168SLA Pizza, Peckham
A new pizza place has opened up on Bellenden Road, the ‘posh bit’ of Peckham. Yes, there is a posh bit. It’s in the spot that housed the once popular Bellenden Brasserie which apparently went downhill and eventually closed as a result. 168SLA Pizza hasn’t been open long and when we approached on a Thursday evening it was mostly empty save for a table of three and a nervous looking owner pacing around inside.
I was relieved to find that they make one thing only: pizza. I defaulted to my favourite toppings of anchovy and capers. I also ordered a green salad, not to make myself feel healthier but because I genuinely enjoy a green salad with my pizza. Apparently this is hard for some people to understand. Anyway. The pizza was actually pretty good. A decent base – not too thin, nor thick. Mine could have done with a bit more char but my companion’s was perfect and come on, they’ve just opened. Toppings were good quality, well judged in quantity and the tomato sauce and cheese melded into a very silky, almost liquid layer like it does on all the best pizzas.
That said, I can’t avoid mentioning the side salad, which was diabolical. A few supermarket leaves, half of them doused in a bottle dressing and half of them completely dry. This upset me. Just wash a lettuce, cut it up, make a decent dressing and coat the leaves with it. Please.
There has also been criticism from the ever eagle-eyed users of the East Dulwich Forum about the interior; mainly they consider it too bare and well, it is. At first our voices echoed – it felt like a hurriedly half-finished refurbishment and I became self-conscious. Later though it started filling up and with it came more atmosphere. I hope that once they’ve found their feet the place develops a little more character – they’ll need to cosy things up for the winter months. Despite those grumbles, I hope they do well. It’s clear they care about the pizza, they just need to care a little more about everything else.
168SLA Pizza
168 Bellenden Road
London
SE15 4BW
Opening hours:
Mon-Fri: 6.30pm-11.30pm
Saturday: 12pm-12am (last orders 11pm)
Sunday: 12pm-11pm
At the time I visited they were only able to take payment in cash, so bear this in mind if you’re planning to visit.
Category: Peckham, Pizza, Restaurant Crawls | Tags: 168SLA Pizza, Bellenden Brasserie, Bellenden Road, Pizza Peckham 20 comments »
November 11th, 2010 at 10:07 am
It’s rare to find a place that can dress a salad decently, or even to use interesting leaves, but the pizza looks great at least.
Bit of an odd name, no?
November 11th, 2010 at 12:56 pm
It’s at 168 Bellenden Rd. As for the SLA, I dunno. South London….ummmmm
November 11th, 2010 at 12:58 pm
168 South London… Amazing pizza? No idea.
November 11th, 2010 at 1:15 pm
Walked past it on Saturday to have a nose at the new pub opposite but didn’t realised it had changed too. Haven’t been to the Actress yet, which pizza to sample first do you think?
November 11th, 2010 at 1:21 pm
Pete – yeah, the new pub opposite, The Victoria, is run by the same people as The Actress. I have no idea what they have on at The Actress to be honest. When we went is was all experiemental and they hadn’t opened yet. You’ll have to wing it!
November 11th, 2010 at 1:26 pm
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November 11th, 2010 at 9:20 pm
Hey
I think the pizza at the Actress is good. This place sounds interesting. I agree odd name. It doesnt roll off the tongue does it.
Shona
November 15th, 2010 at 8:40 pm
You are so right about salads. It’s amazing how many restaurants really let themselves down on one of the most simple things ever.
Great post.
November 20th, 2010 at 7:19 pm
After a few random conversations with staff members we’ve got to the bottom of the name game and it relates to a poster on the back wall of the resturant. It’s a poster of Sophia Loren and, in particular, her ass. Therefore it’s the street number followed by SLA – Sophia Loren’s Ass. Mystery solved.
November 24th, 2010 at 1:23 pm
I’m a big fan of good pizza (having decided to move from SE15 to Italy as soon as we have the house built!) so will be interested to see how this matches up to our local in Le Marche
Not tried the Actress yet either – and have heard again that the pizza’s are good but the interior is a little… erm… overwhelming.
Thanks for the review Helen!
December 5th, 2010 at 6:44 pm
I think the name is slightly odd and the place is quite bare. Apart from that the pizza’s are good and staff are friendly. My only gripe is the price of the drinks. A coke costs £3.50!! Scandalous.
April 5th, 2011 at 9:43 pm
Hey Helen. Went there tonight – two things:
1) the coke is £2.50. It’s a restaurant, they have to make a living, it’s ok. Peroni is £3.50, no more than a pub.
2) Salad – I could see Doni the young Italian waiter lovingly dressing it by hand in a big metal bowl. So they may well have read your comments, who knows.
Otherwise, very good pizza, not very busy (a Tuesday night after all) so can’t really comment on atmosphere but I liked the grungy/designey deco. Some nice touches. Service was quick (6 covers to serve in the whole room, so not necessarily representative) and very friendly. £24 for 2 good pizzas, 2 drinks and a decent espresso. We’ll go back.
April 6th, 2011 at 7:58 am
Hi Apples – Really glad you liked it. The atmosphere problem has totally vanished now that the weather has brightened up a bit too. In the dead of winter it seemed really bare but I went past the other evening and the doors were flung open onto the street, it looked lovely. I’m thinking of going back this weekend. Excellent news about the salad! Hopefully it was just a mistake.
May 18th, 2011 at 6:55 pm
you should send a lefleat of what you have to offer to my house …..
August 18th, 2011 at 2:15 pm
This is a great pizza place. The SLA stands for Sophia Loren’s Arse (no joke).
January 31st, 2012 at 9:08 pm
The name means 168 as the street and SLA means sophia loren’s ass
My dad owns the place!!!!
March 4th, 2012 at 2:47 pm
HI – is SLA still trading? I’ve been down twice recently, both times on a Sunday, and found it all chained up – above indicates it should be open….?
March 4th, 2012 at 3:17 pm
Hi Al, I’m afraid I don’t know as I haven’t been down myself in a while. Will endeavour to find out.
March 4th, 2012 at 3:25 pm
I just asked on Twitter and the Victoria pub (opposite) said they’ve been closed for a couple of weeks now.
July 19th, 2012 at 10:16 pm
Nooooooo that’s terrible! i’ve been raving about it since I went last year. I thought they were SO good and it’s the only place I could think of recommending on a food blog!