Da Maria

Da Maria sits on Jl. Petitenget in Seminyak and is one of the best-known Italians on the island. There's a buffalo mozzarella option for the Margherita, but we went with the regular one, and it looked the part as soon as it hit the table.

The cheese is melted edge to edge in one even layer, and whole basil leaves are spread across the top and baked in, so they come out with a bit of char of their own. There's good colour right across it. Our crust didn't rise evenly, but a few coming out of the kitchen had a lovely round, pillowy rim, so I'd put that down to luck of the draw. It eats really well: crunchy and chewy at the edge, well cooked, with a nice flavour through the dough. There's coarse semolina on the rim, which usually bothers me, but here it doesn't get in the way.

We also ordered a second pizza with no mozzarella at all, which the waiter kindly flagged when we ordered. It's loaded with sweet sauce, cherry tomatoes, roasted capsicum and olives, with a fine, crumbly cheese over the top and paprika giving it a smoky edge. It's a bit sloppy, with toppings sliding off as you pick it up, but the flavour is great.

For my taste the Margherita has a touch too much cheese and not quite enough sauce. Both bases are very thin, and with that much on top the middle goes floppy and a little soggy in places.

Small gripes, all of them. It's well fired and full of flavour, and it's my favourite pizza in Bali. Da Maria has reworked its menu since this visit, so the cheese-less pizza may not be on it any more.