AL 22 - Napoli, Italy

Rating:  8 / 10

"I could tell the second he handed me the pizza box, this was not like next door at Da Attilio, this one had some weight."

Ask 100 different people in Naples what their favourite pizza is, and you'll get 100 different answers. They are religious about their Margherita here and everyone prefers different aspects of the pizza-puzzle. Some bestow grandiose faffings on the legendary Da Michele, others cling to the neighborhood charm of Concettina ai tre Santi, and others still bark praise for the wonders Da Atiilio conjures in his woodfire oven.

One name that kept popping up was Al 22. It was never the "It is my favourite place", but always "It's very, very good". So I opted to forgo the temptation to eat a salad and walked the familiar streets to order a pizza.

Flummoxed by the buzzing crowd outside I stood at a respectable distance until the waiter asked me if I wanted a table, to which I replied "Porta via", and was then summoned through the crowd into the belly of the beast to place my order.

I stood watching the intense machinery at work. Men shaping dough, others slathering it with tomato sauce and cheese, then pulled onto the peel for the final stretch before disappearing into the furnace for mere seconds. Out came consistently wonderful looking pizzas topped with olive oil and then transported to hungry punters.

When mine was finally ready I paid, noticed the weight of the box and hastily walked to the nearest alleyway, took my photographs "Decent undercarriage" and went in for the kill. Astoundingly good pizza. The sauce was fresh and tangy and sweet. The cheese melted in pools of glory. If I was to pick one thing that didn't personally hit my tastebuds it was the crust was a tad doughy. I felt it immediately in the heaviness of the box that this was not a Da Attilio angel wing. This had more dough and was rolled slightly thicker than my absolute favourites.

However, if you're in these parts and Da Attilio has already been tried, then I urge you to eat here and compare the two and see which one comes out top for you. 

These recommendations are just personal opinions based on my palate, things change, chefs get fired or replaced, places open-close, relocate, so take it all with a pinch of MSG  and discover your own gems too. But please do try a few of these, they have been researched exhaustively.