I’ve written about Santa Maria before: my first visit to the Ealing branch in 2019 and to the Kew branch earlier this year. But when I took the grandsons to Kew in July, there was no kids’ menu … then last Monday, my son suggested we all went to Kew Gardens for a walk in the morning and to Santa Maria for lunch. And this time a kids’ menu appeared. And it was a brilliant deal, so I’m writing about this pizzeria again.
It was a perfect winter morning for a walk in one of the world’s most famous and beautiful botanical gardens. The sun was shining in a clear blue sky. It was a bit chilly but we were well wrapped up. The adults bought coffee in the cafe on the way in to carry round and then we set off, with the boys running off into the gardens in front of us, full of glee and excitement. Perhaps because it was so close to Christmas, it was fairly quiet, so a lovely peaceful start to the day. And the boys ran off a lot of energy and built up a good appetite for lunch.
Just a short walk from Kew Gardens, the pizzeria is right by Kew Gardens station. It’s a bright, lively place inside and ideal for lunch with young children in tow.
The three boys were given the kids’ menu and some colouring paper and pencils. At just £6.95 for drink, pizza and ice cream, it’s one of the best value kids’ menus I’ve come across.
Freddie, 10, nearly 11, is almost past the ‘kids’ menu’ stage and was worried that a ‘kid’s pizza’ would be too small. It turned out that the kids’ pizzas were just the same size as the adults’ and all three boys tucked into them enthusiastically (Freddie’s own photo of his pizza just below). The two elder boys finished theirs but the youngest, Alex (a few days off being 5) couldn’t manage it all, so the rest of his pizza was kindly boxed up for him to take home.
I chose a San Rocco pizza (£14.50) with tomato sauce, oven roasted aubergines, wild rocket, burrata Pugliese & Parmesan shavings. It was gorgeous.
My son chose a spicier pizza – Sandro Vitale: tomato sauce, mozzarella ffiordilatte, pepperoni, caramelised onions, chilli flakes & Parmesan. He declared it perhaps the best pizza he’d ever had. Which is strong stuff from my foodie son, but shows how good Santa Maria’s pizzas are.
The three adults had non-alcoholic Lucky Saint beers and I also had an espresso at the end. I missed getting a photo of the boys’ ice creams – but they did have them! The final bill with service was £94 which was good value for six people. And how wonderful to live so close to Kew Gardens and have great Neopolitan pizza on its doorstep!
