Santa Maria, South Ealing
I have lived in Ealing all my life except for four years in Bristol. So when I found this gem a few years ago (thanks to time out declaring it the best pizza in London) i was very happy. This was my first taste of ‘proper’ pizza, a base so thin it can’t support the toppings and a slightly chewy and light crust. With the smokey flavour of charred bits from the wood fire oven being so hot. There is of course lots of places to get pizza of this quality in London these days but Santa Maria is still my favourite.
The restaurant is tiny so expect to queue in the evenings. The oven probably takes up a 6th of the front. The pizzas are in the oven for literally a minute, and the quality of toppings is amazing. Unlike say Rossopomadoro where the tomato sauce is very generously applied, there is restraint here, which means the cheese to tomato ratio is more to my liking. The Neapolitan sausage is chunky and friarelli which I first experienced here is now a go to topping for me these days.
I can’t encourage anyone enough to try this place and if you live within a 15 minute drive then get a take away.
A tourist in my own city 
Umm there’s nothing like a proper wood-burning oven. My boyfriend is not a fan of thin crust, and I have to tell him he knows nothing of a good pizza is he dislikes thin crust. This looks great! 🙂
authentic neapolitan pizza is the best!