Restaurant Review: Napoli in Bocca, Haberfield

When I was on the marathon diet I made my first trip to Haberfield, visiting Peppes Pasta to stock up on carbohydrates for my lunches*. Since then I've been meaning to return to sample the ricotta cheesecake from the Habberfield Bakery and some of the other Italian restaurants in the area. Haberfield comes across as a more traditional and relaxed Italian suburb in contrast to Leichardt which has been overtaken by a confusing array of restaurants.

I was therefore happy to visit Napoli in Bocca on Tuesday last week for dinner. When I arrived outside there was cheesy Italian music coming from tinny speakers wafting along the pavement. I had an "Oh no, where are we going?" moment. However, once inside the music blends with the frescos on the wall to create a homely Italian atmosphere. It could be dreadful, but it seems to work.

I was a bit underwhelmed by the food, but that might have been my fault for travelling across Sydney on a Tuesday night to an essentially neighbourhood joint. However, the locals seemed to be loving the place and with decent homemade food, cheap prices, huge servings and quick service it's not hard to see why this place would be a neighbourhood favourite.

If you go, look out for the specials board as it had some interesting options that we unfortunately didn't spot until after we had ordered.

Carafe of red wine, two thirds of a bottle at the astonishingly good price of $8.

The rocket and parmesan salad was large and came served in a pyrex bowl. No messing about with fancy plating here.

 Spagetti marinara

The pizza was a bit bready for me. However, it tasted good, particularly with the chilli oil.

*I meant to write a quick pasta review for the blog, but never found the time. Pasta Gallery at Eveleigh Markets gets my vote over Peppes Pasta. That is all you need to know!