Pizzería Manammè La Laguna — Restaurant in San Cristóbal de La Laguna

Don't be fooled by the smiles and kindness of one of the Italian owners, and in particular do not believe for a second that he is really interested in your opinion when he asks for it. He is really only interested in being congratulated. The other owner is, very unfortunately, the pizza maker. Or, more precisely, he thinks he is a great pizza maker. He makes pizza, right, but something he does is deadly wrong. The dough was rubbery (perhaps for some mistakes in the yeast's quantity or for wrong oven temperature, or both), the prosciutto was not cured at all (cheaper, of course), the truffle paste was tasteless because it had been cooked from the start and not added later and same for the basil, which was burned. The look of the pizzas was ugly and the pizzaiolo showed that he did not even know how to cut them (there is a simple technique to detach the slices from one another...), the sausage was absolutely tasteless, which was a big disappointment in a Spanish pizzeria held by Italians... We ordered 'friarielli' a traditional sautée 'rapi', which were very good, but although presented as fresh they looked very much alike the ones I have in a can at home (although I can give the benefit of the doubt for this). We ordered a very common kind of 'calzone', with mozzarella cheese, sausage, ham and mushrooms. 10 minutes later we heard the so called 'pizzaiolo' saying (aloud!!): "I'm not gonna make it because the ingredients will not be cooked". No further comment on that is necessary, we think... (I've been eating that kind of calzone since I was a child and in many, many places around the globe...). Having heard that we told him to make it as an open pizza... Finally, we ordered a 'babà al rhum', which for those who don't know is a Neapolitan traditional sponge that is usually completely soaked with liquor, just a bit lightened. I had that many times in my life and for one who spent several years living in Naples I can swear that it was soaked in sugary water with just a far, very far hint of liquor. Apart from the shameful babà we ate everything with religious devotion, which might have given our host the idea that we liked it. Reality is that we did not have lunch at all (I only had a cocktail...), we were hungry and if you try to find a restaurant open in La Laguna on Sunday night, good luck... At this point we left the babà and the pizzeria to their sad...

Italians work here, so everything has an Italian soul and an Italian taste. The guys really try to feed the visitors of the pizzeria quickly and deliciously and also take care of those who are waiting for this pizza at home. And it seems to be working successfully.

A small restaurant with a simple interior, where white glossy tiles are combined with wood. Everything is simple, easy and relaxed, what you expect from a pizzeria.

Of course, the queen of dishes is Neapolitan pizza, with tiger edges and juicy filling to your taste. My favorite is the plain margarita with onion. And for dessert, I prefer an excellent tiramisu for which I’m happy to come from...

We went to this great pizza place during our stay near La Laguna and liked the pizza a lot.

The young team of waiters and pizzaiolos really nail their Neapolitan pizzas with nice fluffy crusts and a paper thin dough in the middle and a lovely char on the bottom. On top you get a variety of basic toppings where the focus lies on the fresh ingredients.

Only thing that wasn’t perfect during our visit was that the dough and the pizza overall lacked a bit of seasoning (salt). But that’s nothing that can’t be fixed, hence the 4 stars.

Definitely...