Is This the Best Pizza Restaurant in Cape Town?

So listen, if I’m being honest, I’ve missed quite a lot on the Cape Town foodie scene over the past few years. I moved to Joburg for three years and keeping up with the new restaurants opening in the City of Gold was tough enough, I wasn’t about to torture myself with all the goodness I was missing out on in Cape Town as well! So yes, I’m only just discovering the things some people have been raving about for ages. Enter Burrata. Why did no one tell me about this little piece of pizza heaven in Cape Town? There’s a reason their regulars say Burrata does the best pizza in Cape Town – it’s beyond delicious and oh-so-different from any other pizza you’re likely to eat in the Mother City. All I can say is; if you haven’t been there yet – go! Because you simply cannot continue on without trying a slice of Burrata magic soon.

Risotto Balls starter – Burrata Cape Town.

So what’s so magical about this little spot anyway? Located at the charming Old Biscuit Mill in Woodstock, Burrata isn’t like many pizza places you’ll visit in Cape Town. The owners, Barry and Neil, are beyond passionate about introducing Capetonians to a completely different kind of pizza (or should I say, pizza the way it should be?). Pizza where the base is king and the toppings merely its humble servant. That’s right, forget flavourless, burnt pizza bases so laden with toppings the base might as well be made of paper – at Burrata they’ve started a pizza revolution and we can’t help but scream; “Viva La Resistance, Viva!”

Instead of focusing on crispy based, cracker style pizzas, like most places in Cape Town, Burrata has opted to specialise in Neapolitan-style pizzas. If you’ve never had the joy of sampling a Neapolitan-style pizza before then this is the place to do it. This delicious style of pizza places a big emphasis on the flavour within the pizza base itself (sans toppings) and is made using dough containing only flour, water, salt, and yeast. As for what goes on top it’s got to be the finest tomatoes imported from Italy and the best quality mozzarella.

The pizza before it hits the oven – Burrata Cape Town.

To make their dough, Burrata uses double zero flour imported from Italy and they make sure that the dough sits for 48 hours before it’s used. This gives the dough time to develop loads of flavour and become more easily digestible for pizza lovers. Which means, no uncomfortable bloated feeling after a night of stuffing your face (yippee!) The pizza oven they use at Burrata is also all kinds of special – it was imported from Naples and is able to reach 480℃ and cook a pizza in less than 90 seconds! The result from all this hard work and careful planning is an incredibly delicious pizza with a puffy flame-blackened crust and light crispness. I got to watch co-owner Barry Engelbrecht in action while he rolled out the dough for our pizzas – if you’d like to see the correct way to roll out pizza dough then watch the man in action below.

Another thing I love about Burrata is that they love simplicity. Their pizzas are simple, with very few toppings, but that allows the flavour of the crust to burst through and work together with the flavours of the minimal toppings. Most places to tend to pile on the toppings so as to distract you from the fact that the base has zero flavour and the toppings are of a low quality, but not at Burrata. Here they only use the finest quality toppings for their pizzas and you can really taste the difference! I got the chance to sample a few pizzas from the menu and adored every single one. Props must go to the Diavolo (tomato base with mozzarella, chilli tomato base, chorizo, cherry tomatoes and parsley – R108), my favourite of the lot.

Diavolo pizza – Burrata Cape Town.

If you’re not into pizza then fear not because the supporting dishes don’t fall by the wayside at this joint – they also do pastas, salads, and a wide range of starters very well. For something wholesome try the Lasagne with spinach, grilled aubergine, leeks and semi dried tomatoes (R97) or the Pearl Barley Risotto with roasted plum tomato, nduja and celery spuma (R98).

For more information visit the Burrata website or say Hi to Burrata on Facebook. Find them at 375 Albert Road, The Old Biscuit Mill, Woodstock, Cape Town.