Al Taglio Pizzeria

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Usually, I research the hell out of a place before ever visiting - my motto, in a city like Sydney which is filled to the brim with wonderful eateries, is that life is too short for mediocre meals out. I happened upon Al Taglio. My lovely friend is of the "let's explore and see where our feet take us" persuasion, and I had to pretend I was ok with that approach so as not to appear absolutely bonkers.

I am so glad I took a chance, because Al Taglio is one of these wonderful seredipitous finds. Its windows proundly display a number of reviews and accolades, including, rather impressively, a claim to be one of the best 10 pizza restaurants in the world. The world, ladies and gentlemen.

While I have no way of authenticating its claim, I will say that the place is packed full of Italian-speakers who appear to be on first-name basis with the pizza master Enrico Sgarbossa, and I can confirm that the pizza is really, really lovely.

Antipasto for two, $20
The antipasto plate at Al Taglio come at $10 per person - and I am pretty happy with the spread, which consists of a range of salumi, some lovely house-baked sourdough bread drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with pepper, a solid white cheese of mild flavour, a generous dish of olives and sun-dried tomatoes. There really is no better way to whet the appetite.

Pizza of the day, $30
While I am trusting my stomach to fate, we might as well go the full hog and leave everything to chance. The pizza of the day is topped with mortadella, spinach and cheese. it is delightful in its sheer simplicity, but where it really shines is the skills of the chef and quality of the ingredients you can taste with each bite.

Because the pizza is deceptively simple, there is nowhere to hide. And let me tell you, this is the first and only time I have ever enjoyed a pizza base and its crust so much. The crust is leavened to such airy perfection you'd think you were eating a fine quality Italian loaf; and the base is crispy, from the first mouthful to the last.

Maybe I did eat one of the top ten pizzas in the world, after all.

Score: 5
Cost: $30pp
Address: 02-104 Albion St, Surry Hills
Website: https://altaglio.com.au/

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