Mama Pizza — Restaurant in West Nusa Tenggara

This review comes from a restaurant owner who travels intensely internationally with a passion for dining at under the radar eateries that create unique culinary experiences. Mama Pizza Kuta, went to eat dinner there for 6 straight nights to explore their menu and discover the hidden gems. We traveled specifically to Kuta to be able to experience this restaurant and after doing a deep research about this place beforehand. thank you to Marco the owner for his guidance and patience, he is a great restaurant owner that I tip my hat to. After experiencing the menu, I’m impressed with what I found. My absolute favorite meal was: a Gorgonzola cheese red pizza with onion garlic honey and nuts, added arugula on top and cherry tomatoes on the side for added freshness. The fresh made spinach ricotta ravioli with a different sauce, the kind staff made a change to have a pesto sauce which I thought was no less than world class level, was instead of their red sauce. A large simple green salad and tiramisu, both of those items were wonderful. Out of different dishes Marco recommended and combos tried out, this specific combination impressed me most and can even go as far as to describe it as the best Italian meal ever had and I can explain why. Pizza dough is 48 hours fermenting which gives it a superb texture and flavor, baked to perfection. the Gorgonzola cheese mix is outstanding and their red sauce is terrific, together with the other toppings created a very accurate balance between sweet and sharpness. Cheesy and crunch crust. The pizza costs about $8 which for size and quality is unheard of, half to third price of the best pizzas in Europe or USA and this one is as good if not better, yeah. 2. Spinach ravioli with a change to pesto sauce, this is a star dish just like the pizza I described above and you will likely to experience the divine upon tasting it. This is incredibly unique because if you have the standard of quality I’m interested to have, you’d know it’s an impossible task to meet a pizza and pasta at the same place which upon eating are able to experience a high from tasting sensations. mama pizza is the rare exception where I found a specific pizza and pasta combination that offered such, this is why I am so passionate to discover good food. 3. Staff is incredibly friendly and helpful and the decor is open, inviting with a minimal eco chic design, making the dining experience unique, complete and memorable. 4. Cost of all the meal for two was under $30. when taking into account a ratio formula of the quality and quantity of the food, the ambiance and service, this price point for experience was not available at any other high quality Italian restaurant I’ve been to, out of many celebrated Italian food institutions I’ve explored throughout the globe over the years. 5. Last but not least for me at least was the playlist, Italian disco and classic Italian rock that was crafted to perfection and I kid you not, the gems on the playlist were great while I might be biased because italo disco is a genre I love. the playlist fit like a glove on my hand.

meeting a pizza and pasta of the highest quality in one spot and at this price point and overall experience, this is why this lengthy review was written, you now know how to navigate the menu if you want to experience this too. You can get a world class Italian meal on an island that’s very remote from Italy and at a very friendly cost. So bravo and bravo again to you Marco for your achievement! see you soon I hope and thank you to all the wonderful staff that made this experience so...

Honest Review from a Pizza Lover – 3.5/5

I can not speak om behalf of the pasta, salads, drinks or desserts.

As someone who eats a lot of pizza and has high expectations — both from experience and from reading reviews — I was excited to try this place. I’ve now been here three times, and while the location is great and the staff are polite, the experience has been inconsistent.

🍕 Pizza Quality (3.5/5): Each visit has been very different: • First visit: I had the burrata pizza with red sauce. Unfortunately, it lacked flavor beyond the tomato and burrata. The crust was airy and slightly burned, and not something I wanted to eat on its own. • Second visit: I gave the burrata pizza another try but switched to white sauce and added Parma han and onion. I basically made my one pizza (extra 30-40 k). This time the flavor was much better — so far my best experience here. • Third visit (takeaway): I ordered the Tartufina (seasonal pizza with truffle, gorgonzola, and ham). While there was plenty of gorgonzola and good ham, the truffle oil was either missing or barely noticeable — disappointing given the name of the pizza. Garlic ended up being the most dominant flavor. The crust wasn’t burned, but again very airy and not enjoyable to eat by itself. May due tonic being sourdough so not necessary a expectation i should have.

For me, a proper Italian pizza should have a crust that’s good enough to enjoy on its own — not just something to dip or leave behind. Only once did the crust meet that standard here.

💰 Price & Portion (4/5): Prices range from about 140K to 170K IDR, which is very fair considering the pizza is larger than average — definitely bigger than what you’d get at cheaper spots like local warungs. Taxes and service are included in the menu price (unlike many places that add 15% extra). One pizza comes sliced into 8 Italian-style pieces and can easily be shared between two people — unless your crust is mediocre, of course. Then you might be left wanting more.

👥 Service (4/5): The staff are friendly and helpful. Takeaway was quick (about 12 minutes). They kindly gave me salt, pepper and a mamma pizza bag for my pizza so i could drive safe home with my scooter. When dining in, it took 30–40 minutes, and unfortunately the full table wasn’t served at the same time. Still, it’s a busy and popular place, so some delay is understandable during peak hours.

📍 Location (5/5): Great, central location and always buzzing with life.

🎶 Atmosphere (3.5/5): It can get loud indoors, and the energy level is high. A bit calmer Italian background music would go a long way in creating a more relaxed dining vibe.

✅ Final Rating: • Pizza: 3.5/5 • Price & Value: 4/5 • Service: 4/5 • Location: 5/5 • Atmosphere: 3.5/5

Would I go back? Maybe — especially for takeaway with white sauce options. But I hope they work on consistency and never serve a burned...

Firstly, I am really sorry that I have to leave a not so laudative review, because the staff was very nice and attentive. After eating at Mama Pizza in Gili Air for 3 times, we thought that this restaurant that bears the same name would be the same, but I was so wrong. First, the meniu is different - totally unexpected, I couldn't find the usual vegetarian one that all pizza locals had (under different names), so I had to improvise and ask that the Vegan Queen to come with some mozzarella cheese and they did this indeed. 25k for "extra" mozzarella, but ok.. (maybe they could have communicated this at the time of order, because I would have rather choose a Marguerita with 2-3 vegetable topics and it would have costed only ~100 k). And they didn't mention anywhere about the surcharge of 5% for service that appeared on our note when we paid. But all of these I've just mentioned would not have mattered at all if the pizza would have been good (and we came here with such big hopes, but it wasn't). In fact it was exactly how we don't like a pizza to be at all: very wet! - the dough even could not support the weight of the composition. Even the Margherita my husband had - was very humid (in lack of a more suitable word) also.. Otherwise the dough seemed pretty good. One more : what human is eating that amount of fresh basil you put on the Vegan Queen pizza??! You could easily make a little jar of pesto out of those many leaves 🙈. I hope you will take this as a constructive criticism, even if I could see you are not in lack of customers;) We are big pizza eaters - especially for these 2 specialities: Marguerita and Vegetarian, so we are pretty picky with the...