Franco Manca Bournemouth

Back to a Franco Manca pizzeria after several years abroad and having already been disappointed by the falling standards of several restaurants in the south of England, we were a bit sceptical. Glad to say that we were wrong. Our pizzas were as good as they used to be, if not better, considering that there are more organic ingredients now: well-risen dough, cooked properly, abundant excellent quality toppings. The sharer also contained fine and tasty ingredients with the right condiments. The home-made tiramisu was exceptional: we could really taste the bitterness of the coffee and of the cocoa, well balanced by a delicately sweetened mascarpone. Finally something that is worth calling tiramisu, instead of the sickly sugary concoction that unfortunately is very common in other restaurants that favour cheap sugar over more expensive ingredients. Cheap tricks…. I appreciated also to be offered the option to pay or not to pay the optional service charge, an option no other restaurant has offered us. Prices are also more reasonable than in other restaurants that cannot compete with this quality. A suggestion would be to increase slightly the size of the sharer and of the tiramisu: such divine taste should be shared generously! 😉

A reliable go-to for wood fired sour dough pizza. Visited with friends for a hangover brunch after seeing the sublime Leftfield at the O2 the previous night. Pizza was great and the crusts were dipped in the pleasingly hot scotch bonnet dip. 2 pints of IPA completed the visit and those husks of men that entered the joint emerged renewed. Only 3* for atmosphere because we got there when it opened and the place wasn't bouncing at noon on a Sunday, unsurprisingly but not to it's demerit.

The pizza was of good quality. All the ingredients used in it were fresh. Since I don't like pork, I was looking for a pizza that uses beef, but unfortunately I couldn't find anything and had to try the mushroom pizza. The taste of lemonade was not very interesting. But I really liked the environment of the restaurant.