Rudy's Neapolitan Pizza review Queensway Notting Hill

From cardboardy frozen offerings, to the stodginess of early restaurant chains, the simple combination of dough with cheese and toppings has mercifully evolved in recent years.

Instead of dumbing down to bland British palates, we've been happily introduced to authentic Italian ingredients and flavour combinations - and the wonder of slow-fermented doughs crisped in wood-fired ovens.

Rudy's dough is made fresh daily, fermented for at least 24 hours and takes just 60 seconds to cook (Image: Rudy's)

There's no better place to see the old guard passing out to the new than a few hundred metres north of Kensington Gardens in Queensway.

Pizza Hut's red and white livery has been exchanged for Rudy's Neapolitan Pizza's cooler, stripped-back look of mismatched tables, chalk board menus, hanging plants, and unpainted wood.

It's not just the aesthetic that has changed. Since opening their first pizzeria in Manchester in 2015, founders Kate and Jim Morgan have spent years honing the perfect, light, classic Neapolitan pizza.

A delicious starter of meats, cheese, bread and tomatoes at Rudy's (Image: Rudy's Neapolitan Pizza)

Add in craft beers, spritzes, fruity cocktails, and quality toppings, and the chain has hit a nerve with the pizza-loving public.

This North West phenomenon is moving south with pizzerias in Shoreditch Soho, Spitalfields, Tottenham Court Road, Soho and now the edge of Notting Hill.

On a Sunday afternoon, a day after opening, the place was packed and buzzing with hungry diners being handled with ease by attentive, friendly staff.

The simple joy of tasty light chewy dough sweet fresh tomatoes and quality mozzarella takes the Margherita to the next level (Image: Rudy's Neapolitan Pizza)

The menu is simple - the only complication is which delicious combo you will choose to top your light, chewy crust. Good value Pizzas range from £8.40 for a marinara to £13.90 for a triple pepperoni with burrata heart - with daily specials too.

Starters are olives or garlic bread - or like us you can share a Campana plate with peppery rocket, spicy cured meats, intense, oven dried tomatoes and slices of olive oil-drizzled mozzarella.

It was a palate pleaser that set us up well for our pizzas.

Don't miss out on one of Rudy's spritzes, mocktails or cocktails (Image: Rudy's)

Rudy's dough takes 24 hours to ferment and just 60 seconds to cook in a red hot oven, and is a great flavour base for the simplest of sauces made from sweet San Marzano tomatoes topped with buffala mozzarella and basil.

It takes the Margherita to the next level: "5 out of 5 stars" declared my 12-year-old, between mouthfuls.

My Salsiccia of chilli and fennel-spiked sausage with caramelised red onions and basil was a flavour explosion of salty-spicy meat and sweet onions.

It was nicely offset by one of Rudy's fruity cocktails; a Blood Orangecello Mimosa (£8.20) hit the right balance between sweet, sour, refreshing and alcoholic, while the alcohol-free Pesca Mandarina (£4.80) was a gorgeous combination of peach and tangerine syrups with soda and lemonade.

Desserts are also simple and delicious; Rum Baba, Tiramisu, or warm melting white-chocolate-flecked brownie paired with creamy Di Sotto's gelato.

Funnily enough, West Londoners didn't seem to be weeping nostalgically for the pizzas of their youth - they were too busy embracing the joy of the new.

Rudy's Neapolitan Pizza is at 103, Queensway, W11.