Cars, Food and the Ladies of Hong Kong & Macau: D.O.C. Pizza and Mozzarella Bar

Thursday, January 19, 2012

D.O.C. Pizza and Mozzarella Bar - (Melbourne)

D.O.C. Pizza stands for Denominazione di Origine Controllata pizza, which according to the proper Italian traditional rules must adhere to a few outlined protocols or set of guidelines it must vehemently adhere by to prove its cause. Melbourne’s D.O.C. pizza shop is not really a proper D.O.C. pizza or Verace Pizza Napoletana Association approved Pizzeria however, but they do try to use imported ingredients whenever it is necessary. True Italian V.P.N. spec pizza in Melbourne can be found at 400 Gradi, although to be fair D.O.C. Pizza is actually not bad at all, but by technicality, this is not very representative of a proper Italian D.O.C. styled Pizza although probably half way there… The contradictory thing I find with D.O.C. Pizza is that, their sister shop Carlton Espresso around the corner is one of the very few Italian shops selling authentic and traditional & often very regional Italian dishes by the textbook, whereas their D.O.C. Pizza is honestly far away from being D.O.C. spec at all.

D.O.C. -
Might not be so D.O.C. afterall.. But no one cares,
because Australia is so used to believing whatever the kitchen throws at them!
I was once a victim myself, and I have decided to speak out what I’ve subsequently found out. Much like 2 hatted Grossi Florentino’s signature Traditional Spaghetti Bolognese, has nothing traditional or ‘Bolognese’ about it. and it is about time the chefs and owners are more responsible with how they label the food on the menu! Eg. D.O.C. Inspired pizze and mozzarella bar might sound more believable as a concept than just calling it D.O.C. Sad smile

Menu Items -
Written mostly in Italian language, but apart from a few dishes, doesn’t convince me that this is really as Italian in nature as it tries to be. Probably half way there!

Some great Beers by the bottle -
Artisanal beers from Italy are actually better than expected!

La Petrognoa beer by Farro -
A rare artisanal beer on offer here, this was really balanced albeit a little sweet, but the hop aroma was really great . ~ 8/10

Pizza D.O.P. San Daniele with San Marzano Tomato & Fresh D.O.P. Buffalo Mozzarella –
AUD $23.40
The ham was of great quality and shaved on a manually operated meat slicer and added onto the pizza base just prior to serving as ‘crudo’ style, and with all Italian imported ingredients. The pizza crust had a good wheaty taste, but this is no D.O.C. Napoletana pizza as a base - it was slightly biscuity at the edges and even hard. The ingredients and toppings tasted great, but the pizza base was average only as it was not Roman and not Napoletana nor Sicilian in style, but some kind of hybrid. ~ 7/10

Pizza with Free Range Egg, Guanciale and Burrata (Carbonara style) - AUD $25
The Burrata is a more runnier and mellow cheese and obviously doesn’t have as much mozzarella cheese flavours as the above, but the salty guanciale as it should be with the eggs made this a rich pizza. Very fragrant and tasty but probably too salty for most people, although I can tolerate salty guanciale personally! The pizza base was similar and felt a bit dense. Looking around different tables, more than half the tables didn’t eat the pizza cornicone crusts, especially the kids. I didn’t see this happening at all at 400 Gradi or at Lucio Pizzeria up in Sydney. ~ 8/10

A Very Decent Pizzeria and Mozzarella Bar,
But definitely not as authentic as it advertises itself to be, especially when it is named after the famed Napoli D.O.C. Denominazione di Origine Controllata styled pizza. The pizza base wasn’t even close to its original taste. Too hard and biscuity, and as my foodie friends would put it the dough was not hydrated enough, nor proved or yeasty enough, even the oven probably wasn’t hot enough for making a true D.O.C pizza. It wasn’t so aromatic in the dough either and not quite puffy and bubbly on the edges with a nice chewiness like the real thing. For me – it is once again more of a Terminology issue than with regards to taste, which can be rather subjective. But surely you can’t call a Coke a Lemonade, just because both are sodas?