That's Amore

Last Saturday after a sunny jaunt on Waiheke Island four women found themselves enjoying a little slice of Napoli for dinner. I was new to That’s Amore, a Neapolitan pizzeria tucked away down a faux-marble corridor at the base of the Metropolis building. The friends who had brought me along had been raving about how much they enjoy coming here (and how many times they had visited in the last month). Their exuberance however quickly turned to panic as they realised I was probably going to write about this. Sorry guys, the word must be spread.

It’s a rather small place, with kitsch Italian memorabilia (a fair share of it football related) adorning the walls. There were two tables of diners who were recognisably Italian, a sign that I felt bode well for our meal. The menu, albeit long, is relatively simple. It’s pizza and calzone here, only one pasta of the day, and a handful of salads probably there to make one feel virtuous more than anything else. The small sized pizza (all less than $20) would easily feed one but if you’re particularly hungry (or greedy) some of the regular sized pizzas are priced higher.

Sarah has a favourite, and it is the Duca (small $16, regular $24), a tomato-based pizza topped with prosciutto di Parma, rocket, mozzarella and parmesan cheese. Sheena followed suit. Tizzy, a recent convert to the house of Amore tried the Ai Porcini, also a tomato based pizza with mozzarella, a selection of mushrooms and porcini, finished with parmesan and truffle oil (small $16, regular $24). Eager for the taste of truffle I ordered the Voghera, a white pizza topped with three kinds of cheese (mozzarella, parmesan and gorgonzola), potato, oregano and finished with truffle oil (small $14, regular $18).

The bases are one of the highlights of That’s Amore: light, thin, greaseless and with just the right proportion of crispy and toothsome bits. I also particularly liked the addition of quality ingredients such as the prosciutto di Parma on the Duca and medley of mushrooms that featured on the Ai Porcini. My Voghera pizza was an interesting combination of double carbs (pizza base and potato) which was tied together well by the pungent gorgonzola, oregano and truffle oil, although it must be mentioned that the potato was crying out for a bit of extra salt. A little more of that white stuff and it would be perfect.

For some simple but lovingly constructed Neapolitan pizza, one should not go past a visit to That’s Amore.

That’s Amore
2M/1 Courthouse Ln
Auckland CBD

This review was originally written for Cheap Eats.