Taste of Italy in Valencia - Viva Napoli

It’s not always easy to find good Italian pizza wherever you go. There are even plenty of places in Italy that don’t have the best quality or taste (and certainly the prices can be a little inflated). And so I want to show you the second of my go-to Italian places in my home city of Valencia, the places I can go when I’m in the mood for a traditional pizza or pasta. The previous article about La Finestra in Rusafa showed you a super cosy and cute atmosphere with random selections of pizza. This article is all about traditional pizza cooked in a stone oven at Viva Napoli.

Traditional goodness

Although there is a million different ways to cook, decorate and top a pizza, and even the definition of pizza can be flexible, I think I can confidently say that at least for me, oven-baked pizzas are the best. I think a pizza cooked in a wood fired, stone oven produces that magical mix of crunchy and brittle crust with soft toppings and juicy pastry. Viva Napoli doesn’t disappoint, with beautifully cooked pizzas that look mouth-watering going into the oven, and come out even better.

Huge pizzas big enough to share

I’m in no way exaggerating when I say that four people can easily share one of their large pizzas. I don’t really know how they fit these pizzas into the relatively small oven, but whatever kind of Harry Potter magic they do, it’s working apparently.

I think you will already be jealous that this place is right next to my house (and right next to Malvarrosa Beach by the way), but I want to add to your misery just a little more. The pizza doesn’t just come in one style/flavour combination, but instead can be divided into four separate parts. The menu features mostly traditional Italian combinations, but you’ll also find some Spanish ingredients there to appeal to the local crowd.

It’s a fantastic opportunity both to try and enjoy traditional Italian pizzas, but also to have an incredibly social experience. One of the things I have noticed the most since moving to Spain, is the social nature of meals here. Often the table shares everything, and the mix of sharing, tasting, commenting and critiquing is a strong and lovely part of most meals here. The restaurant also serves some other Italian delicacies like cold meat platters, some pasta dishes and some pastries too. I didn’t try them, or at least I haven’t yet, so I can’t comment on how good they are, but if their pizza is anything to go by, the rest of their dishes will be great too. Viva Napoli has created these large pizzas to share, and brought the tapas experience to the pizza world. You can try four different pizzas in one go, all whilst sharing a meal with friends - what could be better?

Viva Napoli Pizza

Carrer de la Reina, 60, 46011 València, Valencia, Spain