The Italian Mama's have Competition

When you think of Italian cuisine your mind instantly says pizza and pasta, theres no denying it really. It's full of rich bold flavours and is destined to make you feel the Love of which the Italians add in as that special ingredient.

Recently a new landmark has joined Frankston's development under the Quest building, 'Bar Napoli'. With it's chique and clean set up, you enter and are welcomed by each and everyone of the team members. Friends that were joining me this evening were so surprised that the kitchen team even lifted their heads to greet us. A comment was said that it's often you don't get that any more, well thank's to the Mathis group and team it's happening.

After such a delightful greeting and a run down of the menu and suggestions flying left right and centre we begin our evening with a Romana Pizza; Fresh ricotta cheese, spinach, pancetta, pine nuts and a delicate sprig of orange zest. A refreshing delicate beginner that wasn't going to over power the upcoming richness of our pastas and risottos. It was also a great match to our moscato we were enjoying.

A thin crust pizza and a perfect spread of everything was really pleasant  It was nice to see the toppings weren't towering on the pizza causing difficulties to eat. A perfect balance of flavour where the saltiness of the pancetta balanced into the fresh ricotta and hints of orange zest.

Mains were destined to be rich full flavoured dishes, knowing that the pasta is made fresh and being told that the gnocchi are soft silky pillows only made each of us more excited about what was coming or way.

I enjoyed the Duck and Mushroom risotto, perfectly cooked rice delicate balance of tender duck pieces and rich mushroom flavours was enjoyable. A large potion size I have to admit but it was to deliciously tasty for me to waste any. I did weigh this up in the beginning by making sure I paced myself through the beginners so that I could eat my main.

Around the rest of the table there was the Gluten free penne pasta with chunky lamb ragu, which was light and tasty and filled with lamb pieces that just melted in your mouth. To bigger portion to be finished so it was packed in a traveller to be enjoyed later.

An interesting Quaderetti bolognese rose was a light version of the normal rich intense napoli based bolognese. At least this way you don't have to worry about those tomato stains on your shirts or on the corner of your lips.

It was a nice surprise to have this option on the menu as you do sometimes wish for a lighter less acidic based sauce on your pasta, and it was said to be very enjoyable with the change.

Now of course the Gnocchi had to be ordered seeing the selling point from the staff were that they were soft silky pillows of enjoyment, and that they were. They don't lie. A rich napoletana with parmigiano and basil was perfect in flavours and hand made gnocchi was a great dish to enjoy.

Now if you want to try something different at Bar Napoli there are things to check out. Kimon who was having the pleasure of looking after us insisted to try the Battlocchio; a classic Napoletana fried calzone filled with hot salami, spinach, napoli and ricotta. I have to admit each of us couldn't believe this golden large sized hot pocket was bought to our table and it was really enjoyable.

Think of a hot jam donut, minus the jam and filled with italian inspired ingredients to add to your enjoyment. It is a dish that should be tried. It was said to be an accident of a creation, but sometimes accidents are the best creations especially when your working with food.

Desserts were spruiked to us which was great and made for conversations with our waiter. A delicious Panna cotta of mixed berries and house made honeycomb was explained that it would make you happy and the classic tirramisu was also a given of choice.

Silky soft vanilla panna cotta served in a jar and finished with a layer of mixed berried and grand chunks of golden honeycomb does make you happy all the way down to your toes. A fight over the honeycomb pieces though as we shared but this classic dish was one of the best I have had.

The tirramisu served in a tall jar layered with delicate tones of coffee and cream with hints of chocolate was also a fine finish to the traditional Italian meal.

We are so pleased to have Bar Napoli serving such good exquisit food, putting in the efforts to deliver hand made pastas and ensuring that it's quality in every product is maintained to the highest.

Service standards are impecable and was fantastic to see such attention to detail in both front and back of house. Smiling faces who enjoy talking and get even more excited as they talk to you about the menu is something that is rare, and am privileged to see it amongst the team.

Bar Napoli is a new baby on the scene of Frankston and will only grow as people discover it.

Bar Napoli

319/ 435-437 Nepean Hwy

Frankston

8765 - 2499