V Rating: VV
Where: 104 Miller Street, Pyrmont 2009
When: Dinner Mon - Sun. Lunch Mon - Fri 12.00pm - 3.00pm.
Tel: (02) 9518 4281
Price: Pizza = $12 - $16 small; $15 - $22 large.

With its unobtrusive glass shopfront, Made in Italy could almost be mistaken for a real estate agency or generic inner city retail shop. However, any confusion about the nature of the business is soon dispelled by the seductive pizza aromas that fill the restaurant and float out onto the street.

Made in Italy is the real deal. The pizzas are thin crust and the toppings are fresh, original and flavourful. The spinaci (fresh spinach and tomato, cheese and garlic) and funghi francesci (champignons, parsley, cheese and garlic) are standouts, but vegetarians can take heart that there are eight veggie pizza options.

Vegans are ignored entirely on the pizza front, although you can probably ask for the pizzas to come without cheese. There are a couple of veggie and vegan friendly pastas, and usually one veggie special.

The catch with Made in Italy is the service. Generally it’s friendly, if not always efficient. Sometimes it’s neither.

For example, recently some work pals and I dutifully booked a table for a Friday lunch. We were seated in the corner and had trouble attracting the attention of the staff when we were ready to order. Once we’d finished ordering we were treated to a Kremlin style lecture on the rules for eating at the restaurant.

The cardinal rule, apparently, was that if we booked a table there was a minimum spend of $15 per person. Our order was below this mark. We listened to the lecture and then politely suggested that a good time to tell customers about this ‘rule’ might be when they made the booking, not after they’d been seated and ordered. This was not viewed favourably by the waitress, who gave us a severe look and reminded us that we were already bad customers because ‘you booked for five but only four came.’ Apparently this was also against the rules.

Fortunately for us our bad behaviour was overlooked on this occasion and our steaming pizzas and huge salad soon arrived. They were worth the wait, and the rules.

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