Dolcissimo, Haberfield

A trip to Haberfield on Sunday afternoon meant I couldn't get my ricotta cheesecake fix from Pasticceria Papa because they were closed! But not to worry, we head across the road to Dolcissimo instead for some pizza, pasta and, according to them, 'Australia's finest gelato'.

Spinach and ricotta ravioli with Napolitana sauce - $19.70

Their extensive menu consists of traditional wood fired pizzas, pastas, risottos, mains, panini and a wide range of home-made desserts. I'm here with Sir D and his family and we opt for 2 pizzas and 2 pastas to share between us. The first dish to arrive is the spinach and ricotta ravioli in a Napolitana sauce. The ravioli are soft pillows of pasta filled with a light and fluffy filling. The dish is simple but delicious with the rich tomato flavours of the sauce and the subtle flavours of the spinach and ricotta.

Farfalle al salmone - $23.90

The other pasta we order is the farfalle al salmone which is butterfly-shaped pasta with cooked salmon, shallots, extra virgin olive oil and a dash of brandy in a tomato cream sauce. I'm a big fan of tomato cream sauces and this one is smooth and creamy with a pleasant sweet tomato flavour. With seafood pastas I tend to expect only a few pieces of seafood but this dish is littered with chunks of salmon pieces amongst perfectly cooked al dente pasta.

Margherita: Mozzarella cheese, basil, olive oil - $17.50

The pizzas arrive and are set on pizza stands - a great idea since the pizzas are enormous and the tables are a bit small. The margherita is one that I like to order when visiting an Italian place because I think it's a good indicator of the quality of the restaurant. This one is very cheesy with a nice tomato sauce underneath the layer of stringy cheese. One thing that worries me though is that there is quite a lot of oil pooling on the top of the pizza. However, the base is great and the crust is actually my favourite part of this pizza - it's crispy and delicious because the topping goes all the way to the edge.

La Rugola: Rocket, prosciutto, parmesan cheese, olive oil - $21.50

The other pizza is a pizza bianca which has no tomato sauce as the base. This pizza has rocket, prosciutto, extra virgin olive oil and shavings of parmesan scattered on top. It's light and refreshing and the pizza base is crispier than the margherita because of the lack of sauce. The flavours go well together but there is quite a lot of oil visible on this pizza as well, which makes me wonder if someone decided to go a little crazy with the olive oil in the kitchen today... Nonetheless all the of pizzas are eaten and we are full and satisfied.

Not full enough to skip on the gelato though, and we head downstairs to check out the range of gelato flavours which are made on the premises. Sir D and I order 3 scoops of gelato to share and the gelato man gives us three giant scoops of gelato and stuffs it all into a cup.

3 scoops of home-made gelato - $5.50

Today we've gone for the chocolate, bacio and lemon sorbet flavours. The lemon sorbet is fresh and tangy as it should be. The bacio has a strong hazelnut flavour and is my favourite out of the three, while the chocolate is great with a slight bitterness but I still prefer the chocolate from Bravos. I'm not sure about this place serving 'Australia's finest gelato' (I think I prefer Gelato Messina) but if I was in Haberfield with a gelato craving I'd definitely return to try out more of their flavours.

Dolcissimo
96-98 Ramsay Street
Haberfield NSW 2045
Ph: +61 2 9716 4444


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