Restaurant Review: Nicli Antica Pizzeria
NICLI ANTICA PIZZERIA
62 East Cordova Street ~ niclipizzeria.com Twitter: @NicliPizzeria ~ Instagram: @niclipizzeria Co-Diner: Tim Golem
I think that we can all agree that knowing where to find excellent pizza is key. (Key to life happiness.) You may have noticed that within the last ten years or so, Neapolitan pizza has exploded in Canada. This is the way that pizza is traditionally made in Italy, and relatively new compared to the North American way of making pizza. It’s delicious. And in Vancouver, specifically in Gastown, Nicli Antica Pizzeria is doing it the best. Voted #1 Best Pizzeria 2017 in The Georgia Straight’s annual poll, I had to check them out. Nicli Antica is VPN certified (Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana), which is what you want to look for when choosing your true Neapolitan pizza experiences. They were the first pizzeria in Vancouver to receive this certification. VPN ensures the protection of the tradition and that the correct process and products are being used.
A reservation isn’t a bad idea because they can get a bit lined up with walk-ins. We visited on a Friday evening and were promptly seated by the friendly staff. The space is deceiving; at first the room seems pretty small. But then you travel down a hallway and there is a much larger dining area in the back. The vibe is part rustic, with the ancient exposed brick, and part ultra-contemporary. Everything is gleaming white and very modern. The pièce de résistance is clearly their pizza oven, burning away with real wood inside. I decided to order a Nicli Soda, but unfortunately they were all out. Instead, I picked the Dickie’s Ginger Beer ($5.00).
Real ginger, cane sugar, fresh lemons.
This ginger beer was one of the best that I’ve had. It was refreshing and perfectly sharp thanks to the nicely balanced ginger. Sweet, tart, spicy. Very good.
The menu isn’t very complicated. They have salads and they have pizzas. (At Da Michele, considered the best, most authentic pizzeria in Naples (open since 1870), they only have two pizzas on the entire menu and that’s it. So it’s slightly more than that.) We figured that we would share a salad as well as a pizza. The Insalata Octavian sounded great but we couldn’t pass up the Insalata Panzanella e Tonno ($14.00).
Line caught albacore tuna conserva, fresh lemon juice, peperonata, fennel, capers, Leccino olives, bread, basil, EVOO.
The salad was served on a wooden board and the presentation was nothing short of appetizing. The main two ingredients of a panzanella salad are usually bread and tomato, and I really enjoyed this take on it. The large chunks of tuna were plentiful and tender, yet flaky. All of the vegetables were crisp, fresh, and bright. I enjoyed the saltiness from the capers and olives. The bread was just right, not quite as hard as a crouton. Really beautiful and flavourful!
Next was our all-important pizza! They have twelve pizzas to choose from, including the Napoletana and Diavola, which both sounded great. We went with the Prosciutto e Rucola ($21.00), which is a pretty good classic. (Of course they also have the two true classics as well; Marinara & Margherita.)
Pomodoro, grana padano, fior di latte, prosciutto di Parma, arugula.
I loved this pizza. Next to the pizza that we had in Naples, I think that this might be the best Neapolitan pizza that I’ve had. The secret really is the simple, high quality ingredients. And the crust - it needs to be something special, and this one was. This crust embodied the perfect chewiness without being soggy. The sauce was fresh, the cheese was fresh. The salty prosciutto was delicious with just the right amount of marbling. The peppery arugula brought even more green freshness. I could’ve eaten this entire pizza all to myself because it was perfect.
We also had dessert, the Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta ($7.00).
Seasonal fruit compote with citrus shortbread.
This was a perfect and light ending. I liked that they did a pumpkin spice compote on top, because what’s more seasonal than that?? The panna cotta was very good and the shortbread was a nice touch.
I should also note that we visited with our ten month old baby, and they couldn’t have been more accommodating. They have the nice high chairs and offered to make a small pasta dish for our baby to eat (which they brought out quickly). It was perfect and so appreciated. We loved our experience at Nicli Antica! The food was excellent and their prices are fair. You might not be able to make it to Naples, but thankfully you can make it here!