It all started on a cloudy day in May 2021. The conversation about food and how Footscray is a unique melting pot of different cultures and delicious cuisine. That conversation led us to the discovery of the best Italian pizza we’ve eaten in Australia to date.
It’s hard to describe what great pizza tastes like. But I can tell you what a terrible one (in my humble opinion) is. Too much cheese. Too much grease. No visual appeal. Ill balanced flavours. Too thick of a base. No stand out flavour. The list truly does go on.
Let’s be honest. Although we eat with our mouth, the true first experience of a meal is what it smells like, then what is looks like before you even think of what it tastes like. When I think of subway sandwiches, I think…great smell, visually appealing but tastes bland with watered down ketchup.
But I digress.
Let’s get back to the topic of pizza.
When I experience a great pizza, I’m hoping to smell the different elements that would come together in my mouth to create a sensational taste experience. I want to smell the herbs subtly, be able to differentiate the meat from the cheese and visually see what.
The pizza from The Mozarella Bar in Footscray ticks all the boxes mentioned and more. In the year we spent in Footscray, we did our best to support the local economy during lockdown by having pizza once or twice a month. If I’m being honest, we were spoilt for choice when it came to delicious eateries in Footscray. Thai? Check. Vietnamese? Check. Greek? Check. Italian? Check.
So imagine our shock when we moved to the burbs in 2022 and realised that quality of cuisine we’ve come to appreciate are at a minimum 20 minute plus drive away from us. We decided to settle for the options around us but this didn’t last long.
On Saturday, we decided to go the distance and visit The Mozarella Bar for old times sake. It was worth the 40 minute drive and then some. The initial plan was to order our tried and trusted favourite pizzas: three little pigs and quattro formaggi. But when we entered the restaurant, we decided to go with one of the specials of the day: lasagne, and a new pizza option: taranto.
We weren’t disappointed with our choices.
The chef definitely went to town with the lasagne. Talk about a well balanced combination of tomatoes, herbs and mince. Very little cheese made its way into the served meal. This came on the side and allowed you to control how much cheese you added to the lasagne. I’ve never had lasagne where all the pasta sheets are stacked together with little filling between them, and the meat sauce served on the side. It was so good that we ordered another serving for takeaway.
Enough talk about the lasagne.
Have you ever had potatoes in your pizza? There’s a first time for everything. If I’m being honest, I really wanted to order the quattro formaggi with the lasagne cause I thought they’d pair well. The thought of thin pear slices, rocket leaves and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar on a thin crust kept running through my mind as we planned the trip. When we got to the restaurant, I realised that it was no longer on the menu so I settled for taranto. Even though it didn’t give me the sweet savoury experience I was looking forward to, you could tell that some thought went into the flavour profile.
Okay…a lot of thought. Can you imagine seeing tiny pieces of potato in your pizza? I had my doubts but they somehow made it work.
We ended the night with full stomachs, smiles on our faces and a hearty spare lasagne for another day. There was no room left for dessert but that’s okay. We’re already planning our next foodie trip that’ll hopefully allow us to explore other favourites in the Footscray area.
And just like that…I’m back sharing my thoughts online.
The lasagne was especially delightful. Good times 🙂