Pizzeria da Peppe Napoli Sta Ca in Setagaya City, Tokyo

As part of our ever-expanding collection of reviews of Tokyo pizza restaurants, we bring you this review of Pizzeria da Peppe Napoli Sta’ Ca”; home of the unusual star-shaped pizza, located in Setagaya City, Tokyo. While Napoli Sta Ca makes a tasty pizza, you have better, more interesting options in Tokyo than this place.

This spot is called Pizzeria da Peppe Napoli Sta’ Ca”.  A more casual name for the shop might be Napoli Sta Ca Pizza, and that is how the shop is listed online in Japanese: ナポリスタカ 駒沢店; the first part translates to Napoli “Sta Ka,” and the kanji indicates this is the Komazawa store; the location is just a few minutes walk from the Komazawa Station.

As you arrive, Napoli Sta Ca Pizza is all blue tile and (convincing) Italian decor. It was a little too warm inside.  In contrast to the very intentional “Italy” theme, there was some kind of thuggy, auto-tune reggaeton rap music playing overhead. It was jarring, and made the pizzeria feel more like a keebob shop, or nightclub in South America.

The Komazawa store of Napoli Sta Ca is listed as the second Napoli Sta Ca pizza shop opened by Italian pizza master Giuseppe Errichiello (“Peppe”).  The original Napoli Sta Ca is the Kamiyacho shop (opened in 2011), in Minato City.  In 2023, RistoPizza was opened, the third pizzeria in Tokyo from Errichiello.  I didn’t know who he was at the time, but Errichiello was in this particular shop on the night I was there.

In part to tell the story in the order I experienced it, I want to point out that they would not give us any water.  Water is such a basic thing, I always try to drink water with my coffee and with meals. If you look at the reviews I produce, there is almost always a cup of water in the featured image. When I asked for water at Peppe’s joint, we were offered the opportunity to buy either of two different kinds of water for 700 JPY. For guests that would like a simple glass of tap water – just fuggitaboutit. Peppe wants his profit on the water, too.

There is something petty and ugly about a restaurant that won’t provide water to their guests. I can’t decide if I think that is aggressive or desperate.  It is definitely embarrassing. It is so inhospitable, I wanted to leave. But as I was with my lovely companion, I pretended to be civilized, and remained.  Having stuck it out, I can in fact report on the pizza.

Moving on…

Peppe’s Napoli Sta Ca Pizza in Komazawa has a full menu, complete with antipasti “Freddi” and antipasti “Caldi.” There is also the promise of “Piatti” (some expensive pastas, ranging from 3000 JPY to 4000 JPY), and a couple of meat dishes on the “Secondi” menu.

We were, of course, interested in the pizza.

The pizza menu is two pages; half “Rosse” with red sauce and half are Bianche pizzas (with no tomato sauce).  Glancing at the menu, I am always tempted by a good olives and capers pizza:

La Signora Marinara Pizza: Tomato Paste, Anchovies, Semi-dried Plum Tomatoes, Dry Sliced Tomatoes, Black Taggiasca Olives, Capers, Extra Virgin Olive Oil Scented with Garlic and Oregano
— From the pizza menu at Pizzeria da Peppe Napoli Sta’ Ca”

The Komazawa shop of Napoli Sta Ca is known for it’s star-shaped pizza, and that is what we came to try:

Don Salvo Pizza: San Marzano DOP Tomato Sauce, Buffalo Mozzarella, Basil, Cherry Tomato, Parmesan Cheese, in the Filling Ricotta Cheese and Salami
— From the Napoli Sta Ca pizza menu

In the same way you can dislike a noxious neighbor but enjoy their charming child; I don’t like this shop, but I do love this pizza. As it arrived, it was beautiful.

The first bite; wet and tomato-y.

This pizza is special not only because of the shape of the crust, but also because that crust is stuffed. If you read the description for the Napoli Sta Ca’s Don Salvo Pizza (above), you see a reference to the “filling.”  That crust is cut, and stuffed with a mix of ricotta cheese and salami.

I learned something about ricotta cheese recently as I had a very special pizza at Azzurri Pizza in Kobe.  It was a spicy Normana pizza; a fiery taste, but balanced by the smooth, creamy, ricotta cheese; spice and ricotta are an apt combination. Tokyo’s Pizzeria da Peppe Napoli Sta’ Ca” is doing the same thing here, in the crust of their Don Salvo; that spicy salami is perfectly mellowed by the cheese and the thick breadiness of the crust.

A taste of salt in the crust as well. Not exceptional dough, but tasty and satisfying.

I have had some experience with these star-shaped pizzas before. Years ago, Sapporo had a small pizza shop called Percato Pizza that served a wonderful star-shaped pizza. More recently, I had a star pizza at Pizzeria da Tigre in Osaka.

I’m not particularly interested in “novelty” pizzas, but the star shape is as functional as it is unusual. Cutting, stuffing, and forming the crust in this style changes the topography of pizza entirely; from the flat format of typical Napoletana pizza, to something new, something more dense and quite different. I like the category of star-shaped pizzas, and this is a good example.

At one point I took a bite of cheese that had fallen off the pizza, pinched it in a bit of crust. Tasting it, I got a hit of fresh basil mixed with a hint of sauce. It was a good pizza.

Applying the classic Pizza Czar “pizza test” – this pizza can be picked up.  Compared to most Neapolitan-style pizzas in Tokyo, this pizza has a thin, but generally thicker, crust. It holds up as it is picked up.

We had also ordered something from the appetizer menu.  Before the pizza arrived, we had a chance to try the Polipetti alla Luciana con Crostini di Pane Carasau.

“Lucia-style octopus stew with tomatoes, served with bread.”

I wasn’t sure what to expect, but as it arrived it was a big plate of simple, stewed, whole, baby octopi, served with a sprinkle of saffron, and something like an oversized, deep-fried potato chip on it (not potato, but some kind of greasy, fried-starch chip).

The dish really does not photograph well.

I don’t think the dish was meant to be served cold, but that is how we received it. The taste was okay.  It was edible, but disappointing.  It was the kind of dish that if you found it in your refrigerator (as a left over), it would be a reasonably tasty find. But in the restaurant that night, it was underwhelming. I would not order it again.

As I took notes that night, I added, again:

The music was really terrible.

Does the music match the customer base at all, I wondered?

A nice, late-40s/early-50s, Japanese couple was having a proper date at a table next to us. Big appetizer plate, a pizza, a couple drinks each. I bet the bill was 12000 JPY. This is relatively pricy spot, and yet the music is like what you’d hear blaring from car in a bad neighborhood.  Even when it shifted into a softer R & B tempo, it was too loud, too teenager, too wannabe gangster.

I write enthusiastically about the combination of hip hop and NYC-style pizza slice places. I am thinking of Henry’s Pizza in Osaka (an excellent pizza slice spot) or Jesus Pizza in Kobe (one of two great pizza slice places in Kobe). The hip hop in both shops is a perfect fit for that kind of pizza experience (the music itself was also much better than whatever they were playing at Napoli Sta Ca). But Peppe wants this to be an upscale “o-so Italian” spot (it’s soaking in kitschy, Italian insignia), so nice… you might want to pay him for water. To force families and mainstream, older Japanese couples to listen to that noise, in this price point, is incongruent, it’s bad judgment.

I didn’t know who he was at the time, but from the pictures I have seen of him since, I now know that Peppe was in the shop that night.  It’s his ship, I’ll put all these bad decisions on his shoulders.

I don’t like this place.

If this was the only pizza place in town, we might have a reason to eat here. If you really want a to try a star pizza, that is another reason to stop in. (Maybe get one to go? Take it to a park?) But otherwise, the rumors of Napoli Sta Ca being among the best pizza shops in Japan are, in my arrogant opinion, ridiculous. No, this shop is not at all near the best Tokyo has to offer. Napoli Sta Ca =is almost “tourist trap” in the generic “Italian-ness” of the experience, it’s over priced and “thirsty” for profit, and the music… was torture, just punishingly bad.

When I think of the best pizza in Tokyo, I definitely think of something more fine, more refined, like Sabasu Pizza in Akasaka (which is fantastic). Napoli Sta Ca is not even in the same category as a truly excellent pizza shop like Marumo Pizza in Ebisu (which is sensational). While it can be (admittedly) very hard to get a seat in a shop like Marumo, there are too many other excellent and original pizza shops in Tokyo for me to pay any more attention to Pizzeria da Peppe Napoli Sta Ca.

I recently had the a pizza at PST Higashi Azabu (for example), and everything about the visit to that shop was wonderful – an incredible mix of high-end pizza and an experience that felt like “Tokyo.” Shops like Pizza Strada offer exceptional Naples-style pizza, and in their own voice; at least as good, certainly more creative, and in an original, atmosphere that reflects something less imitative. Even a simple NYC-style slice at The Pizza in Hiroo is a better experience than Peppe’s shop.

Peppe makes a tasty pizza, but I won’t be back and I can’t recommend it. If you’re looking for good pizza in Tokyo, there are many, much much better options.

For more Tokyo Pizza see:

— The exhibition experience at Pizza Bar on 38th at the Mandarin Oriental in Chuo City, Tokyo
— Truly excellent Neapolitan pizza at Pizza Marumo in Ebisu, Tokyo
— Pizza Studio Tamaki in Rippongi, Tokyo
— Sabasu Pizza in Akasaka, Tokyo
— Savoy Pizza Domi-LA in Asabujuban, in Minato City, Tokyo
— Devil Craft Pizza in Kanda, in Chuo City, and also the DevilCraft Gotanda, in Shinagawa, Tokyo
— Shibuya pizza at Kevelos, in Tokyo
— Thick-crust, Detroit pizza at Pizzakaya in Minato City, Tokyo
— Frey’s Famous Pizza in Rippongi, Tokyo
— Seirinkan Pizza and Beatles music in Meguro, Tokyo
— Pizzakaya Pizza in Rippongi, Tokyo
— Chicago-style pizza at Butcher Republic in Ebisu, Tokyo

Pizza Slices in Tokyo

— Rocco’s New York Style Pizza slices in Ojihoncho, Kita City, Tokyo
— Best NY-style pizza slice in Tokyo at New York Tonyz Pizza Slices in Koto City, Tokyo
— Pizza slices at Nim’s in Azabujuban, in Minato City, Tokyo
— Very mediocre pizza at Pizza Slice on Cat Street, in Shibuya, Tokyo