The Pizzas of London

So it's fair to say, we like pizza. Since we met, I'd guess we've gone through at least 150 margheritas between us and have become self-proclaimed experts. Here is the unofficial guide to some of the best and worst pizzas around London.

Rocca

The Rocca we go to is located in Dulwich Village, but there is another branch in South Kensington. If you are searching for a restaurant with an authentic Italian feel, then Rocca is for you. The margheritas here taste exactly like the ones found in Naples itself. The tomato sauce takes the starring role, there's a lot of it compared to cheese and the consistency is wet and thick. The charred stone  baked underside of the pizza really brought us back to Naples, and for that we think it deserves a very high rating. The atmosphere is lovely, with dim lighting and a relaxed vibe. It is family friendly and on Saturday night can get extremely busy. We were lucky to get seated without booking. In terms of price, it is such good value for money! A margherita costs £5.95, and it's a substantial size too.

Overall score: 9/10

PizzaStorm

We love PizzaStorm because it's in a perfect spot to go right after we've watched a movie at Cineworld in Wandsworth. The other two locations are Newcastle and Nottingham. Our top tip for this restaurant is to visit late at night, 30 minutes or so before it closes. The staff are extra friendly at this point! The atmosphere is also quiet at this time so we can actually hear one another speak.  The USP of PizzaStorm is its 'Make your own pizza' initiative. You get a standard pizza base and then the member of staff serving you takes it along the work surface and asks you at different stations what sauce, cheese, veg toppings and meat you would like. All for a set price of £7.45. If you're not into the sound of that, you can get a basic margherita for the absurdly cheap price of £5.50.

Overall score: 9/10

Rossopomodoro

Rossopomodoro is a massive franchise that has branches all over the world, including Naples. There isn't much to say about this restaurant. It does the job, but it's not amazing. The margherita cost of £8.95 is too expensive for what you get, in our opinion.

Overall score: 5/10

Frankie and Benny's

There are few restaurants in the UK more famous than Frankie and Benny's and when you look at their margheritas, it's hard to see why. We get that Frankie and Benny's are more about the New York style burgers and chicken wings, but if they're going to sell pizza, they should think about improvements! Firstly, the pizzas are tiny! For £7.95 we should be getting more for our money. Secondly, the pizzas are a weird square shape. Quite honestly, they look like they belong in the frozen section of Iceland. And thirdly, most importantly of all, where is the flavour?

Overall score: 3/10

Osteria Dell'Arte

The decor and atmosphere of this small Italian restaurant based along Clapham High Street are what make it stand out. The walls are decorated with pieces of art from local artists that are all for sale. Art is something that is really nice to chat about over dinner. We love picking our favourite paintings out. The standard margherita is priced quite steeply at £8.50, however in this instance I would say it is worth the money. The quality is absolutely top notch, and when you consider the friendly staff, beautiful decor and relaxed feel, they can afford to charge a little more.

Overall score: 9/10

Pizza Express

This is a bit of a 'marmite' restaurant between me and Gianni. Personally, I think it's the most delicious pizza out there due to the inconceivably thin and crispy crust. On the other hand, Gianni thinks it tastes pretty ordinary and you get less for your money with it being so thin. The layout of the restaurant in Lavender Hill, Clapham, is fairly cramped and uncomfortable, and the price is £9.65 for a classic Margherita is by far the most expensive out of the selection so far.

Overall score: 7/10























So, based on that admittedly tiny selection of London pizzerias, the ones you should definitely check out are Rocca, PizzaStorm and Osteria Dell'Arte. If you have any suggestions, please comment!


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Happy Pizza Eating!

Darkest Hour - Review

Photo by Jack English - Copyright 2017 Focus Features LLC. All Rights Reserved

Overall rating - 8/10

A film about Winston Churchill starring Gary Oldman looked great on paper. On the whole, Darkest Hour was a tense, moving and captivating piece of cinema, with an unrecognisable central performance. Having watched Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk last Summer, it was quite satisfying to watch the events prior and see the decision-making from a different perspective.

The film was informative and didn’t try to put Churchill up on a pedestal. It was honest in its portrayal of his belief in ‘the greater good’ and the sacrifices he made. It was fascinating to learn more about Neville Chamberlain too - a figure I had heard of but never really knew much about. Ronald Pickup was brilliant in the role and really evoked frailty and the weight of the world on his shoulders.

In terms of Gary Oldman, he really was astounding. The physicality: how he held himself, the posture, the movements with the walking stick. I thought he was tremendous. The slurring speech and explosive shouting were jarring at times but that was the due to the character rather than the actor.

We thought about how awesome it would have been for Colin Firth to return as King George VI - the role he won an Oscar for. In terms of Oscar potential, Gary Oldman would be a worthy winner. However, I would love to see Daniel Kaluuya successful for the amazing and crazy film Get Out.

As a side note, after we watched the movie, we decided to eat out in Frankie and Bennys, largely due to the Cineworld unlimited discount. Gianni got a calamari and I got mozzarella sticks. We both got margherita pizzas. The Pepsi was ginormous.

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Brussels Winter Getaway

Way back in December, we took a short but eventful trip to the Belgian capital. We left Heathrow at 6:50am on Saturday with a gorgeous sunrise view from the plane, and returned at 9:20pm on the Sunday. Poor Gianni was really ill, but he soldiered on and we explored the city as best we could.

We wandered around the city centre for a while, taking in the incredibly luxurious chocolate shops, and all the lovely Christmas decorations. We visited the Musical Instrument Museum which was not as interactive as expected for the price. Got some good photos though!

On the Saturday night, we went to Grand Place to make the most of the Christmas Market. The smells were divine - chocolate, churros, waffles, frites, crepes, you name it. The lighting around Grand Place was really amazing, all coordinated with the lights on the giant Christmas tree.

On Sunday morning, we were greeted with a light frosting of snow outside. While it was pretty to look at, it definitely was not pleasant to walk around in, especially when one half of us was very ill! We went to the European Parliament and Commission first, before walking through the Parc du Cinquantenaire, where there were several snowmen.

The weekend getaway was extremely cold and we definitely were not expecting such freezing weather! Aside from the constant shivering, we had a highly enjoyable time and experienced the Belgian culture by gorging on waffles and beer.

London Zoo in Wintertime

I love butterfly houses more than pretty much anything, so visiting the Butterfly Paradise in London Zoo was a dream come true. The rest of the zoo was decent too!

As always, we took way too many photos. The camera got so steamed up in the tropical heat of the Butterfly Paradise, but sometimes I liked the effect it gave.

Most of the animals were inside as they wanted to stay warm. However, the llama was very friendly despite the cold.

So difficult to take good photos in an aquarium - but we managed a couple without reflections.

Here are a jumble of other photographs of the weird and wonderful creatures we encountered.

This meerkat was such a poser.

This cheerful looking penguin was making the most of the sunshine. 

Thank you to the stranger who took this really lovely photo of the two of us at the end of a fun but tiring day. The sunset really was beautiful.

The Woman in Black - Review

The reputation of The Woman in Black had a lot to live up to. The reviews online were excellent, and the play has been showing in London's West End for an incredible 25 years. Both of us had previously watched the film starring Daniel Radcliffe and really enjoyed it. So we arrived at the Fortune Theatre full of expectations. Thankfully, the evening did not disappoint.

The theatre itself was small and cosy - it felt old and crooked in quite an endearing way. Our seats were perfect - towards the front of the stalls at the edge of the aisle. As we arrived with some time to spare, we perused the drinks menu and settled on a Belvedere Lemon Tonic cocktail. The drinks were absolutely enormous and definitely the reason so many people got up needing the toilet later during the show. Despite the cost (£9 per drink) I really enjoyed our cocktail; it was sharp and refreshing. 

So we took our seats, drinks in hand, and the show began. The entire performance lasted 1 hour 45 minutes; no interval. I thought it was a perfect length. It might have become slightly boring and repetitive had it gone on any longer than 2 hours. At the start there was some excitement with the actors coming into the audience - something I wish they had revisited more throughout the play. 

The tale of Arthur Kipps was told through a 'play within a play'. The vast majority was just two actors on stage - one playing Kipps, and the other playing an actor playing Kipps. This set up worked ingeniously because you got both the past events that occurred, and then the present-day Kipps revealing more information or feelings about what happened. The actors were phenomenal, especially   Terence Wilton, who had to play an array of different characters. 

Never before has dry ice been so effective. The eerie marsh mist is a significant part of the story and the thick smoke created a creepy and sinister atmosphere on and around the stage. I jumped out of my seat several times. I'm glad I did - I didn't go and watch a ghost story to be completely at ease! 

We would both highly recommend the play.

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Naples - a Long Weekend

For our first holiday, we couldn't have picked a more perfect spot than Napoli. The weather was great, the food was delicious and the scenery was beautiful. It was a wonderful weekend that has given us countless memories that will last forever. Thankfully photos do last forever! We can't wait for our next adventure together. 

 The view from our apartment couldn't have been more atmospheric. 

 A view from nearby the port of Molo Beverello 

One thing we won't miss is the amount of steep, cobbled steps up to our Air B&B. I most definitely felt the burn going uphill. It was worth it though, for the fantastic quality of accommodation and genuine Neapolitan vibe all around. We soon got used to the sound of scooters zooming past and yelling locals.

Mount Vesuvius had such presence - I felt like I could always see it out of the corner of my eye. This is the view of the volcano from the Piazza del Plebiscito - a gigantic public square that was thriving with tourists but felt quiet at the same time. 

Gianni didn't hold back on making the most of the Italian cuisine. (Neither did I). It was just irresistible! My favourite was some lemon flavoured gelato bought at the Herculaneum ruins. The pizza from Naples Airport was also excellent. 

Until next time, Italy!

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