Romo Pizza Bar

21 Katherine Place
Melbourne, VIC 3000
https://www.romopizzabar.com.au/

My parents came back from Italy (and Greece) earlier this year – I know, how dare they go without me – with a new appreciation for pizza, pasta, and all things carby. So for the first time in 30 years, it’s pizza for my birthday with my family! Romo Pizza Bar was an excellent find of my sister’s; this unassuming little place does some of the best pizza around town, with the tallest crusts and most delectable of ingredients. I’d give the pastas a skip, but hey, it’s called Romo Pizza Bar for a reason.

Rating: 13/20 – approved by family who recently came back from italy.
How-to: go hard on the pizzas, go home on everything else.

The Stracciatella ($28) is the Margherita’s hotter sister. Instead of mozzarella, the base is topped with oozy dollops of cream, and the addition of roasted tomatoes adds a deeper, richer umami to the flavour profile. And the puffy base? Let’s just say every last bit of crust was happily devoured.

The Mortadella ($28) was my sister’s idea, after falling in love with a sandwich with similar ingredients in Italy. And it was just as well, because it was utterly delicious, and I would never have ordered it for myself. The rich, creamy base cheese and garlic cream forms a beautiful backdrop for the lushness of pesto and pistachios, and the whole thing comes draped in a silky gauze of savoury mortadella. It’s an unexpected combination that somehow comes together to form a minor miracle.

The Carbonara ($28) on the other hand was lacklustre. The hand-cut pappardelle was a win, but the flavours themselves were just too muted, with none of the sticky decadence you get from a really good carbonara. At least they didn’t put cream in it.

The Tiramisu ($15) is a decent choice for dessert, and although the coffee and liqueur flavours could be richer, it doesn’t go too wrong.

The Pistachio Gelato ($7) was a lot more impressive, with a deliciously toasty flavour. That price though? OOFT.