It's been nearly four months since my friends Bo, Meg and I have been trying to go to Roberta's restaurant in Brooklyn. Known for their amazing brick oven, Neapolitan-style pizza and fresh veggies, grown from their own garden, to say it's a foodie's dream would be putting it lightly.
Atmosphere:
Located in Bushwick, Brooklyn, I was a tad unsure about exploring this part of the nabe, which I've heard is a little sketchy. However, that wasn't the case at all, as when I got off the subway, I was welcomed by a cutting-edge hipster vibe that was a lot less in-your-face than Williamsburg and overall, it seemed like a chill, up-and-coming neighborhood, which I'd love to explore more next time.
A short five minute walk from the subway, Roberta's is located on the quiet Moore Street in a very inconspicuous building that's easy to miss. Once you step inside, you can't help but take a deep breath, as the smell of fresh pizza dough, bacon, cheese, and all other things delicious envelop you.
The dining room is long and rectangular with a casual bar at the end of the room and the dining area itself filled with long picnic tables, promoting a communal vibe. A heated outside area they call "The Tiki Lounge" is situated just to the left of the main dining room, and even though it looked inviting as well, we preferred the warmth and coziness of the main room.
Food:
We came for the pizza mainly, but discovered a whole lot of other interesting options on the menu. Trying out two pizzas, a veggie app and also a small dessert, it was just enough food and at a great value.
Squash Salad - So tasty during this time of year, we were eager to try the squash salad with three different types of squash, perfectly roasted with a nicely charred crust. Paired also with pumpkin seeds, aged gouda and mizuna greens, the salad was wonderfully fresh and vibrant. It was a nice thing to share to tide us over, but in all honesty, thought they could've given us more, especially for three people.
Pizza - All the pizzas sounded wonderful and we had a hard time deciding, but finally settled on the Banana Hammock and the Purple Nurple, both really fun, whimsical names whose ingredients intrigued us. The Banana Hammock had a bechamel base, lightly speckled with fresh mozzarella cheese, sausage, banana pepper, red onion and cilantro. The overall taste was really mild and a nice way to start our pizza experience.
After tasting this first option, our tastebuds were in for a treat with the Purple Nurple, a spicy pizza embellished with chunky slices of deeply colored eggplant, basil, mozzarella, ricotta cheese and chili. I preferred this one by far, as it was packed with sharp flavors, and the eggplant was roasted so perfectly, pairing beautifully with a homemade tomato sauce base.
Both of the pizzas had superior, airy dough with gorgeous char marks on the crust that really made it live up to all that hype - and then some.
Dessert - We definitely saved room for dessert, ordering a gingerbread cake with really good quality vanilla ice cream. The cake was soft and moist, with ginger flavoring that really shined through. While some of us really enjoyed the ginger, others thought it was a tad strong - depends on your tastebuds really, but this cake packed a mean punch. Yum!
Service and Cost:
I loved the service here, which matched the relaxed yet legit atmosphere. Our waitress was very "Brooklyn" - fashionable, hip and interesting, and at the same time she knew the menu backwards and forwards and gave us just the right amount of time to decide about our food.
Costs are moderate and include:
Appetizers - $5 - $19
Pizza - $8 - $17
Mains - $13 - $28
Dessert - $5 - $8
3 Mmmms
Roberta's - 261 Moore Street, Brooklyn NY 11206
718.417.1118
L Train to Morgan Avenue
www.robertaspizza.com
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