Double birthday celebrations @ Mammas Pizza & Pasta Bar, Sydney (Australia)

When we were with my family in Sydney a couple of months ago, we took the opportunity to celebrate the kids' birthdays with them. The boy had just turned six, and on baby girl's 11th month day, we asked my family to head over to Mammas Pizza & Pasta Bar for a double birthday celebration. We even had my father-in-law and his wife join in the fun, as they had flown in from Brisbane that morning just for a day to see us. The boy requested a pizza place, and it seemed like a good choice for a group with so many little ones (I don't know of any kid who doesn't like pizza). I chose Mammas for the positive rating and reviews on Urbanspoon, the location in the CBD, and for the availability of gluten-free items on the menu. Making the reservations for our party of 21 was easy, and it was nice of the restaurant to give us their mezzanine function area. I had no problems with service at all, and in fact I had a pleasant experience dealing with the staff. The restaurant stored our cakes in the fridge/freezer and even had a stash of candles to loan us if we needed them (we were already given some by one of the cake shops we purchased from). I left it up to hubby to order the food for the masses, and those with special dietary requirements were free to order their food (I saw a bowl of gluten-free pasta, a salad and a plate of salmon, and they all looked delicious). Prices were quite reasonable, and I believe everyone was happy with the quality of the food (though I rarely hear anyone complain about food that have been paid for them).

Mammas' mezzanine function area:

Mozzarella Sticks (AU$10.50), served with homemade napoletana sauce:

Spinach & Ricotta Lasagna (a vegetarian option, AU$16.50). Lasagna was the first western food I ate when I was about eight, at a friend's birthday party in Malaysia - her Swiss mum made it and I fell in love with lasagna. This was yummy with layers of pasta sheets filled with spinach, ricotta and bechamel, topped with napoletana sauce and shaved parmesan:

Beef Lasagna (AU$16.50), with bolognese. This is the traditional lasagna version, also yummy, but if you asked me to choose which one I preferred, I would say the spinach and ricotta:

Hawaiian Pizza (AU$19.50 for 30cm) - ham, pineapple and mozzarella on a thin tomato base. An old favourite:

Barbeque Chicken Pizza (AU$22.50 for 30cm) - chicken breast, caramelised onion, mushroom, grilled capsicum and mozzarella cheese on a bbq base. A delicious combination:

Supreme Pizza (AU$19.50 for 30cm) - ham, pepperoni, pineapple, olives, capsicum, onions and mozzarella on a thin tomato base. Another crowd-pleaser:

Emperor Pizza (AU$22.50 for 30cm) - chicken breast, avocado, basil, parmesan, diced tomato and mozzarella on a tomato base. This one was my favourite. Hubby got it because he knew how much I love avocado, and it worked very nicely on this pizza:

A Triple Chocolate Gelato Cake from Gelato Messina (thanks Hon for cake-shopping on our behalf), for the boy who LOVED it. It was so good:

A Japanese Cheesecake from Breadtop, for the girl (though she wasn't interested to eat any). A light and airy cheesecake, almost like the ones we could get in Japan:

Good times, great company, and delicious food.

Mammas Pizza & Pasta Bar
57 Liverpool St
Sydney, NSW 2000
Australia
Tel. +61 2 9264 5841