The plan was to take an early morning ride on the Vespa from Bandra to Fort to check out Mumbai’s first Starbucks. However, after 20 minutes in line, we decided we could wait no longer. Since we were already in town, we figured it would be a good opportunity to check out Di Napoli, a new pizzeria in Nariman Point. Read about our experience below!
Unlike Starbucks, there was no waiting at Di Napoli as the restaurant was relatively empty on Sunday at 12:30pm. The pizzeria is located at the bottom of Dalamal Towers in Nariman Point – a bit of an odd location, but ideal for the office crowd during the work week.
The meal did not start off on a great note as the appetizer we ordered, a Crochetta, came out frozen on the inside. The waiter quickly replaced it with a properly cooked version, which was much better. Imagine a tater-tot stuffed with mashed potato & mozzarella – crispy on the outside and soft & gooey on the inside – a tasty start.
For the main course we ordered two pizzas – the Diavola and Montanara Di Giulio. The Diavola was a pepperoni pizza, which you could have with local or imported pepperoni. We sampled both meats before ordering… stay away from the local version and stick with the imported; though a bit more expensive, it’s worth it. The pizza had a delicious crust with tomato sauce, mozzarella and pepperoni, but it was a bit too greasy for our taste. It could have done with a little less olive oil.
The Montanara Di Giulio on the other hand was definitely the standout of the meal and apparently a specialty of the visiting Italian chef Giulio Adriani (read more about our Master Class with him here). It’s a lightly fried then baked margherita pizza, which is essentially a full-pizza version of the Pizzella appetizer you may have tried before at Mia Cucina. It was light, crisp, and fluffy at the same time – a definite winner.
Di Napoli is definitely still working out its kinks right now. We could see the visiting Italian chef spending a lot of time with the local chefs and teaching them the proper way to roll out the pizza dough. The pizzeria does have what looks to be a very high-end pizza oven, which should churn out excellent product as long as it is used appropriately.
As it stands, Di Napoli definitely does not have any comparable competition in Mumbai and is the closest to proper Nepolitain pizza we have tasted in the city thus far. At 2,000 rupees for two people, it is certainly not cheap, but not bad for a quality product. There were quite a few more pizzas to sample as well as pastas and deserts – and we will certainly be coming back soon for a full sampling.
Di Napoli
G/2, Dalamal Towers
Opposite New MLA Hostel
Free Press Journal Marg,
Nariman Point, MUMBAI – 400021
Tel: +(91) (022) 4347 3200 / +(91) 98200 77703