There’s a new eatery in town! Rossopomodoro opened shop in John Lewis, Eldon Square in early October and I was invited to pop along and check out their menu. Rossopomodoro have a few restaurants in the U.K but lots more in Italy, I’d heard the name but have never eaten at one. With the promise of chefs from Neapolitan pizzaioli families making dishes using ingredients sourced from the Napoli region, I was excited about my trip. So on a dreary Wednesday evening off we went!

Set in the middle of womenswear on the first floor, there are signs pointing you in the right direction. Despite this, I made my way up to lighting and had to traipse back downstairs. Stupid. It’s in the same place as the Brasserie used to be, overlooking Eldon Square. The decor is great, lots of white, very bright (perfect for taking pictures) and some lovely Italian themed prints hanging on the walls… The first thing I noticed was the huge wood burning pizza oven, it’s impossible to miss really… it’s massive and golden! Pretty eh.

There were a few other diners in when we arrived just before 6pm, and we got a nice table overlooking Eldon Square (where the escalators down to Waitrose etc are). We weren’t taken by the non-comfy chairs, but I quickly forgot about that as I tried to decide what I wanted to order.

I went with the Calamaro (fried calamari, courgettes, lemon dressing. £8.95) to start, my friend chose the Polpette (pork meatballs, amatriciana sauce, onion, bacon, tomato, chilli. £5.95).

My first impression of the Calamaro was a bit disappointing if I’m honest, not as crispy as I’d like and not as seasoned as I was expecting. My second bite (with the lemon dressing this time) was much better. There was a lot on the plate so I ended up leaving some. I enjoyed it, especially the courgette, but would try something else from the menu next time. My friend said the Polpette was delicious. It looked great, I’d like to eat it right now.

I already knew I was going to choose from the Gourmet Neapolitan pizza section for my main course, I picked the Cornucopia (buffalo ricotta, mozzarella, ham, Neapolitan salami; baby spinach, mozzarella, crispy pancetta; tomato, mozzarella, spicy spianata salami. £13.95) and my friend chose the Fru Fru pizza from the same section (buffalo ricotta, mozzarella, spicy nduja, smoked mozzarella, Italian plum tomato sauce, black pepper; pork & fennel sausage, friarielli, smoked mozzarella. £13.95)

Here’s a little fact for you about Neapolitan pizza…It’s different to other pizzas because it’s got a charred crust and a soft juicy centre – this is why Neapolitans use a knife and fork (and not their fingers) when eating it.

My pizza was delicious, although as you can see from the photo, the pancetta isn’t particularly crispy. I much preferred the salami topped side. The tomato sauce was delicious and i loved the juicy centre, it’s all about the topping for me and this was really tasty. I can never finish a full pizza, but I gave this a pretty good go and only left a bit (I ate all of the salami bit).

I was quite full by this point but I’d taken a walk to the end of the restaurant to take some photos and saw a few of the desserts on offer so of course ordered something…

My friend chose the Delizia al Limone (£7.95) and I chose the Tiramisù (£6.95) which I wouldn’t normally pick, but this was filled with Nutella cream. It did not disappoint, I mean, Nutella cream… I’d 100% pick this again. I had a taste of the Delizia al Limone (which was my 2nd choice btw) and was momentarily jealous that I hadn’t ordered it, it was so light and lemony – great food descriptions from me there! 

We both enjoyed our meals and found the staff very attentive, friendly and helpful (explaining what the green vegetable was on my friend’s pizza for example. Friarielli was the answer. Neapolitan broccoli). The atmosphere was lovely; relaxed and very informal. Service was much quicker than I’d imagined too. We’d polished off 3 courses in less than 1.5 hours (this included all the time I took snapping pictures and wandering around).

It’s not that often I fancy Italian food/pizza and when I do I usually head to Slice at the Grainger Market for a quick bite of pizza if I’m in town, but Rossopomodoro is somewhere I’ll go back to especially if I’m out shopping. Next time I think I’ll be trying the Carbonara e Nduja (rigatoni, spicy carbonara with eggs, nduja, pancetta, mascarpone, aged ricotta shavings. £10.95). I think this place is going to be very popular, although at the moment I’m not sure how many people know it’s there, it’s only been open a month so there’s plenty of time! We saw lots of couples hovering around outside looking at the menu, so I’m sure word will spread soon.

Have you been in yet? Tell me what you thought!

*Dinner was complimentary for review purposes. Honest review as always*