トラットリアピッツェリア polipo

To start off the opening of this review, polipo highly exceeded our expectations and we love it so much that we are missing the food dearly now. Before the trip I have researched the food places we wanted to try, and I do know polipo is one of the best and authentic Neapolitan restaurant in Hiroshima. Chef is Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana (AVPN) certified also, that should tells you a bit about his pizza baseline before even dining there. (Of course the restaurant uses a wood-fired oven)

We went to polipo 3 times during our stay of 9 days in Hiroshima (but actual only 5 full days in Hiroshima downtown, the rest we were doing day trips out of Hiroshima). We almost went 5 times if allowed to; 1 time it was full house during dinner time, and 1 time we just can’t make the lunch timing as we need to take the Shinkansen to Kumamoto for our next leg of the trip.

Backstory on why we like it so much - because it is so good and we don’t get to eat such authentic and delicious Neapolitan pizza and pasta in Singapore (especially at this price point).

**Cute rustic plate**
トラットリアピッツェリア polipo

**Close up on the crust**
トラットリアピッツェリア polipo

**Close up on the buffalo cheese and tomatoes**
トラットリアピッツェリア polipo

Margherita DOC (¥2750)

Buffalo Mozzarella, tomatoes, and basil.

Margherita is always a must order whenever we go to a pizza restaurant to see the chef’s skills, so on our first visit we ordered the Margherita DOC and Pere pizzas to try. Was really keenly anticipating the pizza after ordering it!

Crust: Nice browning overall with some black charred spots.

Dough: When we first bite into it, we already knew the chef has some serious chops. The dough texture was chewy, taste was flavourful (exact amount of sea salt and good making of dough), can really eat it all day.

Pizza: Buffalo cheese DOC as expected really good, creamy and milky. Tomatoes are sweet and rich, I will garner a guess the tomatoes are either San Marzano or San Marzano breed grown in Japan?

Overall: Really a great all round pizza with great cheese, tomatoes, crust, dough, and basil to round up the flavours.

Rating: 4/5

**Close up on the pear and 4 cheeses (quattro formaggi)**
トラットリアピッツェリア polipo

Pere (¥2750)

Pear, honey, and 4 cheeses (quattro formaggi).

Crust: Nice browning overall with some black charred spots.

Dough: When we first bite into it, we already knew the chef has some serious chops. The dough texture was chewy, taste was flavourful (exact amount of sea salt and good making of dough), can really eat it all day.
(The “dough” section will be copy and paste for all pizzas reviewed here, cause chef is very consistent with it.)

Pizza: Quattro formaggi is nice with the different cheeses giving different dimension of flavours, and surprisingly work well and overall harmony with the sweeter ingredients of pear and honey.

Overall: Quite a different pizza from what are available to us normally, a pizza that is a combination refreshing from the sweet pear and honey with the savoury from the quattro formaggi.

Rating: 3.75/5

**Margherita Extra**
トラットリアピッツェリア polipo

**Close up on the crushed tomato**
トラットリアピッツェリア polipo

Margherita Extra (¥2640)

Buffalo Mozzarella, tomato sauce, tomatoes, and basil.

We love the Margherita DOC from our 1st visit, so we tried the Margherita Extra (with the tomato sauce version but no DOC cheese) on our 2nd visit.

Crust: Nice browning overall (with a higher degree or browning compared to the first visit) with some black charred spots.
Although I’m not sure what when wrong with the shape of the pizza, is it intentional or an accident? But I cannot fathom that the chef with such skills will make such a mistake. Anyone who is well versed in Neapolitan pizza or pizza in general, please comment down below on this.

Dough: When we first bite into it, we already knew the chef has some serious chops. The dough texture was chewy, taste was flavourful (exact amount of sea salt and good making of dough), can really eat it all day.
(The “dough” section will be copy and paste for all pizzas reviewed here, cause chef is very consistent with it.)

Pizza: Tomato sauce refreshing and sweet, with the savoury buffalo mozzarella cheese always great. I will still garner a guess the tomatoes are either San Marzano or San Marzano breed grown in Japan?

Overall: Really a great all round pizza with great cheese, tomatoes, tomato sauce, crust, dough, and basil to round up the flavours. In a sense, we feel that this is a “lighter” version compared to Margherita DOC as with the inclusion of tomato sauce, it will be able to cut through more of the savoury part.

The Margherita DOC focuses more on the quality and characteristics of the DOC buffalo cheese, whereas the Margherita Extra focuses more on the tomato sauce and tomatoes. Both are equally great, the missus and I can’t decide we like which one better as both of the pizzas are that exceptional, really depends on that day’s feeling and mood.

Rating: 4/5

**Salsiccia e Friarielli**
トラットリアピッツェリア polipo

**Close up on the sausage, friarielli and smoked mozzarella cheese**
トラットリアピッツェリア polipo

Salsiccia e Friarielli (¥2640)

Homemade sausages, Neapolitan greens, smoked mozzarella

This pizza we are not familiar with at all, so as a foodie we always need to explore and try new food, so here we are. From what I researched post-visit, this pizza also is one of the classic traditional Neapolitan pizza.

Crust: Nice browning overall but not much black charred spots.

Dough: When we first bite into it, we already knew the chef has some serious chops. The dough texture was chewy, taste was flavourful (exact amount of sea salt and good making of dough), can really eat it all day.
(The “dough” section will be copy and paste for all pizzas reviewed here, cause chef is very consistent with it.)

Pizza: Rich and smoky flavours when you first bite into the pizza. Rich flavour definitely from garlic and extra virgin olive oil, distinct smoky flavour from the smoked mozzarella.

The sausage is juicy and tender, but probably on the milder side for taste, cause we feel that the rich and smoky flavours are the standouts in this pizza.

The Friarielli is a mildly bitter and earthy taste, with some slight biting/chewing-ness to it.

Overall: This pizza is a full on attack of savoury and rich flavours, with the Friarielli to cut down a bit on on the savoury. It is still a great pizza (every item we tried in this restaurant are!), but I think for us who are not used to this pizza might get quite cloying after a few slices.

Rating: 3.75/5

**Close up on the clams**
トラットリアピッツェリア polipo

**Close up on the yellow tomatoes**
トラットリアピッツェリア polipo

Shalatieri (¥1980)

Homemade noodles with clams and yellow tomatoes

Pasta: Al dente Linguine pasta I believe (do correct me if I’m wrong in the comment). When we bite through it have the QQ feel and also provided a satisfying bite due to the thickness of the pasta.

Taste: Strong umami savoury from the fresh clams, like giving the dish a taste of the sea. We believe it might be also cooked with some white wine for the flavours.

Yellow tomatoes gives this dish a bit of the acidity and sweetness to balance off with the umami saltiness from the clams.

There’s also a hint of pepper and spice from herb to give a very slight kick and earthy character to this dish.

Overall: We enjoy the “taste of the sea” flavour from the fresh clams, and also the nicely made and cooked pasta.

We will say this dish is the lowest score we given out of the 6 items we tried in the restaurant, but a 3.5 stars as the “worst” dish in the restaurant, that tells you how good this restaurant and chef is from our perspective.

Rating: 3.5/5

**Close up on the meat balls**
トラットリアピッツェリア polipo

Neapolitan Ragù (¥2420)

Neapolitan Ragù with meat and tomato sauce

Left our favourite and nostalgia feel dish for the last, but don’t get fooled by the plating.

Pasta: Cooked to al dente. Managed to absorb/coat itself with the sauce, when bite through it can have the QQ feel + all the sauce and condiments absorbed/coated together. Total bliss.

Taste: Meatballs are of a generous huge size, very meaty and juicy. We believe it’s a mixture of both beef and pork.

The sauce and condiments provided a variety of flavours from refreshing, savoury, and sweet + sour from the cheese, tomatoes, and herbs.

Overall: Somehow very nostalgia “childhood” taste but elevated. It really brings me back to when I was a kid feeling, very home cook with warmth kind of dish. This dish I feel people of all ages will enjoy, especially kids (in my opinion).

Personally I would prefer even a stronger taste from the sauce, but that’s my preferences with a heavier taste.

Both the missus and I really like it and would really want to eat this dish again since we left Hiroshima. But we have to be very objective based on our blog’s rating, and that’s the score below.

Rating: 3.75/5

Closing Thoughts

We really want to dine at polipo again since we left Hiroshima, and still craving for it even now when we are back in Singapore almost 1.5 months later.

The worst is, we are not sure when will be making another trip/stay in Hiroshima in the near future again to be honest.

Looking forward to the day when we can re-visit polipo again!

**Restaurant building**
トラットリアピッツェリア polipo

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Address: 広島県広島市中区東白島町20-5

Opening Hours:
12pm-2pm, 6pm-9pm. (Mon, Thu, Fri)
11.30am-2pm, 6pm-9pm. (Sat, Sun)
Closed on Tue and Wed.

Payment Method: Cash and Cards

Website: https://www.polipo-net.com/

Tabelog: https://tabelog.com/en/hiroshima/A3401/A340118/34013074/

(Last visited: November 2024)

Blog

polipo - Superb Italian restaurant for pizza and pasta in Hiroshima!

トラットリア ピッツェリア polipo

Margherita DOC (¥2750)

Pere (¥2750)

Margherita Extra (¥2640)

Salsiccia e Friarielli (¥2640)

Shalatieri (¥1980)

Neapolitan Ragù (¥2420)

Closing Thoughts

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トラットリアピッツェリア polipo