Il Mascalzone

So having read the previous reviews I feel I should start with a few things… disclaimers, if you will.
If you don’t like loud restaurants, do not go here. If you don’t like being too close to other tables, do not go here. If you don’t like wait staff talking (read:shouting) at each other in Italian, do not go here. But, if you are cool with those things, as I and most of Italy are, this place will be right up your alley.
The food here is excellent. Wood-​fired pizzas on a slightly chewy base, with simple and delicious toppings. There are so many different pasta dishes to choose from, which is kind of difficult because they look like they would all be so tasty! My favourite is a tomato based spaghetti with king prawns. The serving size is massive, so be prepared to skip the starter, or just roll out the door like I do.
They also have some great desserts, including a brownie sundae — I recommend opting for the choc mint gelato in the sundae, stops it getting too rich after the mountain of pasta you’ll have no doubt already consumed.
The downside is that they can be super slow, to the point of serious disorganisation. I’m pretty easygoing when it comes to restaurant service, and this place does get really busy, but when I am having to wave down a speeding waitress because we’ve had no contact with food or drinks or anything else for half an hour, it’s hard not to feel a little frustrated with the service…
But all in all I consider this place a solid high street Italian joint, and the food will keep me coming back for sure.

I came here with friends who come here all the time and I really liked it. The pizza was lovely with a thin crispy base — in fact I think the crust was the best thing about the pizza. That is not to take away from the toppings though which were delicious and generous.
The wine was good and the service was great. It was clear to see that the staff, both waiting and chefs took real pride in this restaurant and the food they served.
Great place to come with a large group and very child friendly!

Il Malcazone — over the road from the cinema, Putney High Street. We’ve been here many a time over the years, avoiding the back with the TV screen and the very rowdy times, and had pleasant enough (and far too large) meals. Things have been going downhill over the last couple of years, pasta getting drier, inedible, old meatballs which the staff just shrugged their shoulders about when I complained, service getting slower, but we’ve stuck with it because we only visit occasionally. Should have read the most recent Google comments about the staff and especially the manager before we went recently for lunch — they are not flattering. We asked for chips as a starter to munch between us, and stressed NO salt. Carbonara and Hawaiian pizza ordered. Asked for extra sauce on carbonara as last one had been very, very dry.
Chips arrived same time as mains, covered in salt which brought on a huge coughing fit had to call the waiter. Told him we’d ordered no salt, he straightaway picked up a cellar and tried to pour more on, another waiter had to intervene and take them away. Hawaiian good, pizzas generally are. I had the carbonara, a huge mound of almost dry spaghetti, even the fork wouldn’t lie down in it. I couldn’t get down more than a small amount, too dry to swallow. Too disappointed and annoyed to complain on this occasion, just left it, and it sat on the table for 20 minutes while other half continued his pizza. When he’d left the table to go to the bathroom, the manager approached and asked, «What’s the problem with the carbonara?» in a pretty aggressive tone. I explained it was dry despite my request for more sauce, and inedible. He didn’t speak, just removed it.
Two minutes later an embarrassed waiter brought the cold, congealed mess back to us in a takeaway box, saying the manager had told him to. We couldn’t believe it. Other half refused to pay, and demanded it be removed from the bill. We paid for the rest and were walking out when I noticed the manager. I politely challenged him about the takeaway but suddenly, after speaking perfect English for decades, he couldn’t speak more than odd words. He said the takeaway was Steven’s dinner (pizza, which he’d consumed). Then he said we’d asked for it (of course we hadn’t). Then he said he’d thrown my old dinner in the bin. Then he said yes, it was the mess I’d sent back, returned to me to take home. We both told him he should be thoroughly ashamed of himself for his disrespect towards paying customers. We will never, ever go back there again.
I’ve added my disgust to the Google comments about that restaurant (can’t confirm how filthy the kitchens are, as others have commented on, I haven’t seen those), but this contempt on his part was completely unforgiveable. On the Scoresondoors from Wandsworth Council, they only just scrape by with a 2 out of 5. Disgusting, much better places where the staff treat you with courtesy and not as an irritation. I’ve written to the managing director — completely ignored me. Just about sums up their contempt for their customers. You might as well just post your money through their letterbox and not put up with the bad treatment.

In fairness the pizza is good (but the spinach I had on mine was not fresh), the portions generous and the staff friendly (but they did add obligatory service charge on the end.)
The menu seems a bit ridiculous — they could make it far simpler because the dishes are more or less the same… really had to read the menu closely instead of catching up with friends.
They listed a lot of fish dishes and parmesan as vegetarian. While not a hardcore veggie I know this would upset those who are. Also all the salad dishes contained meat or fish (seriously?!). I did point this out and they said I could make my own salad so they get a star back.
The tables were too close together and arranged weirdly — we were sat way to near a couple trying to enjoy date night.
I also had 2 different salads and chips (I’m not a porker — I shared with friends!) all were average — no special house dressing or anything — just plain old oil and vinegar.
TLDR? To sum up — stay at home and order from here:

I’ve lived in Putney for almost 5 years and finally went to Il Mascalzone. I’ve heard mix reviews but was going with a group of people that loved the place. It is a really good place for large groups especially if you want to go heavy on the house wine and prosecco. The wait staff are fun
The portions are HUGE — almost shocking so I’d say don’t bother with any starters but if you’d like a little nibble I’d recommend the olives. I really, really enjoyed the spaghetti with clams. Even though I was almost grotesquely full, I still finished it. Not sure how the pizzas are like but I’d like to try the half pizza half calzone next time.

Thin-​crust pizzas, a steady stream of Wham classics. Is this my perfect pizzeria?
Sadly not. The mozzarella is low quality and the pizza overclogged with oily toppings. The ice-​cream is also uninspiring — unfortunately the gelato craze sweeping London seems to have passed Il Mascalzone by. And to top it all, both main and desserts are pricey — over £10 for a pizza (which I’m happy to pay if the pizza is good, but here it’s not) and over £5 for ice-​cream. That’s steep considering the low quality on offer here.
As Rebekah N has observed, all this is despite Il Mascalzone being packed at peak times with your typical Putney crowd. Quite why they are unwilling to continue up the High Street and take a left past Putney station to enjoy the better food at Pizza Express or Strada is something I’ve yet to figure out.

This place falls well short of the mark in my book, the pizza was a tasteless husk and the service was performed by a waiter more intent on having a good old catch up with the rest of the staff than attending to our needs. Perhaps I caught them on a bad day but I suspect not.

My husband and I stopped here to eat one late Tuesday afternoon. I had just arrived in London from a flight from NYC via Iceland so I was starving! I ordered the gnocchi and he ordered a pizza with prosciutto and green olives. Maybe it was due to my lack of real food in the past 24 hours or the fact that I was finally in London with my husband, I found the food to be intensely satifsying. The gnocchi was a tad salty but I did ask for extra parmesan cheese so that might have added to it. The pizza was pretty delicious (coming from a New Yorker!). All in all, a decent experience and I’m sure we’ll return.

Lovely Italian on the high street in putney. Portions are very generous and it always seems busy. Not too expensive either which is a bonus in my books!
Definitely the place to go with friends on an evening out.

yeh i guess it was ok. though a lot of people seem to think theyre doing somthing very well, they are busy most nights and you can expect to queue.
i ordered a tomato and seafood risotto i think the seafood part of it was quite good it was mainly muscles and crayfish tails. however the actual execution of the risotto could have been better.
you have to shout in order for the others on your table to even be heard as so loud with everyone talking in restaurant.

I’m shocked that I’m the first to review this hopping Putney High Street perch! Il Mascalzone is packed out almost every night without fail, suggesting legions of passionate regulars.
One might deduce from the crowds that either a) the food is amazing, b) Putney lacks good pizza spots, or c) the food is so-​so but patrons are gastronomically untrained, that is, they just don’t know any better. I knew B to be true, and assumed C to be also based on observational walk-​bys. The pizza always looked heavy and cheesy in an accidental sense — pizza mediocrity at its best.
I recently had the opportunity to put my theories to the test. After a disappointingly mediocre meal at Nando’s, my companion and I dropped into Mascalzone for a little late-​night dessert. Strike one: our waiter made a massive fuss and acted as if we were holding up the closing of the restaurant with our request for dessert menus. Meanwhile, large groups at neighboring tables were being served main courses.
Nice people that we are, we strove to give the benefit of the doubt: perhaps they were trying not to accept new guests? However, two other tables of two filtered in, ordering bottles of wine and main courses. Meanwhile, the pizza boys at the open prep area continued to chop mushrooms and shovel pies in and out of the oven.
Strike two: our reluctant fussball of a waiter managed to skillfully avoid our penetrating gazes and flagging hands when we were ready both to order and to pay. Due attention was lavished on surrounding tables.
Strike three: the dessert menu was enticing and even creative, and I found my sugar appetite stimulated despite the strange serving situation. However, the pistachio ice cream dish and cream roll concoction we ordered, described so exquisitely on the menu, tasted stale and like ‘ready desserts’. Instructions: 1) unwrap and 2) plunk down on table.
Service charge was included — following the disgraceful service, another point of annoyance — so I took pains to get my 60p change and not to leave it for our waiter.
To its credit, Il Mascalzone has a good location on Putney High Street with big open windows for a ‘bringing the outside in’ effect, and it’s great for people watching. It’s nice for big groups, is quite jovial and informal, and finally — up close, the pizzas looked less cheesy and more authentic. Who knows? They may be fab. Shame I’ll never buy one to find out.

Lovely pizza place. I used to live nearby, and in my experience it was always busy (frequented by many families and couples, many of the them Italian-​speaking). The quality of the food is wonderful (have tried many pizzas and a couple of the pasta dishes). I would definitely recommend this restaurant to pizza lovers.

This local Italian retaurant is a little gem, its great to go in and have great quality Italian food and service without it being a chain. The staff are generally friendly although quite rushed. You will never leave here hungary and always feel satisfied with a genuine experience. Average cost of a main is £10 plus drinks. Recommend the vodka pasta or the garlic pizza entrée.