Casual Dining - Sorellina Pizzeria

http://sorellinapizzeria.com/

There has a lot been posted online in recent times asking 'where is Brisbane's best pizza?'.  Now I've got some pretty good ideas myself but my favourite pizza joint was not listed in an article recently and I was a little perplexed.  I personally think that Beccofino, over at Newstead is far and away the best pizza, especially the margherita pizza.  

Anyway, this post is not about Beccofino but another pizza place that has been getting a lot of press and was recently voted as one of Brisbane's best pizza joints.  I've seen Sorellina mentioned so many times recently as superb pizza that I had to get over and check it out for myself.  Sorellina is in that funky little section of Logan Road at Wooloongabba that has Brisbane institutions Pearl Cafe (see post here), Cross Town Eating House (see post here) and the wonderful 1889 Enotecca (see post here).  

With such amazing eateries nearby, I had high expectations of Sorellina and hoped that there would be another classic spot for people to check out in that little strip.  I knew that there was a no reservations policy at Sorellina, so we decided to head over fairly early on a Sunday evening for dinner.  A double benefit of our timing was that it was super easy to find a park, right out the front in Logan Road.  Now, if you've ever tried to find a park at that little strip when going for dinner, you know how lucky we must have been to score a park straight up.

It had been a while since we'd eaten at the 'Gabba and were surprised to see where Sorellina actually was, right where some old furniture shops had been.  Walking in to Sorellina, we were confronted by a largely empty restaurant with quite simple furnishings, almost utilitarian, that had clean lines without being fancy.  Down the back of the space was the wood fire pizza oven and a little bit of a bar area. With plenty of seats to choose from, we sat near the front door, which gave a great view of the action in the kitchen.

The pizza menu at Sorellina is quite simple with five white base variations and five tomato based pizzas, with each of the pizzas keeping to fairly traditional toppings.  There are also some interesting looking starters and a couple of desserts but we largely ignored these for our first visit, we were there for pizza.  I've never really been a fan of white or plain pizzas, they generally lack flavour and really, pizza for me is all about the tomato base.  A quick once over of the menu was enough for us and before too long we had our pizzas on order and SC had a Peroni beer on its way.

Not surprisingly, I had ordered the buffalo mozzarella with basil otherwise known as a margharita and was instantly impressed with the look of the pizza.  The rich tomato sauce was popping and the perfectly melted buffalo mozzarella melded into the base in just the right way with the pizza being finished off with a drizzle of olive oil.  Looking good is only part of the story and it's all about taste and my first mouthful told the story. Incredibly thin base, rich tomato sauce with a slightly zingy flavour and rich, creamy mozzarella.  It was good, really good, almost as good as my beloved Beccofino.  Probably the only thing that I would have liked to see to make it even better was less crust, which took up more of the pizza than I would have liked, but that's a minor quibble. 

SC likes a bit of heat in her pizzas and went for the salami with mozzarella and oregano, again simple ingredients but quite traditional for a pizza.  SC kindly allowed me to have a slice of her pizza, so I was able to get a decent sample to taste.  I was equally impressed with this pizza too.  There was a generous amount of salami on the pizza, which was not too hot but just a little bit of heat to let you know you're eating processed meat.  The base was equally thin but SC had slightly less crust with her pizza, so there was more edible pizza (we don't eat the crust).

We left our dinner at a couple of pizzas each but we were a little tempted by the wood-fired cookies and glass of warm milk, mainly because it sounded so comforting.

It remained quiet the whole time we were at Sorellina, which meant that it was a whirlwind visit, we came, we ate and we left.  Because it was early and a Sunday evening, there was no vibe to speak of in the dining area, but sometimes that's OK, especially if you just want a quick bite to eat.  I'm reliably informed that it can have quite the buzz on a Friday and Saturday night.  I'd even consider checking it out on a busier night, but hate the prospect of queueing.

I was impressed enough with the pizzas to understand why there is such a buzz about this place and it's close enough to the CBD for us to sneak in for take away pizza from time to time.  I can't say it was the best pizza I've had but it was damn good.  If you love pizza and haven't checked this place out yet, then get on in.  Just don't expect a pizza with a dozen toppings, most of the pizzas have two or three toppings, and for me, that sound just about right.

@FoodMeUpScotty

Just a near perfect pizza

The salami pizza was almost as good as my margharita!

In case you missed it, I'd eaten half my pizza before SC's arrive.  So a bit of a problem with timings

There are a lot of white walls at Sorellina just crying out for a mural

Simple and utilitarian decor inside - a splash of colour wouldn't hurt though

I can see this being a brilliant spot on a warm summer's evening