The Dynamo

Pizza·
££££
·

Good to know

Average Price
££££ - Under £30
Cuisines
Pizza
Ambience
Cool, Cosy, Fun, Lively
Food Occasions
Brunch, Dinner, Lunch
Alfresco And Views
Outside seating, Terrace
Special Features
Vegan options, Vegetarian options
Perfect for
Child friendly
Food Hygiene Rating

About

Just metres from the Putney stretch of the river, this all-day cycle café is ostensibly a pedallers’ pit stop, but it has been done out so nicely that cyclists take their time getting back in the saddle – and increasingly share the space with appreciative locals. The roomy, colourful dining room drives home the two-wheeled theme with decorative Tour de France jerseys on the walls (you’ll also find a bike workshop in the basement). For speed freaks, there are takeaway Allpress coffees and sticky pastries, plus a stand-alone bar dispatching swift pints. The menu takes a casually gourmet approach to refuelling: at brunch, energy-packed homemade granola might be boosted with roasted winter fruit and sweet-sour elderflower yoghurt, while at lunch and dinnertime, the wood-fired oven takes over, cooking sourdough pizzas loaded with super-fresh ingredients to crisp-based perfection. The only wobble is the service: at times solicitous, at times clueless.

The Dynamo is featured in

Location

200-204 Putney Bridge Road, Putney, London, SW15 2NA

020 8704 1911 020 8704 1911

Website

Opening Times

All day
Mon 07:30-22:00
Tue 07:30-22:00
Wed 07:30-22:00
Thu 07:30-22:00
Fri 07:30-22:00
Sat 07:30-22:00
Sun 08:30-17:00

Reviews

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1 Review 
Food/Drink
Service
Atmosphere
Value

Alex G

07 January 2020  
Food & Drink 4
Service 3
Atmosphere 3
Value 4
Uphill climb

Themed restaurants rarely work. That’s the opinion of this reviewer. They just try too hard. The reality tends to be a disappointment; as the cliché goes, just as it’s hard to put lipstick on a pig, it’s equally difficult to assume that a cycling outlet can also work as a fully-fledged pizza restaurant. Maybe the Dynamo started out as something simple – a pit-stop for cyclists close to the Thames in Putney – but it has now evolved into a venue aimed not just at lycra-clad fitness freaks but also prosperous locals. If you look beyond the bike-related accessories and repair room in the basement (where, if you so choose, you can also play table tennis), then Dynamo is a fun venue for families or large groups. The room is spacious and brightly coloured with décor unsurprisingly being based around the theme of cycling. By day, there are breakfasts/ brunches both hearty and healthy. By night, it’s all about pizza, with a range of around ten available. All are reasonably priced (no more than £12) and each is named after a mountain climb. To the uninitiated, some of this lore was a little bewildering and why portobello mushrooms, capers, oregano and rocket should be particularly associated with Leith Hill (a venue near Dorking, in Surrey) was, for example, not at all clear. That Dynamo’s pizza oven needs to be named ‘Gloria’ also struck me as puzzling; perhaps an in-joke on which I was missing out? All this said, the chefs clearly know what they’re doing. Our group of around a dozen all polished off our pizzas. My ‘Ventoux’ – anchovies, olives, capers, chilli and basil – was a wonderful exercise in executing something simple very well. The pizza base was light and soft; the tomato sauce slow-cooked and intense and the toppings all highly flavoursome. The same could not be said of the wines. Both our red options went for theme over quality. Maybe it works for some, but just because a bottle has a picture of a bike (or anything else with wheels, like roller-skates) on it doesn’t make the contents good. Our Spanish Ribera del Duero effort had to be among the most disappointing bottles I have recently drunk. Message to Dynamo: stick to what your good at. Message to potential visitors: go, but don’t set your expectations too high.

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020 8704 1911 020 8704 1911

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