Still one of the best pizza joints going round
This much-loved Hobart institution’s food is full of flavour, the portions are generous and prices are good value – but it’s the service that keeps the customers coming back, writes Alix Davis
Food and Wine
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I’ve only been to Da Angelo three times, and we didn’t even stay for dinner on one of those occasions (no booking on a Friday – we were living dangerously!), but Angelo always greets us as welcome friends and it’s one of the most endearing things about this much-loved neighbourhood restaurant.
The walls are lined with photos of visiting celebrities and sports teams and I get the feeling that if Frank Sinatra visited Hobart, he and Dean Martin wouldn’t mind a bowl of pasta at this classic red sauce joint.
And why wouldn’t they? Pasta is made fresh in-house (choose from spaghetti, fettuccine, macaroni, gnocchi or ravioli) as is the pizza dough and bread, and the sauces are endlessly customisable – ensuring everyone gets what they want.
We begin with a bruschetta pizza ($14) – ideal in winter when tomatoes are not at their best and roasting them brings out their natural sweetness and flavours. Robust and chewy pizza dough is topped with fresh tomatoes and basil along with plenty of garlic and cheese and soaks up some of the pre-dinner beers enjoyed at the Prince of Wales pub next door.
Other entrees include warmed olives with fresh bread ($18.50), a salumi plate ($26) and stracciatella soup ($13). Stracciatella in this context is a chicken soup with a lightly beaten egg but stracciatella can also be a fresh cheese (delicious!) and a gelato flavour (choc-chip, also delicious and apparently inspired by the soup!).
Before our mains arrive, Angelo stops by for a chat and we learn that next year will be the restaurant’s 30th anniversary – a significant milestone for any hospitality business. While the southern Italian-inspired food (Angelo’s family hails from Molise while business partner Marco’s family is from Abruzzo) may be a constant, he tells us that the venue has had a number of renovations along the way. The pizza ovens (they do a brisk trade in takeaway) are positioned at the front door, while the main kitchen is at the rear, through a dining room full of small and large groups. Friendly and attentive staff weave their way around the room and are happy to give recommendations for their favourite dishes.
My entree-sized main of fresh fettuccine with puttanesca sauce ($27) is a generous portion and full of the umami-rich flavours I was looking for – anchovies, capers, olives and chilli. Our waiter brings a small bowl of fresh chillies in oil and I pile those on as well. The pasta is perfectly al dente, with a nice bite to it.
My husband opts for fettuccine with vegetali sauce ($30 for a main course) and adds bacon to the tomato-based sauce brimming with snow peas, mushroom, spinach and more. Angelo delivers a plate of fresh bread to the table and our plates are wiped clean before you know it.
I stick to the classics when it comes to pizza and the Calabrese ($25 for a medium) hits all the right notes with spicy salami, crisp bacon, finely sliced mushrooms and a bit of chilli. The base is of medium thickness, nicely chewy with a puffed crust that my husband puts to one side and that I demolish without a second thought.
If pizza and pasta aren’t your thing, we can still be friends and you can choose from a variety of other mains including classic veal scallopine and chicken with a variety of sauces.
We’re obviously far too full for dessert but with Angelo’s urging agree to a bowl of housemade gelato ($13) and I’m so glad we did. The pistachio scoop is pale green and flecked with crushed nuts, the hazelnut is rich and almost chocolatey, the coffee is mellow enough even for a non-coffee drinker like me and I could have eaten another whole scoop of the marsala flavour. Gelato is the Italian word for ice cream derived from the Latin word “gelātus” meaning frozen. While they look similar, gelato is actually lower in fat because it
contains less cream and more milk, and is churned slower resulting in less air and a richer flavour. Technicalities aside, these just taste good and I’m grateful that we are all equipped with dessert stomachs.
There’s nothing fancy about Da Angelos but the food is full of flavour, the portions are generous and the prices represent good value. But we don’t go there for cutting-edge food – we go there for the hospitality and the feeling that you’re having dinner at a new (or old) friend’s house and that’s why you should go there too.
DA ANGELO RISTORANTE
47 Hampden Rd, Battery Point
Opening hours
Sun-Thurs; 5pm-9.30pm, Fri: 12-2.30pm and 5-10pm, Sat; 5-10pm
On the menu Bruschetta pizza, $14; fettuccine puttanesca, $27; fettuccine vegetali, $30; calabrese pizza, $25; housemade gelato, $13.
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