Pizza

Tazio Birraria Pizzeria Cucina

Porco Carne Pizza – tomato, mozzarella, pork and veal meatballs, goat’s cheese

Thin crispy base with delectable toppings.

★★★☆☆

Pasta – linguine with prawns, garlic, chilli, white wine, extra virgin olive oil, rocket

Bland. Needed more garlic, chilli, and a squeeze of lemon.

★★☆☆☆

Overall:

It was a busy Saturday night at Tazio and I was absolutely ravenous. You know how food tends to taste better than usual when you are really hungry? Well this wasn’t the case on this particular night. Although the food was tasty, it wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. The ambience on the balcony was nice and the service was average.

Tazio Birraria Pizzeria Cucina

66 Flinders Lane, Melbourne, VIC

(03) 9654 9119

Tazio – Birraria Pizzeria & Cucina

ANOIA Artisan Pizza & Pasta Bar

Linguine Del Mare

(tiger prawns, calamari, cherry tomatoes, garlic, chilli)

★★★★☆

Zucca Pizza

(bianco-fiore di latte, roasted pumpkin, pinenuts, rocket, goats cheese)

★★★☆☆

Overall:

As soon as we walked in, we were inundated with delicious smells coming from their open kitchen. Now the fit-out at Anoia is dark and sleek and although the place appears to be small, there is actually more seating available at the back of the restaurant. The food we sampled was delectable while the service was ordinary. Note that this place also does takeaway.

ANOIA Artisan Pizza & Pasta Bar

779 Glenferrie Rd, Hawthorn, VIC

(03) 9819 2900

http://anoia.com.au/anoia/

Pacinos Italian Family Restaurant

Linguini Marinara

(a selection of fresh seafood, butter, white wine, garlic, parsley)

Generous amount of tasty seafood, al dente pasta, a little bit salt heavy for me.

★★★☆☆

Rosemary Potato Pizza

(mozzarella, bocconcini, potato, rosemary, garlic, caramelised onion)

I was pleasantly surprised with how good this pizza was. Yes the toppings were good, but the stand out was in fact the pizza base: not too thick, not too thin, not too oily, not too dry, perfectly crispy and very tasty.

★★★★☆

Overall:

A terrific family restaurant that offers great service and enjoyable food. Note that parmas are $10 here on Monday nights. Bargain!

Pacinos Italian Family Restaurant

300 Epsom Rd, Flemington, VIC

(03) 9376 4888

http://pacinos.net.au/

45 Degrees

Vietnamese Pork Pizza

(five-spice pork, spanish onion, roasted red capsicum, fresh herbs, pickled carrots, cucumber, sliced chilli, aioli)

Vietnamese-Italian fusion that actually worked!

★★★★☆

Prawn Pizza

(garlic prawns, mixed olives, capers, green capsicum, feta, rocket, chipotle ketchup)

Great toppings. If only they weren’t spread out so far apart. I’d have one bite and it would be purely feta, then the next bite would be purely prawn, etc, etc.

★★★☆☆

Peruvian Chicken Pizza

(Peruvian chicken, sliced green capsicum, roasted red capsicum, corn, jalapeños, black beans, coriander, guacamole, Bloody Mary aioli)

It was like eating a delicious taco, except in the form of a pizza.

★★★★☆

Beef Cheek Pizza

(12 hour slow cook smoked beef cheek. mushroom, caramelized onion, candied pecans, fresh herbs, chimichurri aioli)

The centre was slightly soggy however the ample beef cheek was incredibly tender and its combination with the other toppings made this a very enjoyable pizza.

★★★★☆

Multigrain Garlic Bread

The bread was a bit tough, and a bit more butter would have been nice.

★★☆☆☆

Popcorn Chicken

Although over fried, the chicken was still tender and well seasoned.

★★★☆☆

Brioche Doughnuts

These doughnuts were AMAZING! They came out freshly fried so were crispy on the outside, and light and fluffy on the inside. There are two varieties available: Nutella doughnuts and Hot Jam doughnuts. Both were delicious but it was the Nutella doughnuts that made me go wow! Best Nutella brioche doughnut I’ve ever had.

★★★★★

Overall:

Fantastic innovative pizzas, funky urban atmosphere, quick and friendly service, and of course amazing brioche doughnuts! There are still so many items I want to try from their menu (eg. the Korean fried chicken pizza) so I must visit again soon.

45 Degrees

33 Bridge Rd, Richmond, VIC

(03) 9429 5577

http://www.45pizza.com.au/

Cheesey Bites

Cheesy Bites

(baby spinach, mushroom, capsicum, pineapple, chicken, chilli flakes, sweet chilli sauce, mozzarella cheese with creme fraiche base)

Super Supreme

(beef, salami, mushroom, capsicum, onion, pineapple, mozzarella cheese, oregano)

Garlic Prawn

(baby spinach, tomatoes, garlic sauce, prawns, mozzarella cheese with creme fraiche base)

Chicken Kebab

(chicken wrapped in pita bread with salad and garlic sauce)

Lasagna

(pasta layers with bolognese sauce)

Overall:

One of the simple joys in life is having food delivered to your doorstep. It’s fast, it’s easy, and you get to stay in your pyjamas! So I was delighted when I was approached by EatNow to try out their services. In case you have never heard of EatNow, it is one of Australia’s leading online food delivery services and operates in over 4,400 restaurants Australia-wide. Here’s how it works:

Head to the EatNow website
Enter your suburb or postcode
Choose from a list of restaurants who are a part of your local EatNow community
Order your meal from the online menu
Decide when you would like your meal delivered, including the time you would like it to arrive. (You can also choose to pickup your meal in person)
Checkout and pay.
You will then receive instant SMS confirmation as to when your order will be ready

Easy as that!

Now let’s talk about Cheesey Bites. Firstly the staff here were very considerate as they called me early on to let me know that my delivery was going to be about 10 minutes late. The delivery guy was friendly and the food arrived hot. The pizzas were a little bit soggy but had adequate amounts of topping on each and tasted fine. The chicken kebab on the other hand was extremely soggy, while the lasagna came with a lot of mysterious liquid floating on top of it. Although the food here is great value, I think I’d rather try someplace else the next time.

Cheesey Bites

135 Springvale Rd, Springvale

9558 4144

http://www.cheeseybites.com.au

+39 Pizzeria

Toscana

(Italian tomato salsa, fior di latte, Italian Berkshire sausage, rocket, parmesan)

★★★☆☆

Capricciosa Italiana

(Italian tomato salsa, fior di latte, leg ham, olives, artichoke hearts, mushroom)

★★☆☆☆

Tartufata

(Cream of mushrooms, fior di latte, mushrooms, rocket, truffle oil, parmesan)

It’s been a long time since a pizza has made me go ‘wow’ but the flavours of this tartufata were incredible! If only the centre had been less soggy, this definitely would have been a 5 star pizza.

★★★★☆

Linguine All’Amalfitana

(Amalfi style pasta with prawns, cherry tomatoes, chilli, garlic and crayfish bisque)

★★☆☆☆

Overall:

Deliciously light pizzas that have a fantastic thin base but tend to get soggy rather quickly in the centre. Even so, they still tasted amazing! Service was efficient and the ambience was bustling. I certainly recommend the pizzas here and will doubtlessly return for the Tartufata.

+39 Pizzeria

362 Little Bourke St, Melbourne, VIC

(03) 9642 0440

http://www.plus39.com.au/

Assaggi Italiani

Lasagna D’Oro

Homemade lasagna that was remarkably cheesy and had a very thin sauce.

★★☆☆☆

Capricciosa Pizza
A scatter of bocconcini, ham, mushrooms and olives on a tasty thin crispy crust.

★★☆☆☆

Straccetti “Signora Antonella”

The pasta was al dente, the Italian sausage had a strong fennel and anise taste, while the spinach and cream sauce was rather insipid.

★★☆☆☆

Overall:

A warm and inviting atmosphere, wonderful service, an impressive pizza oven, uninspiring pizza and pasta. Note that this place is closed on Mondays.

Assaggi Italiani

99 Glenferrie Rd, Malvern, VIC

(03) 9500 1624

Contact us

Innocent Bystander Winery

Wood fired pizza – spicy pork sausage, buffalo mozzarella, San Marzano tomato, chilli

Thin crispy base, spicy herby topping.

★★★☆☆

Moscato Granita and Moscato & Sipsmith Summer Cocktail

Both drinks were very refreshing however I enjoyed the granita more as it was sweeter.

★★★★☆

Overall:

Try the Moscato, it is fantastic.

Innocent

Innocent Bystander Winery

336 Maroondah Hwy, Healesville, VIC

(03) 5962 6111

http://www.innocentbystander.com.au/

Donnini’s

320 Lygon St, Carlton 9347 3128

Capricciosa pizza

(Fior di latte, tomato, leg ham, mushroom, marinated Ligurian olives)

I liked the thin and crispy base however I didn’t like how the olives came with pits.

= ★★

Ravioli Con Salmone E Burrata

(salmon, burrata and smoked ricotta ravioli, butter, dill, asparagus)

A light ravioli served in a delicious sauce.

= ★★★

Tris Di Pasta Donnini

(Tagliatelle Al Ragu Nostro, Tortelli Di Ricotta, Gnocchi Al Pomodoro)

Hand made pasta cooked in fresh sauces.

= ★★★

Overall:

Although somewhat pricier than your typical Lygon St restaurant, what you get here at Donnini’s is quality Italian fare, good service and a great atmosphere.

Micheli’s Wood Fire Pizza & Pasta

21-25 Heatherdale Rd, Ringwood 9873 7079

Prosciutto Wood Fire Pizza

(garlic and herb base, fresh fior di latte cheese, fresh rocket, prosciutto crudo, olive oil, grana parmesan)

Generous toppings (especially the prosciutto!) served on a delicious garlic and herb base

★★★

Spaghetti Marinara

(selection of seafood pan fried in garlic oil in Napoli sauce)

Well cooked spaghetti, watery sauce

★★

Overall:

Great pizza, speedy service, simple and relaxed atmosphere.