Since opening their first restaurant in Islington in 2016, Zia Lucia has gone from strength to strength, opening sites in Wembley, Wandsworth, Islington, Hammersmith and Aldgate East. Their most recent site launch was for their sixth site back in December, situated at 65 Balham High Road – I visited at the weekend for some pizza!

I arrived for an early dinner on Saturday and was welcomed by the friendly Italian staff – the restaurant quickly filled up as I was eating my meal and deliveries were flying out the door. Zia Lucia’s renowned for its impressive selection of 48-hour slow-fermented doughs, including Traditional White Flour, Wholemeal, Gluten-Free and a Vegetable Charcoal black base. The pizzas are cooked in Zia Lucia’s handcrafted ovens which are adorably named Dante, Wally, Nerone, Raffello, and Lola.

I started with a drink and ordered the Zia Lucia beer called Birra Cabriolèa which is a 4.6% unfiltered bottled lager. Birra Cabriolè is locally brewed in the UK and is also vegan friendly. I prefer a beer to a glass of wine so loved that they had their own beer – a nice touch. There were also lots of wines on the menu as well as, Prosecco and classic Italian aperitivos – Aperol/Campari Spritz and Negronis.

I skipped out on a starter as I was keen to try a dessert instead, but the starters on offer included Focaccia (Wholemeal, Vegetable Charcoal and Made Without Gluten), Burrata (Spianata Spicy Salami, Roasted Aubergines or Parma Ham) and a selection of salads.

I ordered the Parmigiana pizza on a Vegetable Charcoal base and it arrived loaded with Aubergine (and covered in cheese) – they did not hold back on the toppings! In terms of toppings, the possibilities are pretty much endless. With 20 actual pizzas on the menu (yes, 20) and a huge selection of ‘special toppings,’ you can really make a pizza your own here. Extra toppings range from irresistible Italian favourites such as Fiery Nduja, Spicy Spianata Salami, Truffle Sauce, Honey, Burrata, Rich Blue Cheese Gorgonzola and Roasted Pepperoni.

Zia Lucia caters for everyone, with 4 vegan and 4 vegetarian pizzas on the menu (as well as seasonal specials). As a veggie, it’s great to have so many options as sometimes pizza choices can be limited unless you build your own pizza or order a Margarita pizza. Zia Lucia has made the effort to make everyone feel catered for.

The dessert menu was simple – you can either order Tiramisu or Ice-Cream. Tiramisu is probably one of my favourite desserts so I went for that and was not disappointed. The portion was huge and it tasted delicious (nice and boozy). I’ll certainly be visiting Zia Lucia again and would recommend checking it out!

All pizzas are priced from £7-£13 | Birra Cabriolè can be purchased for UK wide delivery from birracabriole.com – £18 for 6 x 330ml bottles

Address: 65 Balham High Road SW12 9AP | Delivery available on Ubereats, Deliveroo and Justeat

Website: https://zialucia.com

Written by Lenny Wright