Da Giuseppe is owned by, run by and even named after the chef that established La Pizza as the best pizza place in town. But while the menu here is identical to La Pizza’s and ingredients of high quality, we were hoping for better ambiance and food.

The décor hasn’t changed much since the location’s days as 66 North and then Budapest, except that now there’s a wall of large images of Italy. The clunky, wooden-backed chairs look good but are uncomfortable to sit on, and we wished there had been some background music.

The wine list offers a quite decent Italian selection, and lots of by-the-glass options, all for RMB40. The insalata rucola (RMB38) is just how we remember it from La Pizza, perfectly dressed and made with fresh, tasty ingredients. The arancini (RMB28) are big and well cooked, but lack seasoning. For RMB78, we’d have liked more cheese on our prosciutto e mozzaralla plate, but the ham is delicious.

Pizza is what we looked forward to most here, but the dough wasn’t as soft and flavorful as at La Pizza in years past—it still had a great crunch to it, but it was too dry and overly salty. The four seasons pizza (RMB88 for 33cm; RMB198 for 50cm), topped with mushrooms, ham, salami and basil, left us gasping for water. Thankfully the lasagna pizza (RMB98/208), topped with ham and ricotta, is much better. You can taste the love that’s gone into the tomato sauce, and the ricotta is also excellent.

Our food came quickly, but it was hard to get a server’s attention in the near empty restaurant. Da Giuseppe was still in “soft opening” on our visit, despite having been in business over a month, and we hope our experience reflects early kinks that will be soon resolved.

Our rating: 3/5 stars

DETAILS

What: Da Giuseppe

Where: 2/F, China View Bldg 6, 2 Gongti Donglu, 工体东路已2号中国红街大厦6号楼美林大厦

Tel: 151-0156-8183