Tucked away in a suburb of Tours, Il Napoli proved to be an exceptional culinary experience. This is not someone would expect from a pre-fab building in the middle of an industrious suburb of a lesser known French town. But coming to Il Napoli with all the necessary reservations (pardon the pun) will ensure the greatest experience. You will not predict the feast you are about to ingest.
4 FORMAGGI:
Tomate, mozzarella fraîche, chèvre fermier, Gorgonzola, fromage sec Italien rapé.
After a necessary gulp of artisanal cider, Mother ordered the Four Cheese, as is her wont. This included mozzarella, gorgonzola, farmer’s goat’s cheese and what I believe was grated pecorino. All together the semi acrid flavour of the four cheese exploded. The Four Cheese pizza is hard to do well because the four cheeses need to go well together. I found the balance here to be particularly pleasant.
SUPREMA
Crème, cèpes, lardons, mozzarella, Taleggio, oignons crus.
I decided I had to taste the Suprema. This was topped with cream, wild mushrooms, mozzarella, Talegio cheese and raw onions. This was a little more bland than I expected, mostly on account of how sparing they were with the lardons. This is not Cedric’s home made pizza, sadly. But overall it was excellent and the crust cannot be lauded enough. More on this point later.
DEL MAR
Salade, tomates, saumon fumé, billes de mozzarella di bufala, câpres à queues, tomates confites, vinaigrette huile d’olive et balsamique.
One should mention father’s salad Del Mar which was a little light on the salad part, as you may be able to see. The toppings were legion and all quite delicious. I stayed away from the fish, as you can imagine, however I can confirm the buffala mozzarella was absolutely superb.
TARTUFATA
Crème, Gorgonzola, mozzarella fraiche, compotée d’oignons, magret de canard fumé, roquette, pignons de pins torréfiés, huile de truffes noires.
Goodness me, where to begin; mozzarella, gorgonzola, caramelised onions, pine nuts, magret of duck, roquette and black truffle oil. Magret refers to the breasts of ducks that have been corn-fed and raised to produce foie gras. The whole thing was so sublime that I shed a tear. I could not believe the intensity and novel flavour of this pizza. Put together with the outstanding thin, crispy base, this was a dish to die for.
The tiramisu was extraordinary. It was light and not terribly filling which is how such a dish should taste. The coffee was not overpowering either which came as a great relief.
The show stopping dessert for me was the pear and ice cream mille feuille seen above. The ice cream was fresh and presumably home made, the pear was seasonal and local and the pastry was divine. The pastry was light and full of flavour which only French restaurants of great repute seem to be able to achieve.
Overall, this hidden treasure was very much to our liking. I was astounded by the consistency of the excellent quality food and great, if not a tad slow, hospitality. I’d recommend this to anyone in the area ho wishes to get away from busy Tours centre and enjoy some fresh local cuisine.