Address - Suginami-ku, Kamiogi 1-14-12 Dai 2 Uoko Bldg 1 Fl Open - Mon.- Fri. lunch: 11:00 - 15:00, dinner 17:00 - 23:00, open from 11:00 to 23:00 Telephone - See list below Menu In Japanese and Italian Site Yes

Salvatore Cuomo, whose restaurants (see review) I have always avoided because they are far too expensive to be worth the money, has now a series of joints all over the town that deliver at home good Italian pizza at a very reasonable price. Some time ago I had their Calabrese delivered at home and it was good, certainly far better and cheaper than Pizza La’s. You have to order at least 2000 yen worth of food to qualify for delivery, but it's really a deal when you consider the price and quality of other delivery services.

Lured by the good experience made at home, I decided to pay a visit to the chain's Ogikubo branch and, one evening when I was free, worn a pair of clean pants and a jacket, went there my trusty old lady.
The place is brand-new and very modern-looking. It has that special look you have come to expect from Italian food chains, kind of plasticky with all those solid colors (whites, blues, reds ...) that tend to turn you off, because they remind you of a US 24-hour breakfast joint. Don't pay attention to these details, because the place is good.

To begin with, ingredients are excellent, especially the olive oil and mozzarella; what's more, this is Italian-Italian pizza, as opposed to Italian-American or Japanese-Italian-American. Even if you like American pizza (and I do, as long as it's not Pizza LA's), once in a while you are bound to want to eat the Italian version.

There are about ten different pizzas, including both classics like marinara and new, post-WWII models like rucola and raw ham, all great. I recommend the Calabrese and the Regina, in my view the best.
There are also pastas, salads and desserts, and here the quality is very uneven. I found the desserts to be for the birds, the salads adequate and most of the pastas uninteresting, with some exceptions like the bolognese.

Salvatore uses a wood oven and ingredients imported directly from Naples. Given the care with which the place has been prepared, I expect looks, quality and taste to be about the same at all branches. Salvatore Cuomo, as I said, delivers at home and his pizza is way better than any other you can have delivered, and cheaper too. A real deal.

All in all, a restaurant well worth periodic visits.

If you read Japanese, see the site’s link above. If you don’t, here are the phone numbers.

Kabuki-cho - 03-5342-5023
Shirogane – 03-5789-0071
Nishi Azabu – 03-5464-8080
Daikanyama – 03-5728-0071
Sangenjaya – 03-5431-0071
Yotsuya - 03-3341-1465
Nakano – 03-5342-3222
Ogikubo – 03-5335-6871
Kasai – 03-5667-0071
Urayasu – 047-316-6868
Nagatacho - 03-3500-5700
Dixi, December 2005