Franco Manca, South Kensington

“What do you think is the Pope’s favourite pizza?”

Don’t be fooled by its unassuming appearance, this little restaurant packs a big punch

I was in London taking my little sister (14)  to the Natural History Museum for a school project, so afterwards I challenged her to a game of ‘Google Maps Eatery Roulette.’ She was hesitant: as per your average 14 year old, her taste in food hasn’t really matured past Nando’s. So I settled on pizza, as hey, it’s hard (but not impossible) to get pizza wrong. Franco Manca was suggested to me, and although the google reviews were positive I was suspicious – I was still feeling burned by my (dis)Honest Burgers experience and did wonder how student friendly a pizza place in South Kensington would be. Nevertheless, I was way too hungry to back out and after a quick skim of the menu, we ventured in. 

First impression: I really liked the design of this place, the wooden tables, bare lightbulbs and Italian art on the walls gave it such an authentic feel. I’m really big on authenticity – you can tell when you go into a restaurant and although they mean well, the something about the design, or even the menu that is so off-kilter and out of touch with the culture they’re supposed to be representing. *cough – Turtle Bay – cough*

There was even Italian music playing in the background!

The menu: So far, I was impressed – I texted my boyfriend I was reviewing Franco Manca and he gave it a glowing review – he’d been to their branch in Southampton and confirmed that the food was amazing. Here’s the link to the menu: http://www.francomanca.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/FM-MENU-EXPANDED-JULY-2017.pdf

When I saw that the starting price for their most basic pizza was under £5 I nearly fell off my… bench? Both myself and my sister went for that one and I ordered extra buffalo mozzarella and mushrooms on mine (don’t you dare judge me). 

Me thinking about what to name my food baby

Long blog post short, it was an incredible meal, and when the bill came and the total for two people came up to the amount of my burger from Hell, (literally, it was that overdone) I left a very happy customer, and I’m sure you will too.

I regret nothing.

Overall impression: A quaint little restaurant but the food speaks for itself, and it’s cheap! Try something different the next time you feel like pizza – they also do takeaway! 

Interior: 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 

Menu: 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 

Service: 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 

Student friendly: 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂