Pizzeria Bashamichi Mitaka Stn. South

I’ve seen this expansive chain of Italian themed restaurants around for years but never ventured in. Well, after a peek at the menu displayed outside, figured I’d try anything once… for Unilocal!
The entry approach for this location is very obscure — I’ve probably walked right by here over a hundred times over the years. Amazing what a search for decent food reveals when your favorite restaurant is already closed for afternoon break.
Had a couple other candidates but wanted to try something interesting but with good value.
Ordered the porcini pizza with side set of green salad and all you can drink bar. Did the math and it comes out a bit higher than my usual lunchtime budget, but my expectations were building, and the waitress was really friendly. Oh, and the sight of a large, real, wood-​fired oven raised the bar a couple notches.
The salad was minimal and a bit skimpy on serving size but the greens were crisp and dressing was good — a «wafu» of soy sauce, oil, ground daikon, lightly seasoned. OK, salad passed.
Next, the pizza. Nothing can describe a good crust baked properly in a real wood oven. Excellent consistency on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside. Would have preferred an extra 30 second lads in the oven to give the bottom crust just a bit more solidity, as the Iloilo and cream sauce made the middle a bit limp. This place specializes in Napoli style: Thin crust, fluffy but chewy edges — best enjoyed buy dividing the pizza into four and folding the slice over lengthwise.
Fresh out of the oven with no extras added, the first bite was nice! Aromatic and chewy mozerella, accents of a hand throw crust and the aroma of porcini and garlic cream. The salted ham gave the perfect accent leading me to think I should have ordered a beer or glass of white wine.
As noted in a photo, I decided to experiment a bit. First, the authentic Italian chili oil only. Very nice! Next, honey only, usually only for quattro formage (four cheese) pizza, but what the hey? Mozerella is the prominent ingredient in both. Yum! No disappointments here either. Finally, honey plus chili oil. Say what? Now that was good… and thoughts of wine or beer raced through my mind again.
Summary:
+ Pizza: Four stars for an excellent pizza — hand-​made, wood oven, fresh ingredients
+ Salad: Three stars — bit more effort needed here
+ Service: Five stars — the waitress had a nice smile, demeanor and was completely honest about menu items she would recommend, the popular items, and even items to avoid (without being asked!) — great! I’m sure it’s more her personality than the «service manual,» but it was nice to see a young person with personality, especially in a restaurant like this.
+ Environment: Four and a half stars — surprisingly large and spacious but nicely laid out for one, two, four persons and groups. The BGM sucks though.
Overall: Four stars — tweaks to pricing (rethink lunch and sets); improve salad; bake the pizza slightly longer (I’ll request this next time to see if it gets done properly).