After a hellish experience trying to get a pizza from The Red Bull in Newham this evening, I decided to try a place that had only been recommended to me the other day by one of our Cambridge Foodies – Franco Manca.

Franco Manca is a restaurant chain with dozens of locations across the country, all serving freshly made Napoli style sourdough pizzas. I am generally not a big fan of sourdough but I can eat it, so it was going to take a lot to win me over.

The restaurant is quite small downstairs but there was an upstairs with more seating I didn’t see. As I entered, I was proudly greeted by an open kitchen bustling away, which is always a reassuring sign of hygiene and quality.

I ordered myself a small glass of their house wine, something called ‘Nero d’Avola Tenute Normanno’. This is a Sicilian red wine with a bold dry flavour and an strong presence of dark fruit and berries. It was nothing out of the ordinary but served as a perfectly acceptable table wine.

Looking through the menu, there was a selection of 11 pizzas, including one vegan option. Prices were fair for central Cambridge, ranging from £6.95 for a tomato, garlic and herb, £9.90 for a margarita, and £13.25 for their most expensive, a wild mushroom and truffle.

Toppings hovered around £3, including upgrading the mozzarella to buffalo milk, so prices can rack up quickly, depending how specific you want it. Some pizza places will add buffalo mozzarella included in the price, so make sure you check this before you compare value.

The pizza that caught my eye was their signature “Franco’s Favourite”. This is made from Italian smoked beef, mozzarella, wild rocket, grana, capers, black peppers and lemon dressing.

The pizza came out in no time. It was visually stunning with a thin layer of smoked beef that covered almost the entirety of the pizza and gave off a beautiful pink colour.

The base has been proved (proofed) for 24 hours, which gives it a deep flavour and a robust fluffy texture. It was something I felt like I could really sink my teeth into.

As for my sourdough conundrum, the flavour was subtle and light, making it manageable for someone like myself who is generally not a big fan.

The capers also popped off the pizza with a striking flavour. Investigating this further, it turns out that they are sourced directly from Salina in southern Italy, an island well known for its capers.

The pizza was signed off with flakes of a hard cheese called grana. This worked well and brought the cheesiness of the pizza back to the centre stage, as the mozzarella was tucked under the smoked beef and somewhat forgotten under all the combined flavours of everything else. In other words, it was a well balanced pizza made by people who understand flavour.

Conclusion

I am thoroughly impressed by Franco’s. It just goes to show that you can get a quality pizza from a large chain restaurant. I am not generally a fan of sourdough pizza but Franco’s has truly won me over with their more subtle approach.

All the ingredients used this evening are quality and compliment each other perfectly in a balanced and nuanced way, while also adding a vibrant colour to the pizza. Everything looks and tastes beautiful from the moment you first lay eyes upon it, to the moment you finish.

Top marks!

The question is, which tier does it belong in my Cambridge pizza ranking?