Tonight we were dining at Franco Manca near to our hotel in Earls Court. The place looked ok from the outside, nice and brightly lit, and full of people who seemed to be happy eating their Pizza.

I like pizza, I like seeing people eating pizza, and I like happy diners so we took a chance and headed in to see if we could get a table.

Happily we could, grabbing the one in the window, a double edged sword, on the plus side we could people watch, on the downside we were by the ever opening door so it was a bit drafty.

The more important positive side was that we had got a table!

I love a specials board, especially a great big chalkboard type and one on the wall right next to my table is a bonus. I usually try to find something I fancy as it saves me the effort of squinting at the paper menu in the dim light to find what I want.

Today I was in luck (as always) spying the Meat Special, always a favourite, and this one sounded just perfect, a white pizza topped with “Traditional Neapolitan Pork, Salami, Spicy N’duja and Honey base, Mozzarella, Ricotta, Fresh Basil, (No Tomato Sauce)” for £11.45

MEAT SPECIAL PIZZA

There was a lot to like about this pizza! All the topping went really well together, it felt simple and it tasted great. I really enjoyed the absence of tomato in the base, the sauce being replaced out with that soft creamy ricotta and the mozzarella.

The honey and the Ndjua added sweetness and spiciness to each mouthful in a fairly restrained manner. The pork and salami giving meatiness and saltiness to the affair.

Topping wise it was a bit light but the crust and the bubbled up cheese made the pizza quite delightful to eat.

It was not my usual sort of Meat Feast experience but it was one that I thoroughly enjoyed

SPICY YORKSHIRE LAMB SAUSAGE BITES

One pizza was plenty for me but I did swap a slice or two with my dining companion who had chosen a lighter meal of a bowl of the Spicy Yorkshire Lamb Sausage bites.

This dish had a nice taste, sort of sausage meatballs in a tomato sauce, and was quite comforting despite it’s somewhat charred and overtly rustic appearance. It’s a good job we like the crusty burnt bits or this probably should have gone back to the kitchen lol

The official description of this dish was ‘Free range spicy Yorkshire lamb sausage, roasted potatoes cooked with onions, organic tomato & mozzarella’ which does sound really nice on paper

Price wise I have to say that Franco Manca was good value. The fancier pizza are around the £11-12 mark but you can get a simple ‘Organic tomato, garlic, basil & oregano’ one for just £6.50 which sounds a bargain.

If I hadn’t had the meat special I would have been looking at the top end or the bottom of the menu picking either the one topped with Tuscan pork fennel sausage, or the one topped with Slow-cooked beef ragu. Maybe another time hey?

I didn’t know that there were other Franco Manca’s when we visited, apparently there are over 70 and I keep finding them all over the place.

Now usually I don’t bother commentating on, or blog about chains that much but as pizza joints go I think that this brand is well worth considering if you spot one when you are looking for a slice of pizza pie

We visited the joint in Earls Court located at 151 Earls Court Road, London, SW5 9RQ

In their words “Conveniently located on buzzy Earls Court Road, our pizzeria is perfectly placed amongst local shops — just a stone’s throw from the tube station.

Check out their website for this location and all the other ones

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