Last Updated on January 6, 2022
Pizza – Mediterranean style
*Stop Press – Gallio is celebrating its launch and the New Year by offering 50% off all food throughout January 2022 (drinks excluded). No reservation required – Stop Press*
Gallio started life feeding locked down Londoners their Mediterranean-style pizzas via Deliveroo. They now have their own fully licensed restaurant in Canary Wharf dishing up pizza, mezze-style small plates, healthy salads and Mediterranean bowls, indulgent desserts and cocktails.
Gallio’s warm interiors feature fired terracotta and hand-cut glazed tiles, brass tables, an atmospheric array of hanging baskets and even an olive tree.
Diners can order via smartphone using a QR code on each table or from the friendly staff at the counter. However, food and drinks are brought to the table rather than needing to be collected.
My companion is off alcohol so tried the Marlish Sicilian lemonade. She declared it not as bitter as the San Pellegrino version, refreshing and not too sweet. My Aperol Spritz was well made and a good match for the pizza. Other drinks options include beers, wines and mocktails.
We shared two items from the small plates menu to start. The whipped beetroot borani was served a little too well chilled for our taste but was good nonetheless. Our other starter was the roasted garlic hummus. My friend described it as exceptional, both in texture and flavour. This is strong praise from someone who’s a frequent maker of hummus at home. The plump roasted garlic cloves on top were a welcome addition.
What marks Gallio Canary Wharf out from many similar outfits is their dough, which is quite a different beast from the familiar Italian version. It aims to be lighter and more easily digestible as well as higher in fibre and protein. The pizza makers at Gallio use a mix of grains such as spelt and Khorasan wheat mixed simply with sea salt, yeast, extra virgin olive oil and filtered water, before being left to prove for 18 hours. The resulting thin and crispy pizza bases and flatbreads are very good indeed.
Gallio offers a range of toppings that borrows from cuisines from all over the Mediterranean in addition to a few old Italian favourites. The current seasonal special, for example, is a Moroccan spiced chicken pizza that comes with Padron peppers, pickled red onions, mozzarella and pomegranate seeds. My vegetarian companion opted for the aptly named green pizza, a flavoursome mix of spinach, cheeses (mozzarella and feta) and mushrooms, scattered with za’atar and pumpkin seeds.
I had the Proper Ham and Mushroom pizza, which came generously topped with prosciutto crudo rather than the more usual cotto and lots of mushrooms. Alongside Gallio’s signature red tomato sauce and buffalo mozzarella, this all made for a juicy take on a classic.
There’s an appealing dessert menu at Gallio for those who have room after the generous small plates and main dishes. My companion’s chocolate fondant was not quite gooey enough inside to be wholly satisfying. Still, she declared it chocolatey, rich and soft and she enjoyed the good vanilla ice cream that came with it.
I meanwhile chose the three scoops of gelato. The Amarena cherry and almond was off so I ended up with chocolate sorbet instead alongside the pistachio and vanilla ice creams – a classic and, in this case, delicious combination. I’d been expecting a petite serving of each flavour but a large bowl of full-sized scoops turned up. The portions at Gallio Canary Wharf are on a grand scale. I have quite a high capacity for food consumption but struggled to finish my pizza or my ice cream.
Open from 11 am until 10.30 pm daily, Gallio is a good new place to go for lunch and dinner for Canary Wharf’s workers and shoppers. The restaurant offers click and collect for those who need to eat at their desk, while Gallio still retains its presence on Deliveroo for anyone wishing to dine at home.
Upper Level 2,
Cabot Place,
Canary Wharf,
London
E14 4QT
Looking for something different? We’ve also recently reviewed and can recommend the new openings at Kasa and Kin in Soho and Antillean on the Southbank
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