'O Ver Borough — Restaurant in London

Utterly disappointing. I came here the other day for my birthday dinner as I had seen it had good reviews especially on the pizzas they do which is supposed the be their specialty, with three other friends. Me and my friend shared the bolognaise and pancetta pizza, the bolognaise was £24 but because it was for a special occasion we ordered it anyway. The food arrived suspiciously quick which considering there was no one in the restaurant I was confused by because there was no rush to get food out. When I took a bite into the bolognaise I was completely in shock as it tasted like absolutely nothing, the pasta was stuck together and I wouldn’t even expect that type of sauce from a tin. I understand that pasta isn’t their main focus but if it is on the menu and costs £24 (for a small portion)! I would expect it would at least taste of something? The pizza was somehow burnt and undercooked. I have been to Naples and Italy and had pizzas there and that was not it, I understand there is supposed to be Charing on the crust but this pizza just tasted like charred pizza and nothing else. The middle was so soggy and watery that none of the toppings stayed on. We weren’t offered pepper, salt, oil or Parmesan, my friend had to ask for some pepper. We were also charged around I believe £3 for a bottle of water that we didn’t ask for, which they filled our cups under halfway with! My other friend ordered the parmigiana and had to send it back due to how bad and tasteless it was! I also said on the reservation it was for a birthday and nothing happened and considering how much you pay for the food that you get no pepper or salt with which you then get charged £3 for water with, you do expect some sort of small chocolate or something, especially since it was one of the options to put down on the reservation. Overall the food was clearly cooked in a rush for some reason, seriously lakes in flavour and was ridiculously overpriced for the portions and the quality of the food. I’ve never been so just displeased by a restaurant like this before would not...

This restaurant has great atmosphere which makes it all the more disappointing to have to leave a negative review. In terms of positives, friendly staff and unusually pleasant atmosphere and décor especially in the dim lit basement with its beautiful marble tables, discreet lighting and cosy booths. Another big plus is the fact that the place was full of Italians, which is always a hidden bonus to spot when judging authenticity of Italian restaurants. However I cannot excuse the value and quality of the food presented. We ordered a salad which looked like a masterpiece on paper yet turned out to be disgustingly bitter and off-putting thanks to it being almost completely dry (a drop of honey in a large bowl) and using a bitter variety of lettuce, plenty of bitter orange zest (no orange juice as advertised) for flavour, extremely unripe (mostly made of unripe white flesh and hence bitter) figs, and nuts. It felt like someone just forgot the dressing and tried to make the salad as unpleasant as possible. The main course unfortunately only re-inforced this, with the pizza being made with obviously fresh ingredients but unfortunately, again, very salty and bitter, smelling almost like smoked food with an unpleasant aftertaste. Apparently sea salt is used for the dough, which sounds appealing for marketing purposes but in the presence of authentic cheese and other toppings makes the food unbearable to eat, almost made me want to puke which is unacceptable for the price point of this restaurant. It was so bitter in fact that my partner’s pasta tasted like candy in comparison. The pasta was excellent and balanced, but the portion was definitely extremely small. All in all the exceptional atmosphere and service was hurt by the dishes lacking some common food sense and leaving an unbearable bitter aftertaste. The cannoli were quality, absolutely amazing, but not likely...

I really wanted to like this place more. A few people i know in the pizza scene had recommended i try it. The place itself is great - lovely airy vibe, and the service is first rate. The starters were all perfectly nice, and the aubergine parmigiana was excellent. But i came here for the pizza, and honestly they were a huge disappointment.

Neapolitan pizza often gets a lot of hate from the uninitiated. Criticisms invariably include the adjectives “floppy” and “soupy”. While it’s fair to say that neapolitan pizza is certainly floppier than most of its regional (italian & US) counterparts, and yes - it can also be soupy (Sorbillo being a prime example) these characteristics do not detract from the actual taste. What does detract from the taste is a massively under-sauced pizza to the point where u are left with a dry pizza (see image). IMO sauce is more important than cheese since an adequate amount of sauce can compensate for stingy cheesing, and if the sugo is good then it can shine on its own (eg pizza marinara). But a pizza with massive dry patches will consequently have dry, rubbery mozzarella. The resulting slice is massively underwhelming.

That being said i agree that dough is the main star of the show and the dough here was tasty with a nice bit of crispiness, and while I could happily eat naked baked pizza dough that’s not what i want if i order a margherita.

The Diavola was slightly less dry than the margherita but either way I'm surprised that a pizzaiuolo would be happy serving a pizza that looked like that.

This place is still worth trying, because i've seen pictures of great looking pizza made here, it just seems like their QC isn't what it should be or what it used to be. Maybe it was a...