Mayhem and our quest for the best pizza in the world

We headed into Naples on a rickety old train. We were on a mission to find the best pizza in the world. Naples is the home of pizza after all, so we were confident.

Arriving in Naples was mind blowing. Nothing could have prepared us for the chaos that we would encounter. The Lonely Planet describes Naples as a ‘raucous hell-broth of a city…loud, anarchic, dirty and edgy.’

On each front, that is probably an understatement.  It was crazy. The traffic was like Paris on drugs. Crossing the street with the green man was a step in faith. It made us feel uneasy, but in an alive kind of way.

Back to the pizza.

Unlike the rest of our trip, we did our research. The consensus seemed to be that ‘Pizzeria da Michele’ was the best bet. After asking for directions four times, we finally arrived. It wasn’t much to look at – no frills, fancy signage or table cloths – but a throng of locals lining up to get in was surely a good sign.

After fifteen minutes we were seated. We quickly scoured the menu. Our options were simple: Margherita (tomato, olive oil, mozzarella and basil) or Marinara (tomato, olive oil, garlic and oregano). We ordered one of each.

We waited expectantly for our fabled EUR4 pizzas to arrive. The atmosphere in the pizzeria was making us hungry.

When our pizzas arrived we wasted no time digging in. The flavours were fresh, simple, well defined….and so so tasty.

Which leaves that obvious question …was this the best pizza in the world?

At first, we weren’t so sure. Back home neither of us would ever choose to order a Margherita, so it took us a while to adjust to the simple flavours. As we ate though, we quickly found ourselves enjoying every mouth full more and more. It was unlike any pizza we have ever eaten.

We have since had quite a few pizzas in Italy – and whilst all (bar one horrible exception) have been delicious - none have come close to this one.

So, we return to the question. It is probably too big a statement to say that this was the best pizza in the world – making such a call would require another trip around the world and a blog of its own. What we do know is that if ever find ourselves in Italy again we will be heading straight to loud, anarchic and dirty Naples and directly to Pizzeria da Michele.