Pizzeria Cardamomo — Restaurant in Redwood City

This is an amazing place. Every single restaurant, there is always one dish that we don't like as much thus we don't end up leaving reviews but we were very impressed that everything we ordered here was spot on. Chef Momo has put in a lot of thought into each dish and every single ingredient that is going to go in it.

Bruschetta - perfect; sourdough toasted perfectly; just the right thickness to serve as the base to enjoy with the toppings. Soft in the middle; has the crunch of the crust to give it the textural contrast but it is not so hard/tough that it is painful to eat. Flavors are very well balanced, has the harmony of sweetness + acidity + savory (w/ the cheese + prosciutto) without one overpowering dominant flavor. Cut in perfect proportions to enjoy with fingers. Kids loved the arancini; crispy, not too salty; fresh and warm.

Arugula salad balances the acidity of the vinaigrette w/umami of parmesan cheese + slight natural mild bitterness of arugula + slight sweetness of pear. My kids will not eat the arugula salad at Vesta across the street but they finished it here.

White pizza - carbonara; voatsiperfer pepper brings out the flavors; great cheese; crust is crispy but not burnt. Red pizza - magica; tomato sauce is not overpowering like most other pizza places; can taste the subtleties of each individual ingredient; potatoes were cooked perfectly - soft and creamy but has just enough texture so that it is not mushy; mint + ground beef + honey gives the great fusion flavor btwn Morocco + Italy. For people who like stronger flavors, they have the spicy infused olive oil w/ peppers that you can add on as needed.

Panna cotta and tiramisu were very smooth; can taste the great vanilla flavor; texture is great - not too runny; not too firm; soft/melts in your mouth but has just the right amount of firmness so that you can savor it. Served at correct temperature. Perfect amount of fruit sauce to give it the tartness + acidity to balance the sweetness; seeds within fruit sauce gives it slight crunch for the textural contrast as well. Perhaps can add on something crunchy for tiramisu if wishing for contrast like chopped toasted hazelnuts or crumbled ladyfinger but then would not be classic as it is advertised (and it is great as it is). Sparking wine was great.

Service is great + food came out very quickly. Owners are very nice/kind; saw them spending time at every table, explaining the food and how the place came to be. They have an amazing story. For the quality of food + ingredients + taste, price is amazing.

This is not the place for you if you like the American style pizzas w/ stronger flavors; you will find it bland. Please don't go here and leave bad reviews; there is a Papa John's + Pizza My Heart nearby, which are great in their own ways. The owners have put in so much effort and passion into their food. If you like to enjoy subtle natural taste of each ingredient as it should taste like in real life, this is the...

We got the Focaccia as an appetizer. It was good but we didn't expect it to basically be just another pizza order. It's the only dish I got a picture of.

As an entre we got the Margherita Dop which was almost the same as the Focaccia order except it had tomato sauce. Strangely enough this dish didn't come out hot as we expected it to. Not sure if it was meant to be room temperature but we would have preferred it to come out hot.

Our 2nd entree was the spicy spaghetti with meatballs which I really enjoyed. The meatballs weren't my favorite but the tomatoe sauce made up for it. You could tell that the tomatoes were fresh.

I didn't think the pizzas were anything special so I wouldn't come back here for a pizza but I would definitely come back for the spaghetti dish. In the past I've also had the beet salad and it was exquisite.

Service: We didn't have a reservation but we were seated really fast. Less than a 10 minute wait, shortly before 7pm. If you enjoy being checked on every few minutes then this is the place for you. They do come by very often to ask how you're doing.

Atmosphere: The place is nice and small. We were seated in a corner area where we were in the way of the servers so they kept bumping into the back seat. The outdoor seating is white nice for a...

Came here for a weekday lunch and sat outside. We got the tagliatelle bolognese and carbonara pizza. The big question was how this pizza compares to Vesta’s and did everything taste good. If you’re a fan of crust that is cracker thin and ultra crispy then this is the place for you. The pizza crust is crispy throughout, similar to a Roman style crust rather than the Neapolitan style at Vesta’s which is soft and fluffy. In terms of the pizza toppings there were multiple pizzas that had a combination of interesting flavors and some classics such as the carbonara. We liked the house made habanero oil that could be added to basically any dish on the menu. It wasn’t too spicy but added a nice flavor and light zing. The tagliatelle bolognese was good and filling.

Overall I’m glad that we have a new pizza restaurant in town that serves up a different style. More options is always better. One thing that I didn’t like: I am a fan of restaurants that serve locally sourced produce and appreciate a lighter hand when it comes to oils, etc but the claims from the servers that you won’t feel bloated after eating here made me 🙄. I’m here to eat pizza, I don’t need to pretend I’m eating healthy. I think it’s ok to not try to make health claims like that, it detracts from...