I read about some new developments from the team and family behind Mezzalira and Italian and Sons on the Good Food website. The latest venture is a hole in the wall on London Circuit called Da Rosario Pizzicheria, right next to Mezzalira in the Melbourne Building. A pizzicheria is like a delicatessan selling meats, cheeses and other foodstuffs. Seating is only available at the few tables and stools outside on the walkway.
I was born in Italy so Italian food is and will always be my favourite cuisine. I stopped in for lunch after much squealing when I drove past and saw it was open. I do love the cool dark wooden doors with prints of Italian food-related words.
You can see it literally is a hole in the wall with one side holding bottles of wine, a coffee machine and the cash register, and the other side holding a large glass cabinet filled with the various panini on the day’s menu and sweets.
The very top holds the charcuterie cabinet with an assortment of meats hanging down. I’d love to try out all of the cured meats.
I was surprised to see a large selection of items on the lunch menu for such a small place. It’s great to hear that the menu changes daily. We noticed the kitchen in Mezzalira is utilised.
My friend and I shared an antipasti of porchetta ($14) – thinly sliced Berkshire porchetta with rosemary and thyme, crostini and salsa verde. Served warm and drizzled with oil, it looks a little heavy with all of that oil. However, I thought this was a light and fresh starter. There was a bit of fat on the pork but it just tasted so good. The salsa verde was mainly a pesto mix which tasted great on its own and even better with the pork. The crostini was crispy and slightly cheesy – a nice addition to the meal.
For my main, I chose the spaghetti ($15) with veal and parmesan meatballs and tomato and basil sugo. This was served still steaming with a bit of Parmesan on top, and in case I wanted more, a small side plate of Parmesan. I loved the big thick spaghetti that’s used cooked perfectly al dente. The meatballs were nice and I could tell that good quality mince was used. I thought the thick tomato sugo was a little salty so I didn’t clean up the sauce like I usually do. But I did manage to slurp up all the spaghetti. The portion was just enough to fill me after sharing an antipasti. This is your simple spag and meatballs done well.
My friend enjoyed the insalata caprese ($14) of buffalo bocconcini, ox-heart tomato, basil and extra virgin olive oil.
I couldn’t resist trying the tiramisu on the dessert menu ($10). This came in a take away container which suited me as I don’t think I could’ve finished it in that sitting.
One layer of sponge and two layers of mascarpone cream. As my friend says, ‘straight to the ass.’ I thought this was worth it 🙂 The smell of coffee wafted up as soon as you open the container. Very smooth thick cream and hardly any liqueur = a great tiramisu for me. I had a few spoonfuls and took the rest home with me.
Overall, I think this is a great new addition to the Canberra food scene. Casual, laid-back and fun with our waitstaff dancing to the music on the walkway. Tasty and fresh food, reasonable prices, people-watching, friendly service and food served quickly is always a winning combination.
For those short on time, we saw many office workers buying a panini and coffee to go. The blackboard outside states regular coffees are $3 and large coffees $3.50.
A great article by HerCanberra provides more background of the latest venture, an interview with one of the Trimboli brothers and an interesting update to Mezzalira and its refurbishment to casualise the restaurant. Their next ventures are an Italian grocer opening next to Italian and Sons in Braddon with a cheese room, and meats area, and perhaps some weekend classes. A new wine bar behind Italian and Sons is also in the works. Exciting!
Da Rosario is only open Monday to Friday between 7am-3pm. I am yet to try out breakfast here and am looking forward to the savoury brekky items that will be introduced shortly as well as the other items on the changing menu. Da Rosario’s facebook page is updated with the day’s menu so keep a look out for that.
Foodgasm 8/10
Hi there – I love your blog! You’ve put up heaps of really useful reviews and thanks to you I’ve discovered more places to try in Canberra that I never knew about! I was just wondering if you could recommend a place for good authentic Italian food – my partner and I used to frequent La Capanna in Kingston (it used to be cozy and had really good food) but the owner has since left and its really gone downhill since…. any thoughts?
Thanks for keeping up such an amazing blog!!
Hello! Appreciate the feedback and glad you’re enjoying reading my blog 🙂 I’ve never been to La Capanna but walk past it all the time. Other good Italian spots in Canberra – I’d probably say Italian & Sons (Braddon), Il Portico (Kingston), La Cantina (Narrabundah), and Briscola Pizzeria (Civic). I’ve been to the Italian Continental Bakery & Cafe in Mawson for great Italian pastries, and they also do pasta there (though I’ve never tried the pasta) but it could be worth a try. Hope that helps! Let me know how you go 🙂