Encore at Franco Manca,

Some years ago, I wrote about my first ever visit to Franco Manca on the Northcote road. My memories are that I liked it, but wasn’t as wowed as many others had been. Well on a Thursday evening not so long ago I found myself once again in search of a reasonable priced food fix whilst out sampling the Battersea nightlife.

It was national pizza day, and for fans there’s rather a lot of choice in the neighbourhood. From Made in Italy, to Manifesto through to reliable old stager Buona Sera, would Franco Manca hold it’s own against the competition?

I don’t know whether the advent of national pizza day had permeated the consciousness of the populace, or whether it was just a usual Thursday night, but the joint whilst not actively jumping, was definitely busy. We were lucky in that there was a spare table and could be seating immediately, if we’d arrived 15 minutes either side of when we did I doubt that would have been the case.

The interior is bright and welcoming with the slightly too crowded feel of somewhere that has to turn over a lot of covers. The menu might have changed in it’s particulars, but was still the same small selection of both starters and pizzas with a matching titchy choice of beverages.

As this was meant to be a quick drop in we skipped the starters and went straight for the main course. I don’t know if it was synchronicity or simply a failure of imagination, we both choose the number 4 pizza with ham, mozzarella, ricotta and mushrooms. This is priced at about a tenner, most of the 7 pizzas hang around this price point.

To wash it down again we both had a large glass of white wine costing about £8. Again most of the wines hovered around a similar price point, though with ‘bubbles’ coming in a bit higher.

We were seated near the pizza oven, and it was fun watching the various orders going in and taking bets with yourself about whether it was going to yours next emerging from the pocket hades. Despite being busy it didn’t take long from order to delivery.

Eating a pizza straight from the oven is a delightful experience, miles removed from the soggy things that appear in boxes from courier’s bags and this was no exception. The slightly crispy outer rim giving way to a chewier centre, a slight smell of charring and deliciously warm mixed cheese ham and mushroom topping.

The bill when it came was just over £40, which seems reasonable enough, but looking back at my review from 6 years ago, I see that then we could get a full bottle of wine and a starter with the pizzas for £34. I can only wish my income had expanded by a similar figure.

Franco Manca

76 Northcote Rd, London SW11 6QL

www.francomanca.co.uk