Da Mario Pizzeria

Organised a dinner at Da Mario after reading a couple of relatively good reviews about it online. This small Italian restaurant, which is helmed by Chef Mario from Abruzzo, Italy, promises an authentic Italian dinner by using the freshest ingredients as well as by making sauces and certain pastas from scratch.

Located at The Quayside just diagonally opposite from The Gallery Hotel, Da Mario is a small outfit that can sit probably 30 pax tops. Seating is mainly al fresco with the exception of a couple of small tables in the air conditioned interior. If you are worried about rising temperatures from sitting in the open, worry not. The restaurant has a couple of fans and blowers to keep you cool.

Calamari - The calamari's batter was a tad too thick for my liking while being overly generous on the salt. I'm not sure that this is my idea of a good calamari. The dip and lemon sauce did help a bit though.

Bruschetta Al Pomodoro - I can't believe how much olive oil went into this dish. The bread was literally soaked in olive oil, which made it rather gross to consume. Credit goes to the fresh and tangy tomatoes though.

Portobello Gratinato - Finally something that's worth mentioning - the Portobello mushroom. Served up in one humongous piece, the mushroom was tasty and succulent with a light hint of cheese. Black olives added a nice sourish twist to it while the sun dried tomatoes contributed a natural sweetness.

Capellini Regina - I only had a small sampling portion of this dish but what struck me was the excessive olive oil present, resulting in a soggy and rather oily rendition of angel hair pasta. My friend even went so far as to term it as a wetter/oilier version of "fried beehoon", which I am most inclined to agree given the resemblence in taste.

Tortelli - This was reminiscent of the lobster and crab meat ravioli I had at Bistro Senso about 2 months back. Taste of crab meat was predominant and the lobster, if any, was forgotten. I also thought that the tortelli was done up a little too thick, which resulted in a chewier then usual texture.

Omega 3 Pizza - In other words, smoked salmon pizza. Comparisons with Parma's offering is inevitable but its a totally different take on the same dish. Parma uses a mayonnaise base and rawer tasting salmon whereas for Da Mario, its tomato based and the rawness of the smoked salmon is very much subdued. I personally still prefer Parma's rendition but there are some who prefer otherwise.

Tiramisu - I only had a cursory bite of this dessert and found it rather average. The mascarpone cheese was too soft which affected the texture of the whole cake and I couldn't quite make out any alcohol. The only upside was the generous portion, which could have been shared amongst 2 - 3 pax comfortably.

Each of us forked out almost $35 for a filling, but not exactly satisfying dinner. Food quality is average but portion sizes are quite respectable. Service is very decent as well but the waiting time can vary, depending on the crowd. This is due to the lean kitchen that Da Mario operates (there's only Chef Mario and 1 assistant). Take your chances here.

See all my pictures here.

I just realised. I havnt written a review yet!!Gasps.

Ok. Well like the Ninja Turtles, Im a total pizza feind. I love love love pizza especially thin crust ones and light ones without an overload of the dough. Before da Mario, the only pizza's i had were from Pizza Hut, Dominos, Canadian piza and the other 2 for 1 pizza places. So my first time here was like *doinks* whoa. Pizza hut who??

Problem is i do not like tomato base. Yes most places use tomato base(usually i ask for the pizza without the tomato) so i did ask if it was possible to get the pizza sans the tomato base but using the cream based. Mario kindly obliged and whipped up the seafood pizza for me with cream sauce instead. So in the entire table only mua had the unique white pizza while everyone els had tomato base pizza.

Before this i did try the calamari. Which while i found was easily chewable and light, liked the batter but found it abit salty. DIdnt try the parma ham for obvious reasons(yes its weird that im ok with drinking but when eating pork or other non halal meat is concerned im not).

Then came the pasta with black truffle. it was my first time trying it too. And oh yum. Didnt know how delicious it was. It was creamy and yet not jerlak or too thick like some cream based pasta are. I happily ate my pasta and finished it before my much awaited pizza came.

When it did, mamamia, the pizza was like the way i wanted. Light, chewy yet crispy. Ok abit salty also but still good. Plenty of prawns and squids and scallops wic im not a big fan of. But i ate it all. Was feeling quite full after that. But cmon. As if i wouldnt have dessert. Did get to try the different dessert options but liked the tiramisu. Is was not too drenched in alcohol and not too dry and i savoured it bit by bit. It was actually the first time i tried a tiramisu i liked.

we sat outside and it was nice.near to the waterfront(ok not too near but ok enuf) and from the outside i could see the cosy homey interior or the shop. Staff had slight problems communicating(english not that good) but they tried and i applaud that compared to certain supposedly Halal establishment in Simpang which employ staff who dont speak a word of english.

Since i heard they have a new menu, im so going there again. this time with boyfriend in tow and no im not sharing the tiramisu.