An Adelaide institution, A Rundle Street mainstay and one of the biggest dining rooms in the city, it’s Brunelli’s.
With a wood oven that’s been cranking out pizzas since before Jesus made his first outdoor setting, Brunellis is the latest pie joint to go under the scrutiny of 3 hungry designers.
Unusually two of us visited Brunelli’s only a week previous to get some pies for a cocktail party. We normally don’t pre-sample our test restaurant, but like the proverbial mountain, it was there. On that occasion, lubricated with ales and Mt Gay on a Friday night, the experience was quite pleasant. Today’s test run was smack bang in the middle of a busy Friday, so minimal ales and with the rest of the work day ahead of us, it felt like a different experience.
We ordered 3 x 13″ pies. A Brunelli (Tomato, cheese, salami, artichokes, olives, roast capsicum, onion, bocconcini and basil), Pepperoni (Tomato, cheese, hot salami, jalapeño chilli and fresh herbs) and a Salsicce (Homemade italian sausage, jalapeño sausages, roasted capsicum and Spanish onions). Ordering was done at the main counter and drinks ordered from the bar (which was very busy making $2 coffees and less interested in my $29 purchase of 3 beers – go figure?
After a couple of quaffs our extra large pizzas arrived We knew we may have ordered too much to eat – but justified that our purchase could be taken home and enjoyed as breakfast leftovers the next day. After rearranging our table we managed to squeeze our lunch onto the lacking real estate of our square table. *Insert rant* We do I have to go to Brooklyn to experience a pie tower device? Are these $1.50 chrome pyramid devices that stack 3 pizzas so hard to come by in Australia? I don’t get it?! There could be a business idea just importing these and selling to all the pie joints in Australia. *end rant*.
Any who, back to the review. First impressions. Good. Second slice. Good. Third slice. I can’t possible fit another thing in! These pies were heavy duty. They were chock-a-block covered in toppings, so much so the base didn’t cook as well as i’d liked leaving the undercooked dough to be a suppository for all the cured vegetables oil to drain onto. When I order a pepperoni I want a pepperoni. The chunky tomatoes and jalapeño didn’t add anything and actually took away from the hot salami. The signature pizza, the Brunelli had far too many ingredients and the Salsicce was good (great sausage) but I don’t need drowning in oil, mass produced out of a bucket capsicum to mess with the hard work that had gone into the bespoke sausage flavours.
Don’t get me wrong, the experience I had the previous Friday was good. And that’s what Brunelli’s is for me – it’s a good friday option to soak up the night’s indulgences. It’s a great place if you want to catch up with 43 cousins that you have never met, to have the obligatory 5 year get-together meal. I guess in the end, the pies reminded me of a ‘Rick’s Generic Suburban Pizza 2 x Largies for $18″ experience than a $25 a pie Rundle Street treat. It was ok but far from great.
