“… neon ‘Mama Mia hands’ emoji on subway-style white tiles… it makes you look in. The smell of freshly-made dough cooking… makes you sit down and order.”

CASA PIZZERIA, CLIFTONVILLE

Though new to its home on Northdown Road, Casa has been a go-to for the Thanetian pizza-lovers for some time.

It offers kicking Neapolitan pizza with popping ingredients and classic antipasti sourced both locally and from the south of Italy. Its classic frontage, with outdoor benches, is illuminated by a neon ‘Mama Mia hands’ emoji on subway-style white tiles… it makes you look in. The smell of freshly-made dough cooking… makes you sit down and order.

Stickers like ‘No Pineapple’ and Maradona in his title-winning Napoli shirt adorn the glass, while empty Italian tomato tins are put to use as decorative utensil holders. It’s buzzing, but it feels homely, somehow familiar.

On our visit, a bowl of succulent olives got the taste buds tingling before the meatily stacked Cannib-ale pizza with hot nduja sauce, fior di latte (like mozzarella but with cow’s milk rather than buffalo), topped with salame and sausage in ale. The craft beers came in handy (we had the Dune Buggy from nearby Northdown Brewery) to cool things down after that one!

The salsiccia with fior di latte, classic Neapolitan friarielli (broccoli rabe), sausage and smoked provola cheese was melt-in-the-mouth. It’s relaxed, informal, and f*cking tasty. Perfect.