A long wait, reservations begin with a cue outside the restaurant. At 17h30 the doors open and people scatter inside to tables to be seated. Immediately we recognize some staff from Napule, the former employer of the pizza champion located in Tokyo’s midtown. http://www.tokyo-midtown.com/jp/shop-restaurants/restaurant-bar/SOP0000015

The order is taken and the service is prompt and efficient. The staff are very friendly and are constantly running with pizza and drinks from the oven work area to the tables. The chef and Pizzaiolo Hisanori Yamamoto, has won the world pizza championship in Naples Italy and the first-ever to win this championship 3 times in a row.

Waiting for the pizza and other small dishes to arrive, we notice a neighbor’s top side of his pizza is burned. When our pizza arrives sadly and it looks fine but after a bite or two, I taste a charred flavor. I turn it over to see the underside blackened. Obviously over cooked and a real disappointment.

The restaurant seats up to 50 people and almost all the tables are taken. The vibe is cool, bustling and very appropriate and fitting for a pizzeria.

Hard to believe that a champion makes this kind of pizza and even more surprising is the 15 other types of pizza the chef spins. I wonder if the Champion is aware that in a traditional pizzeria you have two pizza’s, a Marghertia and a Marinara.

I wouldn’t like to think what the Verace Pizzaioli Napoletani (translated “makers of true Neapolitan pizza), an oversight group which inspects and approves Neapolitan pizzerias. Guidelines govern not only the use of specific types of flour and tomatoes, but specify that each pizza must be hand-formed to a width of 33cm and baked in a wood-fired oven.

Bottom-line, a pizzeria that serves hundreds of people daily, pumps out pizza cannot achieve a realistic level of quality. It is sad that Japanese cannot be bothered and let stature and fame of a Pizzaiolo to win them over.

Address: 1-28-9, Aobadai, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, Japan
T: 03-5768-3739
Website: www.da-isa.jp