Strength: Fresh Authentic Naple Cuisine
Weakness: Small street, limited parking, and always line up in front
Via Tevere Pizzeria Napoletana is an authentic Neapolitan pizza restaurant in the middle of a residential area. They don’t have their own parking spot, and street parking is a little hard to find. They are located in an older part of town. The streets are very narrow, about 3 car width. It can only accommodate parking on both sides leaving one car pass through. Via Tevere Pizzeria Napoletana is located on Victoria Drive near Parker Street.
The exterior is modest but always line up
The exterior of Via Tevere Pizzeria Napoletana looks very low-key. If it wasn’t the line-up at the front, I probably would have missed it when I drive by.
Simple interior space with atmosphere
The interior space is very simple. A central hearth in the middle with the oven. A small bar to the left of the entrance. The rest are seating. There are lots of people enjoying the food with the company of their friends. It’s such a cozy place that reminds me of Europe.
Three-men pizza station
There are only 3 people making pizza. The division of labour is very clear. One work on the dough, the other put on the toppings, and the last guy takes care of the baking. They work together flawlessly. I think they can dish out a pizza from scratch within 3 minutes.
Meat Ball
Polpette della Nonna, a.k.a. meatballs, are $3.50 each. The meatball sits in the pool of tomato sauce. The Parmigiano-Reggiano powder was soaked with tomato sauce. Sliced basil was added for the color and complementing flavour. Parmigiano-Reggiano powder was very flavourful. The acidity of the tomato sauce works really well with it. The basil was also packed with flavour. I mean, it just tastes like basil, but it was richer than normal.
I cut it in the middle to see the inside. It was sturdy to the cut and did not crumble. This is a good indication of starch acting as glue. The fat/lean meat ratio was slightly on the lean side, but I saw a bit of juice flow out right when I cut it. The amount of starch was just right. The meatball wasn’t too tight, yet you can still crumble them with just a little more force.
Neapolitan Margherita Pizza with Salame
Margherita pizza is my favorite Neapolitan pizza. If we see the process of making pizza as the merging of art and science, then Margherita is at Neapolitan pizza’s purest form. I don’t normally get it with salami, but the pizza was still pretty good with it.
I like how every ingredient is fresh. Their distinct taste becomes very prominent. The acidity of tomato sauce laid the base of a good pizza. It’s not overly sour to dominate other ingredients, but it’s a taste that’s always there to give the other tastes a lift. You can pay attention to the fresh basil, and then indulge in the salami’s saltiness with the more laid back mozzarella taste. You can also take a bite and let all these flavour merge and complement each other. A well made Margherita Pizza is simple but never boring.
The crust was airy and sturdy. The slight burn marks all around is a good indicator that this pizza is carefully monitored during the cooking process. Turns out, this pizza is perfectly cooked. The dough at the bottom was less than 2mm in thickness. Also, it has an even thickness. There were no unpleasant surprises with too much dough. I have had instances with Neopolitan pizza where my jaw got tired halfway through a pizza. Via Tevere’s dough was sturdy, but easy on the jaw.
Hot Chili Pepper infused Extra Virgin Olive Oil
I did use the Extra Virgin Olive Oil with hot chili pepper sauce on the Pizza. They are not too spicy and did not overpower the pizza’s flavour.
Daily Pasta at market price
The daily pasta was Penne with vodka tomato cream for $15. They use san marzano tomato and you can definitely taste the difference. The penne was cooked perfectly with a bit of feedback to the bite.
Deep-Fried Donuts with Nutella
This is my first time trying a proper deep-fried doughnut coated with granular sugar and Nutella drizzle. The granular sugar combined with Nutella has an interesting texture. Sugar was half-melted in the Nutella. I could feel them crush under my teeth.
The donuts were not too sweet even with the Nutella and sugar on them. It didn’t have too much sweetener added. The shell was crispy, but the interior was very fluffy. This increases the difficulty of doing a clean cut because the pressure from the knife cutting is enough to crush the donut. However, it will puff back up though. The exterior of the donut looks brown, but they are not burnt.
604 Food Critic Assessment
This was my first-time trying Via Tevere Pizzeria Napoletana. This authentic Naples cuisine is probably already known to a lot of people, but I felt like I found a hidden gem. The cost per person is $25 without alcohol. For a carb-heavy meal, this is a little expensive. However, I think their price point is quite affordable compared to other similar restaurants. For me, their simple and fresh ingredient really shined. I would recommend this restaurant to foodies who are ready to step out of their comfort zone of New York Style pizza and try something more authentic to pizza’s origin.
Menu
Hours
How to get in touch
- Phone: (604) 336-1803
- Address: 1190 Victoria Dr, Vancouver
