Pizza Pasta Bene, North Sydney

Pizza Pasta Bene, North Sydney

 For Chinese New Year, my father in law took us to dinner at Cala Luna in North Sydney. Here's a few snapshots of some of the highlights of that meal:

Pizza appetizer

Mixed seafood appetizer: spring rolls, fried calamari, prawn skewers, salmon steaks

Some kinda gorgeous, decadant dessert. 

Uncle G and I were so impressed by the pizza, we vowed to return in the near future. And that we did.

Pizza Pasta Bene and Cala Luna are owned by the same people, in fact the restaurants are linked and share a few menu items. We arrived and were seated in the blazing afternoon sun; thus it was not long before we had to request to change tables. 

I am uncertain whether they had a staff member in training (perfect on a lazy Thursday night) or the 'waiter' really the boss' son and not a waiter at all. But we were seated on the smallest table by the kitchen. It was another 10 mins before the manager himself came to bring us the menus, as we were more or less ignored by the young male waiter. 

As Uncle G examined the menu, I overheard a conversation between the manager and the waiter about us: "What did these people sit themselves? ... Thursday night that's the only customers we've got.. etc". I couldn't make out the complete conversation, but I can't say it made me very comfortable.

Agnolotti: hand made pasta, slow braised oxtail, eggplant, capsicum, garlic, herbs - $22

 Anyway, onto the food. The first dish we ordered was the Agnolotti. I LOVE carbs, and nothing hits the spot more than homemade noodles/ pasta. The pasta was al dente and wonderfully flavoursome in the ragu.

Cross section of the agnolotti

 Filled with the goodness of eggplant! I really enjoyed this but the carnivore Uncle G wasn't much of a fan.

Vitello Pizzaola: milk fed veal, capers, garlic, chilli, olives, oregano - $29

 We both felt the veal missed the spot (especially for $29). It wasn't terrible. It was just rather ordinary, 2 medallions of veal which were somewhat dry. It does feel like a dish you could whip up at home. The broccoli was also over cooked. But the little potatoes and corn was great!

Gamberi: prawns, mozzarella, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, chilli, basil $23

The crowning moment was when the pizza arrived. This was the entire reason we came here and it did not disappoint. There was a generous spray of fresh prawns, juicy mushrooms, poppin' cherry tomato goodness with a hit of chilli. But the thing that keeps me coming back is the base. It's that lovely rustic bubbly pizza base, super thin but still crispy at the bottom if you eat it quick enough. I'm glad the quality of this pizza has been consistent over our 2 visits.

I have noticed there are a number of negative reviews about this place, which I somewhat understand. The service is average, food is pricey for the quality (except the pizza, that's worth it) but they do have promotion nights e.g. 2 for 1 pizza Tuesdays etc. I haven't tried the other pizzas and pastas at this place but certainly, if you get the Gamberi Pizza and the Agnolotti, I feel you will not be disappointed.