La Camionetta — Restaurant in Lisbon

Everyone rates this a 5 and I can see why, but I am a real tough pizza critic as I find pizza in naples not really all that good. In case you are an American reading this and can agree with this statement, before you go celebrate and add that either New York or Chicago style pizzas are the best in the world, those are so far removed from what a pizza should be that they should not have the privilege to be called pizza at all. The low quality ingredients, selection of poor toppings, the lack of a proper dough, and final result (they are simply ugly to look at) makes for a depressing concoction of a "pie". Period. Call it pie, and I'm okay with it. I won't eat it but at least it's not called pizza which is at least grammatically correct. You might be offended but it doesn't matter. I'm not here to make friends, I'm here to give my honest review and the hard truth is hard to swallow. So is that pizza. So, back to camionetta. The pizza dough is of a traditional style you would find in many locations in Italy (of naples origin) and they use a wood burning oven (both, not my preferred) but i recognize it's importance, at least from a historic origin, so i am not criticizing that, i have no place in doing that. The selection of pizzas is where I have a slight problem. Most just had too many ingredients. We ordered the goat cheese pizza and while it was good there was simply too much going on, a common mistake in most pizzerias even high end pizza places. The end result was an incredibly salty pizza. The last few bites were hard to eat. Some ingredients were over charred and this is unacceptable. Yes, it's perfectly fine to have the dough turn black in some areas in the bottom of the pizza but there is a real fine line here too (remember, black pizza dough is carcegenic). The toppings, however should never be and ours had plenty burnt going on. I know why this is so. So, between too much and too burned the result was not good enough for me. One other item. The tiramisu was not traditional enough. You cannot make a true tiramisu (1) using an "americano" coffee. It must be espresso and so the result is a disappointingly weak "tirami". You lack the"su". (2) the batter is not correct. They have gotten away from using the proper amount of mascarpone (not sure they use any at all) and though it was light and airy (which I liked) compared to traditional, it was not correct so i need to make note. They have passion, I loved the owner (she was very pleasant and knows how to work her customers. You can see she loved what she does). They are better than 90% of pizzerias I have been to but as I mentioned before, I'm a hard critic of pizza (even in naples) and so that's why I can taste a 5. Very few tables inside, better make sure it doesn't rain. I think slightly overpriced for the location. Don't worry, they are full of customers and I'm sure they won't be lowering prices anytime soon. ...

Unfortunately, a terrible and unfortunate experience despite our original enthusiasm. First time I order a bruschetta and refuse to eat it because it’s unbearably salty. Same for the olives: tasteless and too salty. We inform the staff to go easy on the salt. Then, comes our salad coupled with the wrong pizza: we only get to taste a Margherita. Fine, we make an effort and accept it, instead of rejecting the pizza that is served to us. Pretty banal taste and experience. We are then promised free desserts that will never come. We order the original Cogumelos pizza with Pancetta that we wanted: barely eatable. We inform again the staff that it is too salty and we are lectured about what Pancetta is (salty!). Ridiculous. We explain that the Pancetta is salty but the mushrooms are unbearably salty as well. At this stage, the staff is barely paying attention to us anymore. We are bad people obviously and I see them whisper about us. Gross. It took a while to be able to get the check and leave. More than 50 euros for this. Arrogant service and terrible food experience. Fake promise. And now… the review they deserve. I can see the potential of their pizza but obviously excellence starts with humility and acceptance of constructive criticism. We did not go there to be punished. Terrible terrible experience and we came in with the...

Wow! One of the nicest restaurant experiences I've ever had.

Gulia & Benoit are two of the friendliest & eclectic restaurant owners I've ever had the pleasure of dining with - you will both go so far I know it!

It's true you only need one person at the front of house and one in the kitchen to run a restaurant. These two do a fantastic job in creating an amazing experience for anyone who comes down to try a pizza pie. This duo are two of the kindest most welcoming people I have come across in the biz!

Don't let the heat of the pizza oven fool you when you walk into this place - that heat is from the passion and enthusiasm these two stars emit whenever someone new enters.

Seriously come for the food (pizza which easily outclassed some of the best italian pies ive had) and stay for the atmosphere - classic rock, classic cocktails, new decor and hopefully one restaurant which will become a staple for lisboa.

Thank you so much for a wonderful meal & some lovely memories Gulia & benoit we hope you have a long success business & partnership together!

Why are you still reading this! Go enjoy some...