MR WOLF

9-15 Inkerman St, St Kilda - ph: (03) 9534 0255

Owned by well know chef and food writer Karen Martini, Mr. Wolf is - and has been for years - one of St Kilda's hottest spots.

The restaurant is always packed. It's one of those places that you visit to 'see and be seen', so I thought it was the perfect place to take our guests from overseas for a bite after spending a day at the beach.

The pizzas have a very thin base - not as crispy as from a wood fire oven - but very smooth and moist.

We ordered a few pizzas to share:

Funghi pizza - porcini, roasted garlic paste, roasted mushrooms, mozzarella, thyme ($21)

Funghi pizza tasted really good. I loved the fresh thyme, but felt they could have used a bit more mozzarella (or spread it more evenly through the pizza).

Melanzane pizza - tomato, roasted eggplant, ricotta, fior de latte, chilli and basil ($20.50)

The melanzane (or eggplant) pizza was my favourite. Lots of mozzarella (fior de latte - made from fresh milk) on this one, crispy eggplant, lots of chilli. A very juicy, flavoursome combination.

Spicy pork pizza - tomato, mozzarella, sausage, pickled peppers, pancetta and fennel ($23)

The spicy pork pizza was also a winner, apart from the somewhat burnt edges. Again, good combination of flavours - I really liked the green and red picked peppers - and ingredients. Fennel was an unusual addition to the pizza that worked really well.

Rocket, radicchio, endive, witlof salad ($10)

With all that doughy goodness, we had to have at least a bit of green. A generous serve of mixed leaves was just what we needed to add some freshness to our meal. The slight bitterness from the endive and radicchio leaves balanced well all the creamy cheese we ate.

I love Mr. Wolf's chic and casual atmosphere, their efficient staff and most importantly, the food!