PIZZERIA NAPOLETANA (ITALIAN) ★★★★★

5189 Rue Dante, Montreal QC H2S 1K1

514-276-8226

www.napoletana.com

Little Italy houses some of the best Italian restaurants in Montreal, respectably. Pizzeria Napoletana is definitely no exception! Since 1948 this place has been serving up fantastic family recipes. It started off as a place for Italian immigrants to get a little taste of home in their new country. The biggest wave of Italian immigration to Canada was during the first 20 years following the second world war. This is around the same time my grandparents immigrated here from Calabria, Italy.

MENU

Pizzeria Napoletana main dishes are simplified to what us Italians know best, pizza and pasta. Although these are the only two options for main dishes on the menu, they offer more than 40 different choices of pizzas (all on thin crust) and over 30 different pasta dishes. There is a dish for everyone!

MEAL #1 CAMPAGNOLA

Mushrooms, pepperoni sausage, mozzarella, tomato sauce, onions, green peppers all on a thin, homemade, fresh crust. This has got to be one of the best pizzas I have ever had. The whole pizza had a very strong tomato flavor, but the broiled mozzarella on top also made for a delicious taste and texture. It gave a stringiness to the entire dish. The crust was super thin and soft, while the ends were slightly crunchy from what I guess was being cooked on a wood burning pizza stove. The pepperoni sausage added a hint of spice to the meal and balanced out all the other flavor in perfect harmony. Finally, the green peppers and onions added a crunch to the pizza and enhanced the other flavors even more. Because of all the topping on this pizza, it was heavy and kind of hard to pick up, so I would recommend eating it with a fork and knife instead.

MEAL #2 GENOVESE

The second pizza we ordered was the pizza Genovese, this one was made without tomato sauce as the base, instead, it came with pesto and turkey underneath the thick layer of mozzarella cheese. This gave the pizza a very strong pesto taste. Also, because there was no tomato sauce, the flavor of the cheese came through a lot more and made it very enjoyable.

MEAL #3 GNOCCHI

Our last meal was the gnocchi, it was super soft. The meat sauce it was paired with added a bit of beef which introduced a different texture to the overall dish. I really enjoyed the tomato flavor that was found throughout the meal and not just in the sauce, because the gnocchi soaked it up. I would really recommend to anyone who doesn't like "normal" pasta dishes, to check this one out!

OVERALL

Overall, I really enjoyed this place and will definitely be returning with family and friends to share the amazing experience I was able to have there. Although nonnas cooking will always be the best, these dishes are for sure a close second. If you are looking for a great place to try authentic pizzas and pasta and Italian cuisine, check out Pizzeria Napolitana!