It’s school holiday time and it’s always lovely to take the grandsons out for a treat. Today’s outing was a little last minute so we weren’t going to venture far. The family are coming and going a bit during the holidays and are briefly home for a few days. Looking at the weather forecast, I decided doing something today was a better bet than risking rain over the next few days, so when I popped in to see them this morning, I suggested coming back at midday and the boys and I going for a pizza in Kew and then a walk in Kew Gardens.

It was back in 2019 that I went to Santa Maria’s first pizzeria in Ealing (click here). Established in 2010 by Angelo and Pasquale, who come from Naples, it’s become well known for serving some of the best Neapolitan pizzas you will find in London. When I went to the Ealing branch, I was seriously impressed and so when I recently saw there was now a branch in Kew, I knew I had to go there. Currently there are just six branches in London, so you might have to travel a little to get to one, but let me assure you that it’s worth it!

With three small boys in tow (aged 4, 7 and 10), I decided it was wise to book, so I reserved a table for 12.45. As it turned out, I didn’t need to, but I think when you have a particular place in mind to eat, it’s a sensible thing to do. It was bright and attractive inside and a nice place to sit and enjoy a pizza.

Our table was ready for us and we settled down to look at the menu. There’s no kids’ menu and I suggested that we order two pizzas to share and then we could have a dessert after. There was a bit of a discussion about whether that would be enough but I’m pleased to say that when two huge pizzas arrived, it was agreed that I’d been right and one each would have been far too much. I let the two elder boys choose which pizzas we’d have and I also ordered some bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, plus a bowl of mixed olives.

The bread arrived with drinks. All the drinks were £3.50 each. Freddie, the eldest, had Limonata; Ben and Alex both had apple juice. I had a no-alcohol lager (£4.95). It was good to have these to tuck into while the pizzas were being cooked. The olives were particularly good.

Then the pizzas came. Cries (not too loud!) of ‘wow’ came from the boys. They thought they looked great. Freddie had chosen the Santa Caterina pizza: Tomato Sauce, Mozzarella Fiordilatte, Salami Napoli, Fresh Chilli & Parmesan (£12.95). He only took one bite before exclaiming it was the best pizza he’d ever had.

Ben had chosen the Santa Carmela pizza: Tomato Sauce, Mozzarella Fiordilatte, Cotto Ham, Mushrooms & Parmesan (£12.95). He was delighted with his choice too.

I cut each pizza into 8 pieces for us to share and although the two elder boys had more of the ones they’d chosen, they tried the other one too. Freddie declared they deserved 10 out of 10; Ben said 20 out of 20! Alex had a couple of pieces of the mushroom and ham one (he doesn’t like chilli) and I had some of both. They were excellent pizzas. Two was definitely enough, though. We even left two slices and the server offered to pack them up for us to take home, but I said, thank you, but we were going for a walk in Kew Gardens and I wouldn’t want to risk leaving them in a warm car. We didn’t leave much really … but it’s worth knowing they’ll package up leftovers if you want.

Of course you cannot take three young boys out to eat without letting them have dessert! And if you’ve had pizza, what would they want other than ice cream? I liked that Santa Maria offered prices for 1 scoop (£2.90), 2 scoops (£4.95) or 3 scoops (£6.50). The boys weren’t impressed when I suggested having one scoop so we settled on two, which as it turned out was a good choice. Freddie had chocolate and salted caramel; the other two boys had chocolate and strawberry. It was the quietest, calmest part of the meal while they ate their ice creams! I had an Affogato al Caffe (£6.50) – a scoop of vanilla ice cream with an expresso to pour over it. One of my favourite summer puds!

It was such a great meal out with the boys and brilliant pizza. Not as cheap as Franco Manca which has a great value kids’ menu, but definitely worth a treat from time to time.