NA081 - Pizza & Pasta — Restaurant in Opfikon

I have to admit this place is really true to its origins.

The pizza felt like it started cooking on a smothering lapillus of the Pompei eruption and stayed there for almost two thousand years.

It's a pity they took it off so early because I would have really liked to see what a pizza looks like when it's completely burned through, not just the entirety of the bottom.

I write "see" instead of "taste" intentionally.

I would have really loved to taste the pile of ashes they plated and dared calling "pizza" but unfortunately I could not.

Almost all pizzas in Italy are without garlic, but I decided to specify that I wanted it without garlic anyways when placing my order. I'm allergic to it so I always try to be thorough and I make the request in both Italian and English.

Sadly I did not consider saying it in Neapolitan.

Not only did they completely disregard my request, but they also had the kind idea of giving me a pizza with an entire raw garlic clove on it.

This is not just close to killing a person, but also extremely close to killing an entire country.

When I glanced at the pizza I felt an earthquake starting.

That was not the Planet complaining for such a misuse of its good ingredients, but it was millions of dead Italian granmas shaking in their graves.

I've had to rush to the closest basil field and pray to the Gods of good taste to give humanity another chance before they obliterated this heathen planet.

I got there just in time.

Since everyone can make mistakes, I decided to go there again, assuming that it was probably just a busy day. I've worked at a restaurant and I know how hard it can get.

This time I ordered a white pizza just to make sure to avoid garlic.

Gladly, they didn't add any extra allergens, but the top of the pizza was burned to a crisp.

To compensate for it the centre was a floppy wet mess despite being thin, while the crust was chewy to the point I tried to make a chewing-gum-like balloon with it, but it popped before I could take a picture.

I give it two stars: one to represent the impressive amount of heat that went into cooking my "meals", one for...

Visited in January 2023

NA081 is a beautiful restaurant with a strong Napoli flair. The menu includes many Napoletan specialities such as the deep fried pizza, potato croquettes, or the famous babà. All the dishes we ate tasted good. Even the fish dishes were good by Swiss standards (of course not comparable to the fresh fish you can eat in coastal countries). The service was very competent and nice. The waitress who served us was very attentive and quick. Some waiters from highly decorated restaurants could learn a thing or two from the service ladies of NA081 in terms of customer friendliness, speed and professionalism! The location itself is furnished in typical Italian style and decorated with a lot of Napoli style, see the tables, wall tapestry or the music. The choice of parking spaces at the restaurant itself is small, but there are plenty in the surrounding area, e.g. at the train station.

Small shortcomings:

The tables are relatively small and close together, which leads to a certain overcrowding of tables, which leads to the fact that the guests are very close to each other and it is very loud from the acoustics and the general background noise. At times, we almost had to shout to be able to understand each other.

The pizza prices are relatively high, with a Margherita costing 20 francs.

All in all, NA081 offers a great culinary experience and is definitely...

EXTRAORDINARY ♥️ Real italian kitchen 🥰 The food, the service, the atmosphere: just perfect 😍

Donato - responsible and super customer oriented. He’s a chef and knows exactly what he’s talking about, when recommending dishes! Maria - Service (very on the watch and kind!) Luigi e Maurizio - Pizzaioli (magicians at the oven the kitchen) ♥️ Sandra - kitchen help (the efforts and kindness are next level!)

EDIT: we finally had the honor to meet Ciro and Christian - they are REAL magicians in the kitchen. The best freaking pasta that I’ve ever eaten in Europe, not to mention their kindness. We closed our eyes while eating and they teleported us straight to Italy, at my grandma’s table ♥️ we also got to know the rest of the team, Sofia, Michela and Rebecca. What can I say, we feel at home 🏠 everytime we come here, they are super super super friendly and professional ✔️

Go and enjoy that food guys - I promise, you won’t regret it!!!! You are physically in Switzerland 🇨🇭, but it tastes...