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Fulham’s Neighbourhood Bit of Naples – Bellillo.
I went on a trip to Naples a few years ago to try to locate the best Neapolitan pizza. Sadly I got ill and couldn’t fulfil the mission, but with exciting new pizzerias like Bellillo opening up in London maybe I can save myself the airfare?
Bellillo is everything you might want from a neighbourhood pizza restaurant; it’s unpretentious, authentic and reasonably priced. Signed up to the ‘Slow Food’ movement, the team at Bellillo are rigorous about the provenance of their ingredients with regular deliveries coming directly from Italy.
This attention to detail shines through in the production of what seems like the simplest of foods, the organic Neapolitan pizza. Recipes are developed by pizza chef and founder Vigna Francesco with the restaurant’s name Bellillo being taken from the Neapolitan dialect and meaning “pretty”.
The interior is classic pizzeria style with marble tables, black chairs, brick walls and with a wood-fired burning oven at its heart.
Our charming waitress suggested we try a bottle of Feudi di San Gregorio, Fiano di Avellino 2017 to match our meal. With a fresh acidity and lemon and peach notes, it cut through the richness of the food very nicely and was only modestly marked up.
We started with a generous plateful of Buffalo Mozzarella from Campania. We got the whole cheese served with heirloom tomatoes, oregano from Monte Saro, a drizzle of EVO oil and fresh basil it was almost like a burrata, moist with a great flavour. Our rocket salad was studded with cherry tomatoes and topped with shards of aged 24-month Parmigiano Reggiano and a splash of balsamic vinegar from Modena. It’s a classic combination with the Parmigiano adding a bit of salty bite to the salad to counter the caramel notes of the vinegar.
But of course, the main event at Bellillo is the pizza. Their Pizza Margherita (named after Queen Margherita of Savoy) comes with the Campanian Buffalo Mozzarella, organic tomatoes, 24-month Parmigiano Reggiano, EVO oil and basil. This was as good as any Margherita I have had anywhere. It was a classic version with the flavour of the perfectly charred crust counterpointing the sweetness of the tomatoes and the soft melting cheese. We also tried a Pizza Bianco (white pizza), the Pizza Cetera. Using Cetera anchovies from Amalfi, strips of Fior di Latte cheese from Campania, Salina capers, black olives, oregano from Monte Saro, Ufita garlic, EVO oil and basil this was a cut above the average pizza with the quality of the ingredients shining through – especially the fat juicy anchovies and capers!
We were pretty full by the time it came to dessert so ordered the Rum Baba and Lemon Sponge Cake… the Baba was light and suitably drenched in the rum with the lemon cake covered in a light, lemony cream.
I need to go back to Bellillo as the menu features a wide range of pizzas that I haven’t seen before, with lots of vegetarian options to explore. But the thing I loved the most was the focus on the quality of the ingredients which turns a simple dish such as the Neapolitan Pizza into a thing of great pleasure and beauty. The restaurant was busy with groups of young Italians all of whom seemed to agree!
255 Munster Road, Fulham, SW6 6BW
Phone: 0207 3811411
Email: info@bellillo.co.uk
Here are a couple more Italian restaurants we think you’d like. Over in Notting Hill, The Italian Job provides a similar, authentic Italian experience and we loved the classy vibe of Vyta in Covent Garden
It’s good, thanks.
Looks totally amazing – would love to experience for myself too