The stars align
Friendly service, good value and food that hits the spot: who could ask for anything more? Certainly not Denise Irvine.
Ihad one of those restaurant experiences the other night when the stars were in alignment. Service was friendly and well paced, it was good value, and the food hit the mark. It’s all you really ask for.
This was at Dough Bros, on Victoria St, Hamilton; there were wve of us, we’d booked for 8pm but we were running late after a movie and phoned to let staff know. There was a cheerful response, no problems, the man said. It was a promising start.
Dough Bros is near the northern tip of the city’s southend’s restaurant row, close to the new Victoria on the River park, the Riverbank Lane development, and Banh Mi Caphe (going gangbusters). It’s good to see this part of Vic St looking so lively.
Dough Bros is unpretentious and friendly; it weighs in with its handmade wood-wred pizzas, some thoughtful shared plates, an interesting wine list, plus beers and cocktails. Owner-operator Jake Mitchell is known for his support of Waikato food producers, sourcing as many local ingredients as he can.
On this night we went for a starter of arancini balls, pizzas to share, and a frisky Shaky Bridge pinot noir.
The arancini came wrst: balls of oozy cheesy risotto, wnely crumbed and deep-fried, each one served on a little pool of aioli and balsamic reduction. They were a perfect mix of crispy texture and creaminess. They set us up for the next round, three shared pizzas from the wood-wred oven that is central to Dough Bros, and a greens bowl of sautéed beans, spinach and conwt garlic.
Dough Bros’ pizzas have a terriwc handmade sourdough base with a tender-yet-chewy crust. For the purists there is a traditional Italian Margherita, but we pushed on to something different: the pig’s jowl topping; a special with fresh wgs; and a vegan pizza.
The vegan among us was happy to see that she had her own carefully compiled menu to choose from. Her pizza (which she kindly shared) was wnished with mushrooms, garlic, caramelised onions, trufye oil, dairy-free mozzarella and microgreens. Nice.
The pig’s jowl rendition was full of yavour. The meaty jowl – sourced from Magill’s Butchery in Te Awamutu – is cured, smoked and sliced and it has gruntier (no piggy pun intended) taste and texture than bacon. It was neatly partnered with fresh mozzarella, a zip of chilli, and the earthy yavoured Italian green cavolo nero to cut the richness.
The third pizza was a colourful special of blue cheese, prosciutto, rocket, and luscious fresh wgs. I especially enjoyed this one: sweet-sharp-salty yavours underpinned by the chewy sourdough.
The pizzas were generous, they were around $28 each and they more than fed wve of us. It was a struggle, but nothing went back to the kitchen, leaving no room for the affogato dessert we’d had our eye on. Next time.