The frontage of Carmela's, which looks just like a neighbourhood pizzeria in New York.
What can you tell us about Carmela's
You may have heard a lot of talk about New York-style pizzerias being a big thing in London right now. Carmela's is in that vein, although they have cast their net a little wider, calling themselves East Coast-inspired. What's particularly notable about this opening is who's involved. Firstly, there's Phil Chaykin, who's behind the ever-popular Ugly Dumpling in Carnaby. He's teamed up with Gerry del Guercio and Paul Delany who, until now, were best known for their Bite Twice Instagram/TikTok feed. That mainly focused on pizzerias, so Carmela's sees them firmly putting their money where their mouths are.
Where is it?
It's taken over a thin (but very long) building on Islington's Upper Street (about a 10-minute walk from either Highbury or Angel stations). For the best part of a decade, there's been a Nordic restaurant here, first Rok Smokehouse and for the past five years, Skal. So it's quite the shift, but one that's clearly working very well.
Inside, the structure of the place remains relatively unchanged from before, with the restaurant split into two main spaces. The front is all tiny alcoves and a great group table right by the window:
The front section of Carmela's, all alcoves and brickwork.
The room opens up a little more at the back and, due to the large skylight, is surprisingly light-filled. It's here where you'll see the chefs in action:
The back - a few larger tables, and looking into the kitchen.
Where's a good place to meet for a drink first?
Although there is a small bar area at Carmela's, it seats only four, so it's really a place to have a drink while waiting for a table to come free. Nearby, if you're after cocktails, Little Bat is your best bet. From a pub perspective, The Pocket has managed to bring life to a particular pub in a way that no one has for about a decade (it was The Four Sisters before this) and that's clearly the hottest pub in the area right now, with The Compton Arms nearby a close second.
So what's on the menu?
It's short and to the point - a few snacks/salads and then it's onto the main event. We'd suggest starting with a couple of the small plates (what we had below was perfect) while you're deliberating over the pizzas. You can have them as sides to the main event, but we think separate is the way to go.
Tomato Tonnato - heritage tomatoes, capers, shallots, tuna and anchovy dressing (£9) - Anything tonnato is a trigger dish for us and this was a fantastic twist, with those tomatoes provided by Rushton's. That dressing is also available as a crust dipper.
Charcuterie duo - capocollo & salame finocchiona (£6) - also works very well with that tonnato sauce, if you're inclined to experiment.
Then it's onto the pizzas themselves. They follow the usual NYC-style influence - a crisp, foldable base topped with ingredients from both local and Italian suppliers. As Gerry and Paul are so well known for their pizza videos, this is the one part that has to go perfectly - and thankfully it does. These are truly excellent pizzas, with perfectly crispy bases and not overloaded with any ingredients that would make them, for lack of a better word, soggy. Having tried most of the pizzas in Islington (this is home turf for us, after all), this is right up there and may well be the very best in the borough right now.
The choices are fairly traditional but with a few twists. So there's the Cheese (tomato, mozzerella blend, pecorino, basil, £14) and the Tomato (Tomato, fresh garlic, pecorino and basil), while moving away from the more traditional, they seem quite proud of their white pizza with ricotta, cheese blend, courgette and mint (£15). As for us, here's what we had and we'd highly recommend either of them:
The Vodka - house vodka sauce, fresh mozzarella, chives (£15) - an absolute pitch-perfect vodka sauce pizza.
The Pep - Tomato, aged mozzarella, basil, pepperoni, hot maple drizzle (£16) - the hot maple is excellent and a little extra on the side doesn't go amiss.
There are dips for your crusts, too. We tried four of these and the ones we'd strongly recommend are the house vodka dip, the excellent Calabrian chilli ricotta (both £3) or an extra pot of their hot maple (£2), which you can also use to drizzle on any pizza that you want to give an additional kick to.
What about dessert?
There's just the one, and because of that, it - of course - has to be tiramisu:
House tiramisu (£6) - leans away from the coffee taste into a more creamy take, which is our preference, frankly.
What about drinks?
There's a short list on the flipside of the menu of beers, cider, wines and house cocktails. The latter are around the £12-14 mark, and while you'll get classics like a negroni, there's mainly an American slant, as with the Harlem Old Fashioned (spiced rum, maple, bitters, orange zest). Wines are a combination of Italian and American, with the entry point being a pretty reasonable £33, although you can pick up a bottle of Washington State Syrah for £49.
On the no-alcohol front, it's Menabrea beer and softs, including Italian soda.
Overall thoughts
Ever since we saw the eye-catching design of the front of Carmelas, we've been very intrigued as to what was planned here. With a great team, expectations were high and well and truly met. They're serving fantastic pizzas in a lovely, welcoming space and it's clearly been a hit right out of the gate. A must-visit for locals, and frankly well worth a trip across town for any pizza aficionado.
More about Carmela's
Where is it? 149A Upper St, London N1 1RA
How to book: Book online
Find out more: Visit their website or follow them on Instagram @carmelaspizzeria.
Hot Dinners ate as guests of Carmela's. Prices are correct at the time of writing.
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