From big international chains like Pizza Hut to small locally-owned restaurants, Colombo has no shortage of pizza places. Despite the numerous choices, we’re always excited to try someplace new.
Pizza Napolitana is a place dedicated to serving thin crust pizza, made from a wood-fired, brick oven – all the stuff that makes a pizza lover go “ooh”.
Located down Colombo-Horana road, Pizza Napolitana opened their doors to the public early this year. Even though they are small joint on the side of the road, they promise some good flavours and live up to it.
The Pizza
They don’t carry a plethora of options, but even then, the ones they have seemed interesting. We were told that they are bringing new combos to the menu in the near future, which will be a nice addition. Also, here at Pizza Napolitana, they give you an option to spice up your pizza with a choice between chilli flakes or nai-miris.
Wanting to try as many flavour combos as we can, we ordered two medium half and half pizzas. Pizza Margherita and Bacon Delight on one, and Meat Lovers Pie and Pizza with Prawns on the other.
The expensive flavour side of the pizza is your price point – which is the usual conduct as far as we are aware.
Pizza Margherita (Rs.800 for medium) was a classic. It is as basic as any Margherita pizza can get but not necessarily a bad thing. Its crust was thin with a few charred bits – a sign that a brick-oven was put into good use. The ends of it were a bit crispy while the middle part has a softer yet not soggy texture.
The components here were rather simple. It has mozzarella cheese, their “secret” tomato sauce (which happens to be their base for all pizzas), olive oil, and some slices of fresh tomatoes and a few basil leaves.
The mozzarella had a good stretch to it which we find satisfying. Their secret tomato sauce was a well-seasoned marinara that carried a harmony of sweetness and sourness of the tomatoes. With its simplicity, you can truly taste how each ingredient shines and works out together.
Loaded with a ton of bacon, Bacon Delight (Rs.1000 for medium) stayed true to its name. Being fans of the fatty cured pork goodness, it wasn’t a surprise that we decided to order this one.
The bacon carried a good amount of smokiness which went perfectly well with the gooey cheese. Although it’s delicious the way it is, we wish if they could’ve added some kind of vegetable to it – probably some caramelised onions to make it even more interesting.
We opted to have chilli flakes in here, but we felt that it wasn’t enough. It’s not a bad pie but we expected it to be a bit better than this, and we believe that a bit more chilli flakes and veggie-based toppings should do the trick.
Pizza With Prawns (Rs.1100), despite not being “exotic”, played the role of our wildcard pizza. The very first thing that hit you is the aroma of the prawns and after a taste of this, we were truly happy.
The grilled shrimps were plump and juicy and its seasoning was bursting with flavours. Being plentiful with pieces of prawns was a highlight too. The tomato sauce added some tang which complemented the fishiness of the shrimps, while the capsicum scattered throughout the pizza gave off some much-wanted heat and crunch – which took the pizza to a whole new level.
Unassumingly, being the carnivorous folks that we are, this seafood pizza ended up being one our favourites out of the lot.
Who are we kidding, the Meat Lovers Pie (Rs.1200) is every carnivore’s dream and we couldn’t order that fast enough. Loaded with seasoned minced pork, bacon, and grilled chicken, it made drooling.
We had ours with nai miris add-on, which spiked up all the flavours. Despite wanting to reach for a glass of water after every few bites, it was pretty addictive and we just couldn’t stop.
The grilled chicken wasn’t at all dry nor bland, the seasoned pork was indeed “seasoned” to boot and coupled with the salty bacon bits it brings out the best of it. We appreciate that they didn’t skimp on the toppings – this one had a lot to offer.
A good foundation of crust, sauce, and cheese together with the addition of herbs mixed in with the heat from nai miris and the fattiness brought by all the meats built a pretty solid pizza, that we highly recommend.
Ambience & Service
Mr. Rasika, whom I presume is the owner/ manager was present at the premise. He talked with much enthusiasm and always monitored and directed the flow of the work. It was a sight to see that the chefs working on the pizza shared the same level of enthusiasm with smiles on their faces at all times. They will even recommend certain combos if you are too confused about what to get.
From spreading the dough to putting it on the brick oven it all happens at arm’s length from you. We even got a sneak peek at the wood oven, just to confirm whether it is indeed a wood oven and it was! 
They do have space for you to sit down and eat your pizza but it’s quite congested. Therefore, they get a lot of takeaway orders. They do have their own delivery to about 5km radius as we were told, and you can find them on delivery services as well.
Conclusion
Pizza Napolitana offers a number of well-crafted pizzas at a reasonable price. Though some flavours were superior over the others, we didn’t get any bad flavour combinations. At the end of the day, it all comes down to preference.
This place is an easy recommend for those of you who crave a good slice or two and have the rest shared with family and friends, or the ones who want to indulge in an entire pie for all by yourself (we don’t judge.).