+39, Melbourne CBD by Bureaucrat

For a work lunch to farewell Mr H, we headed to +39 pizzeria.


Mr H had been to +39 before and liked the food there and it's been on my list of 'to eat' places ever since I read Chewy's review back in June 2010.  And Chewy, if you're reading this, how about posting up a new review soon (and the same goes for you, Ruby Grapefruit)?? :P


Inside, it has a slight warehousey chic look and feel to the place. Although it looks a bit dark in my photo, it's actually a bit brighter and spacious inside, with views onto Lt Bourke St.

Anyhoo, given that there were 15 of us, I made a booking in advance. The staff there were very accomodating.  To assist with the timely delivery of our lunch, we pre-ordered our dishes.

Here are some of the dishes that we ordered...


... the Gamberi which is comprised of cream of asparagus, Fior di Latte, prawns, cherry tomatoes & parsley.  Of the pizzas that we ordered, I thought this was the best looking one.  I had a bit of food envy.  But at $18.50 I would have expected a bit more prawns...


...the vegetarian Crema di Zucca - roasted pumpkin puree, Fior Di Latte, caramelized shallots, green beans & parsley.  I liked the golden orange colour of it...


...I got the capricciosa - tomato salsa, Fior Di Latte, leg ham, olives, artichoke hearts & mushrooms.  I was a bit 'meh' about this pizza.  It was a bit on the bland side and a bit soggy.  The pizza base was thin either becuase they made the pizza in advance, or because they used too much salsa.  This was a sentiment shared by a few of us who ordered pizzas...


...the Wagyu lasagne, which went down a treat for Mr C.  Although, I'm always a bit suss when restuarants say that something is made with minced Wagyu... I mean, once the Wagyu is minced up, how could you tell it from regular mince?...


...Mr U got the beetroot salad.  Despite the name of the dish, Mr U got only a few tiny cubes of beetroot.  He felt that it would have been more appropriately named, Spinach Salad.  There were also a few tiny cubes of roasted pumpkin, a light sprinkling of roasted hazlenuts and lots of buffalo mozz and spinach.  If he knew what the salad was going to be like, Mr U said that he would have ordered something else...


...another veggie pizza, the Alla Norma  - Fior Di Latte, fried eggplant, organic ricotta, cherry tomatoes & basil...


...the Margherita.  I never got what the appeal of the Margherita pizza is.  It's just tomato paste/salsa/puree w mozz and basil.  Presentation wise, this could have been better.

Overall
I know that it can be difficult for restaurants to cater for large groups.  +39 was definitely helpful in accomodating for our needs.  With the pre-ordering, the food came out quickly, as did our drinks.  Our table was a bit squishy, but that's because our party was big.  But generally, the place was quite comfy and I could see why so many people like to come here.

However, foodwise, I wasn't as impressed as I had hoped to be.  The pizza was soggy and a bit bland.  Although, +39 gets points for an interesting pizza menu - many of the toppings are novel and not your run-of-the-mill pizza that you get in most places.  The general vibe from my colleagues was that the food was good but not great.

Verdict
Ambience - 7
Service - 7.5
Food - 6.5
Price - 7

Address
+39
362 Little Bourke Street
Melbourne 3000
Phone: 9642 0440