La Balmesina
Three friends from the Veneto opened La Balmesina to make a pizza deliberately outside Neapolitan orthodoxy: a sourdough base of three organic flours fermented a minimum of 50 hours (80 for the thicker pala romana format), with pH controlled to keep acidity down. It has been ranked among Europe's 50 best twice (32nd in 2021, 9th in 2024) and won Madrid Fusión's 2021 award for Spain's best pizza, with the wood-fired oven visible in the ground-floor kitchen as the restaurant's stated centrepiece.
Why it is here
Three friends from the Veneto opened La Balmesina to make a pizza deliberately outside Neapolitan orthodoxy: a sourdough base of three organic flours fermented a minimum of 50 hours (80 for the thicker pala romana format), with pH controlled to keep acidity down. It has been ranked among Europe's 50 best twice (32nd in 2021, 9th in 2024) and won Madrid Fusión's 2021 award for Spain's best pizza, with the wood-fired oven visible in the ground-floor kitchen as the restaurant's stated centrepiece.
What to order
Margarita, Margarita Balmes, Manel, Cuatro Quesos or Diavola — the five pizzas the menu keeps year-round; the pala romana in spelt dough