+39, Melbourne CBD by Chewy

+39 is cleverly named so because it is the international direct dialling code for Italy. I don't eat Italian very often so visiting this restaurant was a nice departure from the norm. A variety of pizzas, pastas and foccacias is on offer for the lunchtime city crowd with a degustation menu available for formal dining.

We all ordered different pizzas and shared them between us. Interestingly, someone mentioned that the Italian sparkling water we were drinking had a hint of salt in it giving it a different flavour compared with Australian sparkling water. It's obvious after someone points it out, but it's something that I wasn't conscious of until then.


Big Fil ordered the pumpkin pizza, and was scorned for his poor Italian pronunciation. Ruby Grapefruit's pronunciation was impeccable and it was duly noted by the waiter. Impressed and perhaps enamoured he henceforth referred to Ruby as 'bella' ... which was ok because she is!

I was intrigued and thus could not pass up the half calzone/half margheritta. Simplistic, but innovative in form.


Snooze ordered the brocolli pizza--delicate broccoli well balanced by toasted pine nuts and a touch of saltiness from the anchovies.


The consensus was that the pumpkin pizza was good but could have been improved by using pumpkin pizzas rather than puree.


The eggplant pizza was also could but would have been improved using thicker, roasted eggplant.


Other than adding a little more topping, the sausage pizza was probably the best.


Overall
Good pizzas: delicate, simple with a delicious crisp base.

Verdict:
Ambience - 8
Service - 7
Food - 7
Price - 7

Address:
362 Little Bourke Street
Melbourne VIC 3000
Ph: (03) 9642 0440