La Porchetta

Location: 315 Elizabeth Street, North Hobart

Phone: (03) 6231 6777
Website: http://www.laporchetta.com.au/

Opening hours: 11am till 9pm

Kids menu: Yes - $9.90 including small main meal (pasta or pizza), soft drink and small scoop of ice-cream

Adults menu: Small, medium and large sized traditional pizzas ranging from $12 - $18; gourmet pizzas $15 - $22; pastas $14 - $18; main meals including schnitzel's, parmigiana, steaks & seafood options $24 - $30; and desserts including tiramisu, chocolate mousse, cassata and gelato options $3.70 - $7.90

Mumma Review

Time has been slipping away from us lately......bubba number 2 is on its way for me and my taste buds have been doing extreme things - McDonald's cravings one minute to stir-fry veggies the next!!  This night I was after one thing.....cheesy pizza and a tall glass of diet-coke!  So we zipped into La Porchetta in North Hobart for a quick mid-week meal and a cheesy pizza and diet coke is just what I got :)

It has been years since we have been to La Porchetta that's for sure.  Upon entry we were greeted by friendly staff who quickly had us seated, our great man propped up in a booster seat and colouring-in pencils and paper presented to him within minutes.  The menu consisted of regular and gourmet pizza's, pasta and a few other main options to choose from.  We opted all to share a medium sized margarita pizza and a BBQ Chicken.......both pizza's arrived at our table pipping hot in less than 10 minutes (good going when you have a busy and hungry toddler on your hands and one hungry mumma!).

The pizza's were tasty and they hit the spot perfectly.  The layout of the restaurant was certainly family friendly with enough room to park prams and high chairs and/or booster seats available.  While we were there is was pretty quiet (albeit it was before 6pm!) however noise was easily absorbed into the space - a prerequisite really when you are dining with little ones :)

All in all La Porchetta in North Hobart was a great spot for a quick, tasty and affordable meal and they well and truly accommodated our great man.

Love Mumma Al x 
   

The Italian Pantry - Trattoria Friday Night

Location: 27 - 29 Federal St, North Hobart

Phone: (03) 6231 2788

Website:http:  www.italianpantry.com.au  

Opening hours: Mon - Thurs 8am - 6pm, Fri 8am - 9.30pm, Sat 8am - 3pm

Kids menu: No
Adult menu: On the night we were there our menu options were six "Assagi" small tasting plates, "Primi" including smoked salmon and asparagus salad, potato gnocchi with lamb ragu, or steamed mussels in tomato, garlic, chilli, and parsley salsa, "Secondi" osso bucco, or scotta ditto.  Side dishes of salad or veggies.  For dessert; a selection of handmade gelato, berry tartlets with limoncello mascarpone, or a selection of three cheeses with mustard fruits.
Prices: The tasting plates range from $5 to $6.50 each, or $31.50 for all six.  "Primi" options $16.50 - $18.50.  "Secondi" options around $30.  Dessert $13 - $18

 Mumma Review:

Hubbys birthday celebration this year was a family dinner at The Italian Pantry.  We love our Italian food, and we had heard some great reviews about this place, so it seemed like a great spot to try.

Having only a small front cafe area, with limited bookings for their Friday night dinner, and from what I had heard from others, I was expecting that our table of 12 would just about fill the place.  How wrong I was!  The Friday night dinner is obviously very popular.  I booked three weeks in advance and the night I wanted just happened to be the first booking available.  

The night we arrived there were tables not only in the front cafe, but also set up through-out the deli.  Our table was right at the back, amongst the grocery aisles.  Uh-oh, a table with a one year old, a two year old, and open grocery shelves = a supermarket nightmare, and surely a recipe for disaster!! 

Luckily there were two high chairs available (which I had reserved when making the booking) to keep our little ones in check, and a big basket of toys was produced early on by our waiter.  And so, the groceries stayed safely on the shelves.

The Friday night dinner at The Italian Pantry is trattoria style, with limited menu.  The place was packed and bustling, service was prompt and friendly, the food was nice, and although it was not the quiet family atmosphere I was expecting it was still a pleasant atmosphere.

Our menu consisted of a selection of 6 small tasting plates, 3 options for primi, 2 options for secondi, side dishes of either salad or vegetables, and 3 dessert options.

The tasting plates, or "Assagi" could be purchased individually, or you could purchase all 6 to make up a main meal for around $30.  I had the pizza slice with caramelized onion and buffalo mozzarella, which was delicious.  Other options included baby octopus marinated in virgin olive oil, chilli, lemon and garlic; anchovy fritters with sage and garlic aioli; oven roasted tomatoes with oregano; scallops lightly poached with bechamel sauce; or mini air freighted Italian buffalo mozzarella with house made pesto.  To me the tasting plates were the highlight of the menu, and I think if I were to return again I would order all six for my meal!

The options on the "primi" section of the menu are small serves obviously, but a couple of smaller eaters chose one of these dishes for their main meal and were happy with the size.  I chose a larger "secondi" meal; osso bucco, which was nice.  The other option was lamb chops served on pumpkin puree, scalloped potatoes and rosemary lamb jus.

Between courses we were able to browse the deli, and check out the fantastic range of cheese in the cold room, the meats, fresh and dried pasta's, and a plethora of imported food and wines from Italy, over 2000 items from all regions of the country.

The Italian Pantry are also open as a cafe Monday to Saturday, for breakfast, lunch or just coffee.  I wouldn't mind popping back during the week to try out their day time menu.  Their basket of toys is large enough to keep my little one distracted while I relax with a coffee!  I must also return two kids books from the basket that a "helpful" relative mistakenly packed into my bag when we were getting organised to leave!  So, Italian Pantry, I promise to be back soon to return them!  

Have any of you been here during the day for coffee or a bite to eat?  I'm interested to hear your thoughts.

Love Mumma Kel x

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Martizucco's

Location:  364 Elizabeth St, North Hobart  
Phone:  (03) 6234 9611
Website:  http://www.martizuccos.com.au/index.htm
Opening hours:  Dinner daily from 5.30pm, Thurs - Sat for lunch

Kids menu:  Yes, a selection of little people friendly pasta's and pizza's, or fish/calamari/chicken and chips, served with a small soft drink, and bowl of icecream for $14
Adults menu:  Large selection of pizza, and pasta, as well as a main menu consisting of cotolette, seafood dishes, veal (scallopine funghi and saltimbocca), chicken (pesto, marsala or in a cream and white wine mushroom sauce) and chargrilled lamb or steak.  Plenty to choose from! Not to mention the entrees ( pizza breads and antipasto) and desserts
Prices:  The pasta's are available in entrée or main size, ranging in price from $12.50 for the cheapest entree size, up to $19.80 for the dearest main size.  All other mains around $25-$30. Original pizzas: S $10.90, M $13.60, L $18.50.  Gourmet pizzas: S $14, M $17, L $23 

Mumma Review

Although Martizucco's Restaurant in North Hobart has not scored many Mumma Needs Coffee icons for kid friendly features, it is in actual fact a pretty good spot to go with the kids.  

It has early opening hours for dinner, high chairs, a cute kids menu, a casual atmosphere, and staff that are very friendly and accommodating towards children.  All of this made for an enjoyable night out with bubba for his Gramps' birthday celebration!   

Pram access isn't great.  You could manage to manoeuvre up the front step and in the door with a smaller pram, but once you are in you cant go much further.  There is a small dining area on the ground floor, with the rest of the restaurant being accessed via a small set of steep steps.  So if you want to have bub in the pram it would be wise to book a table on the ground floor.  Our table of ten were easily accommodated on the second floor without feeling squished in, and bubba took prime position in his high chair at the head of the table much to his liking.

Our group all shared herb and garlic pizza's for entree, which bub tucked into with gusto along with the rest of us.  I have never before actually ordered a specific kids menu for dinner for bub - it always seemed like a waste with him being likely to spend more time playing with it than eating it, but this time a bowl of his favourite type of pasta followed by an icecream treat seemed too good to refuse.

There was not an unusually long wait for our mains, but it was long enough for bub to be getting quite antsy in his high chair.  Our observant waitress noticed this and asked us if we would like his dinner now, and two seconds later it appeared.  Much appreciated!  However, I don't think the soft drink that was included in the kids menu price ever turned up.  I was keeping an eye out for it as I was planning on guzzling it myself... perhaps hubby beat me to it.

The kids menu dessert was a bowl of icecream with topping.  Deciding that a bowl of icecream was treat enough I asked for no topping.  I'm sure I heard someone in my family tsk at me, but no one owned up... maybe I was hearing things.  Anyway, bub was extremely impressed with what he was presented with, and it was timed perfectly with our mains arriving, so that made me happy too!

The rest of our table also seemed pretty happy with the food, judging by the comments. No two people had the same meal, so its pretty impressive that there were no complaints.

By the end of mains bub was over it, so I played pass the child around the table to try and keep him entertained in the hope that I would be able to sneak a dessert in.  Unfortunately before orders for dessert were taken bub was barely keeping his cool, so we scuttled off home.  We are always the first to leave these days, but at least we got there!

Love Mumma Kel x