Nicli Antica Pizzeria

 

 The owner Bill McCraig opened this pizzeria in Gastown in February 2011 and it's already a popular location for many pizza lovers.  My friends and I got to the pizzeria around 5: 50 and it was already packed and we had to wait about 20 minutes to get our seats. 

This picture was taken from the waiting area.  The brick oven was near the back of the restaurant and there was a bar near the front of the restaurant.  The bar doesn't have seats, so people who were waiting to get seated were just chilling around the bar area. 

 The Wood fired brick oven.

The pizza is cooked in 900ºF wood-fired oven for roughly 90 seconds. This creates a light and fluffy crust, flame blackened blisters and soft thin centre.  You have to eat it when it's warm because it will start to lose its distinct traits when it cools down.

The menu was very simple with only pizzas and insalate.

We decided to order a bottle of Sacchetto.  (First time ordering wine!! WOOT)

 I think it went really well with our pizzas... (but then I don't know much about wine :p)

pepper extra virgin olive oil & rosemary extra virgin olive oil

random fact-Pizza originated from Naples, Italy and it was apprently common among poorer areas!

-The pizza price ranged from $13-20 

-they are 27-30cm in diameter.

The one above was called Funghi $14

pomodoro, parmigiano, fior di latte, funghi, basil

pomodoro, parmigiante, funghi, basil

  Bianca $17

extra virgin olive oil, parmigiano, roasted garlic, roasted onion, 
oregano, gorgonzola

This was an interesting one... You have to really like gorgonzola cheese and garlic to like this pizza.  I've never tried gorgonzola cheese before but it reminded me of blue cheese..(I like old, strong flavoured cheese but I don't like blue cheese that much.) The flavours of roasted garlic and onion was good and gave this pizza a boost for sure.  I personally prefer a tomato base pizza.

Diavola $17

pomodoro, parmigiano, fior di latte, sopressatta (hot), parmigiano, basil, finished with chili oil

This is what I had and I was disappointed by the sopressatta.  It wasn't spicy at all...I was expecting a big kick of spicy flavour but it was pretty bland and not even salty.

 

Prosciutto Crudo $18

pomodoro, parmigiano, fior di latte, proscuitto cotto,basil, prosciutto crudo

This was my favourite!! <3 

The proscuitto made this pizza perfect.

 As you can see.. They don't cut the pizza for you so I spent most of my time slicing my pizza XD ..

"Fast cooking time:  The addition of sauce, cheese and other toppings creates a pizza center that is generally soft and moist.  This is a typical characteristic of authentic Neapolitan pizza.  Because of this, Napolitanas traditionally eat their pizzas uncut with a knife and fork, tear them apart manually and folded “libretto” style, please don’t be afraid to use your hands."  -directly from the Nicli website 

 busy busy!! When we were done eating, there were about 15 people waiting for tables!! Good thing we came early.

 Tiramisu $9 (EXPENSIVE!!!! )

I didn't eat this one but according to my friend.. the coffee flavour was extremely strong...  She prefers the tiramisu cake she ate at Trattoria. 

Gelato $6

There was really nothing special about this dessert.  

I think Nicli Antica Pizzeria is a great, trendy, new location to experience authentic Neopolitan pizza.  It's obviously very different from the Americanized pizza because of its thin crust and fresh ingredients (basil, real san marzano, good cheese). 

The price of the pizzas are quite pricy..but I think it's a fantastic location to visit if you want to try something new and have enough $$$ in your wallet XD.

 Nicli Antica Pizzeria

62 East Cordova, Vancouver

open 11:30am-Midnight

Happy long weekend everyone :)