Pretoria restaurant Villa Portuguesa aiming to grab title of SA’s favourite pizzas
It’s not only Italian-themed restaurants and pizzerias that have entered this year’s Porcupine Ridge Pizzeria Challenge, but a host of other eateries from pubs and grills to Mexican, Portuguese and Mediterranean-themed outlets.
One such venue is Villa Portuguesa: Restaurant & Grill, a favourite amongst local pizza lovers and visitors to Pretoria.
Based at Zambezi Junction, Montana Park in the capital city, the restaurant describes itself as having “a unique themed Southern European cuisine and its menu includes favourites such as pregos, schnitzel burgers and fish and chips. But it is for their pizzas that most of their regular customers return for time and time again.
So what’s the secret to making a good pizza? We spoke to owner Maria Da Silva to find out more.
How/when did Villa Portuguesa come about?
Villa Portuguesa was a long, ongoing discussion my fiancé Fabricio (Macedo) and I had every time we sat down for lunch or dinner. He grew up in the restaurant industry and joined his first franchise at the age of 22, but now that we are both closer to 40, we felt we did not want to be part of a franchise group, but rather run the restaurant our way and serve what we wanted to serve – the type of food we would make for ourselves at home. We didn’t want to be limited to offering only traditional Portuguese cuisine but rather create food that we like making and eating and that our friends and family enjoy too.
Tell us a bit about your menu and what makes your pizzas so popular?
We have a range of traditional and nontraditional foods; we try to have something unique for everyone. We have the traditional Portuguese dishes from caldo verde to pregos, peri- peri chicken and pastéis de nata, but for those that prefer to stick to what they know, we also offer great pizzas and burgers. Our pizzas are cooked in a wood-fired oven, which not only adds a distinctive smoky flavour, but also gives them that perfect crust with a delightful texture.
Tell us about the ingredients you use?
We use only the freshest and highest-quality ingredients, including locally sourced produce, premium cheeses and authentic sauces, all of which enhance the overall flavour. We also offer a wide range of toppings allowing customers to create their perfect pizza tailored to their tastes. Most importantly we make our dough fresh and daily.
What is your signature pizza or best-seller?
The Lisbon is our signature pizza. The base is freshly made pizza dough, smothered with a fabulous, homemade Napolitana sauce, topped with good quality mozzarella, salami, barbecue chicken, onion, green pepper and garlic. The combination of colour, flavour and texture from the different ingredients is like a symphony of musical instruments in your mouth!
What’s better, a thin crust or a thick crust?
We love a thin base as it keeps the pizza light, and the ingredients don’t get lost.
What is your favourite pizza topping?
Mince, pepperoni and mozzarella
Is there anything that should never be on a pizza?
No, anything and everything goes. We’ve added chicken wings and even pork ribs to a pizza and it was not bad at all.
What wine do you prefer to drink when eating a pizza?
The Porcupine Ridge Rosé for basic pizzas and the Porcupine Ridge Syrah goes really well with the more meaty pizzas.
Do you currently have any special offers?
Yes! Customers can get two medium vintage pizzas for R139 and there are also weekly specials that can be found on our Facebook (@Villa Portuguesa), Instagram (@villaportuguesavp) and TikTok (@villa.portuguesa) pages.
Now in its fourth year, the Porcupine Ridge Pizzeria Challenge sees the public voting for their favourite local pizzeria via a dedicated website: https://votepizza.wine/. The restaurant with the most votes will be crowned South Africa’s favourite pizzeria, picking up the ultimate bragging rights as well as wine and marketing collateral to the value of R40 000. A new introduction this year, sees additional prizes for all of the top 10 restaurants, each of which receive R1,800 in vouchers plus three cases of wine to award to their top, Porcupine Ridge-selling servers.
In addition, consumers, voting for their favourite venue, can win a weekly prize of six bottles of Porcupine Ridge wines and an EarthFire pizza accessories, with one lucky voter selected Grand Prize Winner at the end of the competition and receiving an EarthFire Tabletop Pizza Oven, pizza for a year from their favourite pizzeria (to the value of R2 000) and five cases of Porcupine Ridge Wines, for a combined value of R10 000.
The competition kicked off on September 1 with the last day of voting being October 31 and the top 10 announced in mid-November.
Villa Portuguesa: Restaurant & Grill is located at Shop 31, Zambezi Junction, Montana, Pretoria. For bookings, telephone 076 192 3628. It is open seven days a week.
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