Restaurant Reviews

Pizza e Mozzarella

- Alex 2 Comments

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date of visit: Wed 25 July 2012

It seems like pizza is a bit of an in-thing at the moment in Adelaide. Not that long ago Etica opened (I’m yet to get there) and hot on its heels is Pizza e Mozzarella on Pirie Street.

I was lucky enough to have a work lunch coming up and even more lucky that I seem to be the most food obsessed person on my team (wait, maybe even the whole floor). So when opinions were being canvassed for where we should eat I was jumping up and down suggesting Pizza e Mozzarella (on the basis that “I haven’t been there before!”).

My enthusiasm worked and a group of 14 of us trooped off for lunch. Pizza e Mozzarella is strictly a lunch venue – dinner is offered on a Friday though and it is closed on weekends. Given what I saw on a Wednesday lunch I’d also say that bookings should be considered essential.

As we were such a large group we had one of the banquet menus. We opted for the $30 a head option which was antipasto and pizza. We started with bread (very good bread, I might add – chewy and full of flavour) and prosciutto and this was followed by large platters of antipasto containing all kinds of goodies. Most of it was really delicious but there were a couple of things that let the side down. The marinated aubergine was gorgeous, the pickled green tomatoes were really lovely and the involtini, served warm, made a good counterpoint to all the vegetable treats. The pressed pork terrine type thing (yep – that’s technical Italian food talk!) was disappointing: it didn’t work cold and the pork pieces were quite large so it seemed quite sinewy and gristly. The tortilla (a bit out of place anyway?) was also a bit dull. The little tiny pickled fish (looking over the menu I suspect they were pickled whitebait but they were wee – much smaller than you’d expect whitebait to be) were really good though and something I haven’t had before.

Antipasto mostly demolished a selection of pizzas started coming out. Looking over the pizza menu it appears we had at least one of everything bar the seafood pizza. The pizzas are all very rough and ready in appearance and, like most actual Italian pizzas I’ve had, are not laden with toppings. The dough was thin on the bases but quite thick at the crust. Eating with a knife and fork was quite tricky so most of us just resorted to fingers. The only sensible way to eat pizza anyway, if you ask me! The toppings are simple, tried and true combinations which is no bad thing. I particularly enjoyed the capricciosa (artichoke, ham, anchovy and olive) and around the table there didn’t seem to be any complaints.

The banquet doesn’t include dessert but our table ordered one dessert pizza (an idea I really don’t get). I was quite grateful I was far too full to even consider trying it!

We came out spending just under $50 a head (that included beers and a few bottles of wine). One thing I didn’t like was the fact that we asked for tap water and were told that there was a $1 per person donation to charity for tap water orders. That seems to be a bit iffy to me. That little niggle aside, the service was good: efficient, friendly, helpful. A big tick is a more interesting than average wine list which includes a decent range of Italian reds and whites. I was also quite impressed overhearing some sensible wine advice being offered by the waiting staff.

Décor wise, Pizza e Mozzarella is definitely hitting the trendy/funky mark. It’s a bright, airy, multilevel venue with Riedel glassware complemented by very retro crockery (think stoneware plates and 1950s op-shop water jugs) – and, naturally, an open kitchen.

I’d go back to Pizza e Mozzarella in a flash. If you’re ordering à la carte you could easily spend under the $50 a head mark that we hit. Perhaps not the cheapest pizza you’ll eat but definitely a solid all round experience.

Pizza e Mozzarella Bar on Urbanspoon

The Highway

- Alex 5 Comments

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date of visit: Thursday 28 June 2012

We’re becoming very skilled in the art of eating our dinner early, to accommodate the baby, to the extent that, when booking, I now ask “when do you start dinner service?”.

Clearly The Highway isn’t used to such uncool customers because the lady who took my booking had to check! 5:30pm it was.

When we arrived our allocated table (even though at this stage we were the only people there!) wasn’t really going to work with a highchair – something that the waitress noticed before we were seated and sorted out immediately. We ended up with a perfect, cosy table in the corner.

With the baby in tow we cracked on with ordering our food, enjoying a couple of drinks while we looked over the menu. We were dining in the middle of Game Week – which had been one of the drawcards – so we could have chosen from dishes such as goat pie, a tasting plate of game sausages, kangaroo, emu and crocodile. In the end, none of us ended up trying out these dishes (the goat pie was almost picked) …

Andy went for the beef schnitzel with gravy (how predictable!) while I had the spaghettini with Spencer Gulf prawns, chilli and garlic. Other choices were the lamb rack and a main course serving of the crumbed lambs brains.

Main courses at The Highway aren’t particuarly cheap – they all hover around the $30. However, portion sizes are generous (to say the least) and I suspect that had we had entrées we wouldn’t have been able to finish our mains. My spaghettini and prawns was lovely – the pasta was al dente, the prawns were well cooked and it had just the right combination of chilli heat and garlickyness. I am a huge fan of spaghetti with chilli, oil and garlic which is really what this dish was, with prawns and cherry tomatoes added. I’d definitely order this again.

The lamb rack was very highly regarded and the lambs brains got the thumbs up, even though they were served on an excessively large pile of mash. Andy demolished his schnitzel with the help of the baby – who seemed to approve of the chips in particular! We also had a side of roast vegetables which was a really interesting mix: beetroot and fennel alongside the usual suspects.

Service wise, The Highway has got it spot on. The two waiters who dealt with us were both professional and efficient while being friendly and accommodating. Best of all, the baby was treated as though he was the most important guest in the restaurant (which, of course, he was!).

The Highway demonstrates that a pub can serve good, interesting food and be a better than average venue for a meal out. We’ll definitely return.

The Highway / HWY on Urbanspoon

Adelaide Hills Day Out

- Alex 6 Comments

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date of day out: Saturday 5 May 2012

A group of friends recently organised a day out wine tasting in the Adelaide Hills. We had a reasonably modest agenda for the day – lunch and three, maybe four, wineries.

For me, the day proper began at lunch time. Our original food plan was scuppered so, at the last minute and with no warning, twelve of us descended on the Charleston Hotel in a tiny town (population 120, apparently) called … Charleston.

Luckily for us, the dining room was empty because by the time we’d sorted out our table, only a handful of other diners could have squeezed in. We obviously massively swamped the poor kitchen (the rumour at the table was that there was one person working there) so yes, our food did take a while to come out and no, it didn’t all come out at once. But we quickly figured out what was happening so people had the good sense to start eating. From where I was sitting I heard only one complaint about the food which concerned a very disappointing looking bar meal of spaghetti bolognese. The disappointment was compounded because the individual concerned had considered ordering the awesome looking lamb burger.

I was pleased to note that, for $13, I could order a ‘half size’ schnitzel (topping/sauce extra). I don’t think I’ve had a pub meal where the schnitzel has not been ridiculously huge and I’ve often commented that the children’s sizes have looked sufficient. All the schnitzels (even the half sized ones!) were generously proportioned and thick. This meant they were juicy – no dried out cardboard here. The salad was definitely above par (although, as usual, drowned in dressing) – it was Greek style complete with feta.  And I very much enjoyed my glass of Kersbrook Hill Shiraz too!

The accommodating nature of the businesses around Lobethal was further demonstrated when we turned up at Golding Wines. The cellar door man didn’t bat an eye at our large group – he herded us towards a large table, lined up the entire range and led us through it. If you want a welcoming cellar door, I can think of few places that do this better than Golding*.

Next up we headed to Bird in Hand, where our large group most definitely caused a problem. “Have you booked?” … er, well, no. “Hmm, that will be $10 a head” … er, well, no. The cellar door was full of a bus load of tourists and obviously we represented hard work. While I realise that large groups arriving unannounced can cause problems there must be a more delicate way of dealing with the situation. As locals, it means that we’re unlikely to take guests (either overseas or interstate) to Bird in Hand in future …

We wrapped up the day with Barristers Block, where we were treated to some further Adelaide Hills hospitality. The tasting here was a lot less formal than at Goldings with everyone trying whatever they were interested in. Which worked well because by the end of the day the two cellar dogs were garnering a lot more attention than the wines from some people!

I’ve been all inspired to work my way through the wineries of the Adelaide Hills – I just can’t work out which end to start!  But hopefully there’ll be some more cellar door tales soon.

* I have been there several times before and I’m a fan of their Last Hurrah sparkling and Handcart Shiraz.

Charleston Hotel on Urbanspoon