the colours of the Italian flag must really come from. The mozzarella was ripe and flavoursome and fresh basil is heavenly anyway, so this was a clear success.

The Rustica (9.45) with friarielli and salsiccia (a typical dish from Naples) won the prize for being the most unusual and interesting of the lot. It is not often that I am faced with ingredients that I have never come across, but I really have never eaten or even heard of friarielli. It is related to broccoli but fortuntaly does not taste of broccoli at all. It has a very distinct slightly bitter and peppery taste and I thought it was very moreish. The salsiccia were not the best I have ever tasted but subtly flavoured enough to not overpower the friarilli. I definitely would have this one again.

The least convincing for me was the Pizza Siciliana (8.45) with tomato, mozzarella and sauteed aubergines with parmesan- even though I love aubergines, they seemed a too moist and heavy topping for the thin dough and ended up making it a bit soggy. It still tasted very nice though.

All in all I have to say that I might not have become a complete pizza convert overnight but I did very much enjoy the meal and I think I could be persuaded to go back to Santore…

I have to add, in case you think I am not the best person to judge a pizzeria (you might be right there), that I have interrogated my Italian friends very closely and they all gave the pizza 7 or 8 out of 10 indicating that Santore might not quite have Naples standard but seems to be pretty close. So if you don’t believe me, believe them!

What convinced me to try this restaurant was Eamon's promise of finally introducing me to the famous Italian singer/songwriter Arturino Talamonti , who was supposed to make an appearance during dinner.
Unfortunately the star never showed up. I had to be consoled by an enormous plate of impeccable antipasti of all sorts, from the thin slices of grilled butternut squash to tiny sausages in tomato sauce.
And then came the pizza, Neapolitan style and so heavily covered with toppings that I could barely finish it. By the end of it I felt like I might as well ditch the bus and just roll back home. But I was full and happy.

The pizzas come in long wooden planks, and maybe the staff could be a bit more trained on how to move around with those, because the waiter spilt two glasses full of beer in the process of bringing the food...

Apart from that, it was a perfect experience.

This restaurant is among the best I have ever been to. The food is sublime, the service is impeccable and the staff are friendly. It feels like you are part of the family. Prices are pretty reasonable for London - and certainly represent value for money.

Best pizza in London. Awesome delivery service too.