Mamma Carmela Cafe Pizzeria review

4 Jetty Road, Glenelg 5045

Glenelg is home to many delicious eateries, and since 1974, Mamma Carmela has graced Moseley Square with some amazing Italian flavours.

I have been in Australia since 2010, and for 10 consecutive years, Mamma Carmela has been calling my name because of its reasonable prices, its warm and inviting decor, and of course, its food!

The menu presents a variety of dishes popular to the Australian public. The selection of antipasti is varied in flavour and texture. Their Pollo & Carne provides an array of sauces, all significantly different in flavours.

In regards to my night, We were drawn to the pizza, however. The variety of classic pizza topping pairings from traditional to fan favourites provide a delectable variety of choices, from margherita, to meat lovers, to house specialities like the Napoletano and the Mama's special pizza.

We decided on a ham and cheese pizza for the kids, a Mama's special pizza for my mother and aunty, a Mexican pizza for my brother and a Napoletano pizza for myself.

To accompany our pizzas, we ordered a side of chips and a classic Caesar salad for the table. I say classic because it contained all the ingredients of a Caesar salad people shy away from because it could alter the salad's taste too much, such as the anchovies and Dijon mustard in the homemade Caesar dressing. A bite of that crisp romaine lettuce dressed in a delicious Caesar dressing, with a slice of my Napoletano pizza took me to Italy.

The Napoletano pizza toppings consisted of fresh tomatoes, olives, anchovies and basil. I ordered it as a large pizza ($23.5) which had 8 slices. Even though I am not the biggest fan of olives or anchovies, I was looking for the acidity and saltiness of the olives and anchovies to be offset by the aroma of the Caesar salad, and thankfully I was right.

Halfway through, I tried an anchovy by itself and it was overly salty on the palate. Trying a slice with all of the toppings offset the anchovies' saltiness. My entire pizza was finished in about 10-15 minutes. Lest to say, I really liked it.

Mamma Carmela will continue to call my name, as their menu provides a lot of interpretation to the customer to make the dish their own and really enjoy their dining experience in their own way. The friendly staff draws you in and if you are still not intrigued, a whiff of the food from the kitchen will have you at the front counter ordering half the menu!