50 Kalò
For tonight's meal, we walked to 50 Kalò, a busy restaurant just off Trafalgar Square, and situated in The Grand Hotel. Although you don't notice that it’s a restaurant attached to a hotel.
50 Kalò is a pizza restaurant and an off-shoot of their original Naples-based restaurant. It came with great reviews, so we punted on it. When we got there, we were quickly seated at a small table, with my chair nearly touching a chair on the table behind me. I am not keen on being boxed in like this, and despite the small gap, the staff still pushed through the gap between me and the diner behind, which was quite irritating. Fortunately, my wife spotted another free table without this constraint, and we moved.
The menu is full of Neapolitan pizza—in fact, that's what this restaurant specialises in. I selected a Prosciutto Cotto—roasted ham on a white base, with shavings of aged Parmesan. My wife chose the Del Monaco, which had a traditional tomato base, and came topped with salami. The pizzas were big and freshly cooked, arriving quickly. The pizza crust was slightly toasted and lovely and chewy, but in my opinion, the base could have been a little crispier. The shavings of fresh parmesan also added something extra to the overall flavour.
The restaurant also has its "own" beer, (three varieties) brewed in collaboration with Birra Amarcord, from Rimini in Italy. We both started with a "Forte," and during our meal, we enjoyed the other two, (a blonde and a red) as well. The beers were nice and complemented the pizza, but whilst tasty, they weren’t the most exciting beers.
Although we thought we were full from our large pizza, our waitress convinced us to have a special Easter-related dessert. The almond and orange cake was delicious, nice and fluffy, with a lovely freshness from the orange. It was a fitting end to the meal.
All in all, it was a reasonable meal out. The pizzas were nice, the service was quick, and the interior was lovely. This would be a good place to eat after a day of tourist-ing, and avoiding the nearby chain restaurants.
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