Circolo Popolare (London, UK)

Warning!

Serious pizza hunt ahead!

End of warning.

This was our third attempt to get in Circolo Popolare, a relatively new restaurant in the city and one that Alessandra crowned as the "best pizza place in London". And when an Italian says something of that kind, well, it must mean something. Circolo, here we come!

First time we aimed (quite naively, looking back at it) to simply walk in on Friday 6pm-ish in a group of 8 people. Needless to say, the place was hopelessly full and we were promptly briefed that the next available table was one for two people only, and with four and half hours of wait. Hmm.

On the second attempt, Alessandra tried to book a table mid-week for her leaving do - no joy again. Bookings are limited, mysteriously evasive and one needs to book a month in advance, kind of like when one wants to make an appointment with NHS GP regarding minor conditions, such as internal bleeding.

But we didn't have a month. For Alessandra was soon to set off for her new adventures across the ocean, and I thought it'd be a shame to do this one without her. Thus a mission plan was formed, timeline agreed, strategy outlined - we meet in the morning streets of Soho on Saturday 11am, hoodies on, and storm the main entrance, not giving up till we get in. If not given choice, we'll use force!

This time round, it was just three of us and so the hopes of making it were higher. The emptiness of the streets around was even more promising - surely everyone's still sleeping! But the moment I entered the restaurant I knew what the front-desk lady would say - "we're full".

A funny thought passed my mind, if the restaurant is perhaps employing actors in order to pretend being always full (and if they do, how can I apply). Before I got to proceed with those thoughts further though, the lady continued: "but we are just finishing breakfasts, if you come 11:30, we should have a table for you".

Welcome to Circolo Popolare, it's Saturday morning and it's full.

Wohoo! A minute later, Alessandra arrived along with her friend Liliana and I shared the news. We decided to do a stroll around the block, but came back already 11:15, trying our best to form a queue that would make it clear to anyone coming after us that "they should better get the hell in the queue as we're WAITING!". The strategy eventually paid off and finally, a bit after 11:30 we were ushered to a table.

Every alcoholic's dream...

The interior of the place is probably the first thing that makes one go "ooooh". The walls are tall and are featuring 10 or so embedded "caves". Each "cave" in turn has about 10 shelves full of bottles of alcohol (still full!). The shelves being about 5 bottles deep and 20 bottles wide, we calculated to be surrounded by something like 10000 flasks of often expensive content. Alessandra identified some special or rare ones and if we assume an average price tag of £25 per bottle, we're looking at £250k worth of alcohol around us - seemingly used purely for decoration! Did I say this is London?

We ponder the menu and thinking about how hard it was to get in, I decide to better try everything I can now, my order eventually featuring Zerotto (kind of like a soft drink by San Pallegrino mixed with Aperol or Campari), the "animal lover" pizza (a vegetarian pizza - because I love animals), thinly sliced San Daniele ham (because I love animals) and even a home-made Tiramisu for desert. A basket of delicious fresh bread is brought to the table, along with water.

When making the order, I attempt putting on a serious face asking for a pineapple pizza and a bottle of ketchup, but I only manage a second or two before succumbing to the pressure of conforming to the Italian norms. When I later considered Capuccino after the lunch, both Alessandra and Liliana nearly choked in the indignation over me breaking some sacred Italian laws, much like if I suggested that we should revoke basic human rights. You CAN'T have cappuccino with lunch! Gosh....

Definitely the most tasty cured ham I've
ever had...!

Anyway, the incredibly tasty San Daniele ham made for the best starter, whetting our appetites and putting to work the digestion fluids in our stomachs (am I really writing about digestion fluids?) in anticipation of the new arrivals soon to be coming down our esophaguses (I am not sure what's wrong with me now).

Filling the time a bit, I went for a inconspicuous stroll around the restaurant, mainly peeking into the kitchen like a weirdo on a nude beach. I dared not to speak to the sure-to-be top-end professionals and super-chefs, but I could easily see that Circolo has a kitchen simply on the next level compared to any other place I've been to. For one, it's a huge kitchen, divided into many sections, easily manned by 25-odd people (most likely many more behind the front facade doing e.g. dishes or support work). The pizza section itself has two ovens, each handled by a separate pizzaiolo. The inside of the ovens seems further to be made out of two parts. First, the "engine" compartment where the wood is burned to produce heat. And then the auto-rotating platform holding the fire-bathing pizzas themselves, easily 7-8 at a time. When the pie is about to be taken out, the pizzaiolo holds it on the shovel up against the hottest place in the oven and then - voila, another baby sees the light of the world. Stunning.

Magic happens here

Our treats are soon landing on the table in front of us and it's time to dive in. Beautiful they are, the Neapolitan style pizzas. A very soft, thick and puffy crust looks just like from a pizza chef's textbook, and so does the bottom of the pie. Ingredients not only look authentic, but taste that way too and I love the oily, almost mushy nature of my veggies - a testament to the quality of the oils used. The only thing we lack in general is a bit more salt in the taste, however that's also one of the simplest parts of the equation to adjust individually.

Alessandra's pizza featuring Burrata cheese

My Animal Lover. I loved it.

The girls were very content too (be it not - poor starved Italians in this fish-and-chips UK!) and after the sweet Tiramisu ending, I was even happy to pronounce a satisfactory level of satiation. Not an overload in any way - mind you, 45 minutes later I was already playing frisbee in Shoreditch - but a nice, happy and confident feeling that the quality food will be easily handled by my digestion fluids (damn... really? The fluids again?!). And that, ladies and gents, was worth it - the failed attempts to get in, the morning wait, the 40-odd quid I left there. After all, this is London with its best restaurants, and it's worth to try the best of the best ;-)

Zerotto

So was this the best hunt yet? Hmm. Very close, but nope. Sotto Sopra, Real Italian, Sorbillo or possibly others would not be shifted from their positions in the chart. And I guess while it is partly due to the style of the pizza (Neapolitan not being my favorite), it is also partly due to something else - the memories connected to the place, the experience of the days around the pizza hunt, the atmosphere not just inside the restaurant, but outside on the street. To put it metaphorically, it's simply the whole "slice of life", along with the slice of pizza, that creates that perfect experience. And although enough money can make absolutely superb pizzas in the heart of London, it can't make that perfect experience, if only because the notion of what is perfect is different for each of us.

I guess for me, it's still just about building that relationship with London, especially at the time of this pizza hunt - already few weeks down the line I'm more friends with the UK's capital. Either way, in terms of Circolo Popolare, you can't go wrong - a friendly and quick service, mind-blowing interiors, superb pizzas... It's worth it. So grab a sleeping bag, camp in front of the restaurant overnight and make your digestion fluids happy for the next day's lunch!

And don't forget some enjoyable Italian company. Otherwise you can mess it all up with an afternoon cappuccino... All the best in US Alessandra ;-)

PS:

Dough - 9
Ingredients - 10
Sauce - 9
Atmosphere - 9
Service - 9