Life in a Bottle: Happy Birthday, Jinny! (D.O.C. Pizza and Mozarella Bar)

The birthday girl, or should I say 20 year old woman.

It was Jinny's birthday last Friday. After handing in my Organisational Behaviour essay, having a good time mixed with alcohol is the least of my needs.

We did not know where the celebration was going to be at until the day itself. This was not some kind of mystery party, just that we ran out of ideas on places to dine. Two days before, Jinny suggested Oriental Spoon and not one second after "spoon" was uttered I vetoed the decision. After much thought, the venue was decided, D.O.C. Pizza and Mozarella Bar.

The place to be for authentic pizzas.

D.O.C. stands for Denominazione D'origin Controllata, which means something in Italian. Although the meaning of the name totally escapes me, the food definitely speaks my language. Who would have thought that a little corner shop in Carlton could serve such amazing pizza?

Table for ten for Jenny?

Random picture of plates, wine glasses and cutlery.

D.O.C. claims that their produce and their waiters are air freighted. I doubted for a moment until our waiter for the night started introducing the items in the menu with an unmistakably thick Italian accent.

Made in Italy.

Jeremy's puzzled face after listening to the recommendations.

Lost.

After a good ten minutes struggling with the menu, we finally chose five pizzas.

The special.

First up was a pizza that was not even on the menu. All I know is that it has fresh figs, prosciutto and buffalo mozarella, which happens to be the highest grade of mozarella. One bite into this pizza is a marvelous explosion of flavours. The saltiness of the tender prosciutto, the spiciness of the fresh figs and the sweetness of the buffalo amalgamated into a heavenly dish.

Pizza Salsiccia and Pizza Cornuto.

Next it was Pizza Salsiccia which consists of Leo's sausage, sounds dirty but tastes good, crema di broccoli and mozarella. I am not a fan of broccoli but broccoli creme is addictive. From now on I will beat broccoli into a pulp prior to consumption. The creme was savoury but not too heavy on the palette. Coupled with the soft mozarella and the tender sausage, it is just perfect.

Together with Pizza Salsiccia was Pizza Cornuto. Cornuto, meaning a guy who got cheated on by his partner, is apt to describe the spiciness of the spicy salami and the chilli. People who love extremely spicy food might find this pizza too mild, but to me, the spiciness is just right such that it does not kill the meaty flavours in the salami. The spiciness is also a good contrast to the taste of the other dishes.

Pizza D.O.C. in the foreground.

Next was the dish named after the restaurant. Something like a margherita except with buffalo mozarella. A simple, light dish made of San Marzano tomato, D.O.P. buffalo mozarella and fresh basil. However, simple and light is not necessarily a bad thing. The tangy tomato paste and the sweet mozarella really helps working up an appetite. For meat lovers, this is a fresh experience; for vegetarians, this is a must-eat.

Another pizza that we ordered was the Pizza ai Porcini, which I did not take any photos of. I guess that gives me a reason to pay D.O.C. another visit.