I don’t suppose many would know this song by Billy Joel…but there we were at this Italian restaurant…
…at Newmarket in Auckland.
It was a lovely sunny summer afternoon so many opted to sit outside…
…but it was equally packed inside…
You can see Archie, the owner of this place, a full-blooded Italian true and true, in the earlier photograph…and here’s another shot of the man…
…busy supervising and making sure everything was all right.
Here, you can see the the oven where they bake their gourmet wood-fired pizzas…
…which they proudly proclaim to be the best in the world!
We did not order any of those though – instead, everybody had their pastas. I had this one…
…though I am not really very crazy about tomato-based sauces/gravy in pasta but I could not resist the promise of ham and what not mentioned in the menu and they were certainly very generous with it – layers and layers of it…
Yum! Yum! Melissa had their spaghetti bolognese…
– she said she was at a loss as to what to order so she guessed she couldn’t go wrong with that – and she did enjoy her order and that was what mattered most.
I don’t know what this was but I think my missus had this…
…while my friend’s son ordered this one with the carbonara sauce…
I did try a bit and I would say that this was the best of the whole lot. I certainly would order that if ever I had to chance to go back there again.
I think my friend and her hubby shared this…
…or did her hubby have something else, I can’t really remember now?
It certainly was a delightful lunch…and after that, we went back to the house to finish off our packing to get ready for our flight home and also to cook dinner – that will be in the next post, the final one on our New Zealand holiday…
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
oooo, best pizza in the world! now my curiosity is piqued, i gotta go google this place and see what other customers might say, heh. but coincidentally, i too prefer pastas compared to pizzas, generally 😀
Customers! Bad usually…and that is so typical. Most of the time, only those with bad reviews will go and comment…and the happy ones do not bother. I find those reviews most misleading when looking for hotels to stay.
Can see the weather is so good there~
Hmm so how much have you gained from this trip? :p
Hah!!! Don’t ask! Had to ask for an extension seat belt on board the planes on our flights back… LOL!!!! 😀 Ya…I was so blessed with such wonderful weather throughout the duration of my stay in New Zealand.
I didn’t see…A bottle of Red ..a bottle of White here????? must be James Bond influence.
Hahahaha!!! You’re probably the only one who knows the song AND the lyrics some more… 😉
Can easily conclude that your NZ trip was more than what you bargain for …..Zillion times exceeding your expectation cuz…Lucky you
That goes without saying – even if it had been half as great, it would have been so much more than I would ever dare hope for, really – and for that, I am so very very thankful, praise the Lord.
Awwww..should have ordered a pizza to share, am sure it’s thin crust.
Yup, it was thin crust all right. I guess everyone had had their fill of those pizzas from hell…and we also had the leftovers that very morning so we did not want anymore…and we had not had pastas in the two weeks we were in NZ. Never mind, as Arnie would say, “I’ll be back!!!” 😉
All the pastas looked delicious. Wah, yours was full of ham. Very generous of them 🙂 Wonder what their best in the world pizza taste like. You must have enjoyed this trip a lot 🙂
Tremendously!!! Yes, never seen so much ham in pasta before… Here, we’d be lucky to have some tiny bits that are hardly noticeable.
You look like you are having a good time! Plus, it doesn’t hurt that you have such a generous and kind host and hostess 🙂 I really enjoyed reading your posts about your time in NZ. Sad that it is coming to an end..
I most certainly had. They went out of their way to make my stay there so awesomely perfect in every way – can’t wait for them to come here so I would be able to do the same. Yup, one more post…and it’s all over… Sobssss!!!!!!
its nice to have lovely weather to dine outside… over here.. I think I will melt in our weather! lol
I like both pasta & pizza… best in the world huh? dunno abt the pizza but your pastas looked really yummy and filled with lots of ‘Liao’…. drool-li-cious….
Ya, I just simply cannot understand why people would want to sit outside here in our hot weather! Even with the giant fans… I’d end up with heat stroke… Real silly, trying to imitate the westerners – and our humidity, our air pollution – all hardly conducive for al fresco dining, really!
Speechless for words. All the pastas looks so awesome. Slurpppp!!!!… Well-fed, hehehe!!!….
That was how good they were! Yum! Yum!
Those pastas looks sinfully delicious.
Forgive us, Mother, for we have sinned… 😀
Ehhh…how can you not try the pizza when they claim they are the best.
Never mind, will go again… 😉
That marinara looks great, yum yum!
All good! Perth’s just as great? I’ll be on the next plane over… 😉
Bananaz like the alfresco style of having meals or drinks. Whoa love to *mangia mangia* spaghetti with carbonara sauce..hmmmm *delizioso*.
You like,eh? Next thing we know, you’ll be breaking out in song – O solo meooooowwww!!!!!
I like pastas. The above ones look very yummy!! *drool*
Really great and loved how generous they were with the ingredients.
What a bliss to have a plate of delicious pasta under the sun! Of all the pastas shown, I prefer the one you have with generous amount of ham. I bet it tastes great!
You love ham too eh? I’m not really crazy about tomato-based pasta sauces though…
AH! Should have order one pizza for sharing. yum yum!
I love pasta too, and i will choose white sauce and so do my boys!
Like what Justyn had. Hmmm…wonder when I will get to go again… 😦
so many italian in NZ? wah….
Not really. I only saw these few here…dunno if there are anymore.
italian dishes were i guess was the best,
i love their pastas
I’m fine with those – just not too fond of tomato-based sauces. Everything else would be fine, I guess.
that classic oven i guess was a better thing to use for breads and pizza
Definitely. Wouldn’t be authentic without that!
Italian + scene on the title suddenly made me think of Godfather and Italian mafiosi. I was half-hoping to see some Italians clad in suit with some guns hidden.
This is a post overloaded with pasta. 🙂
I am a fan of tomato based sauce and I especially like it with my pasta. I cooked pasta last week and used carbonara sauce. I liked it. So now I prefer either tomato or carbonara for my pasta.
No Mafia guys…but Archie certainly spoke like one…with the Italian accent. Hmmm…you can cook so well now – if I cook pasta, I would just use the sauce from the bottle – maybe add extra ingredients to enhance the taste.
Aha. So maybe is a former mafia man. 😉
I cooked the pasta but not the sauce. I just heat the carbonara sauce from the can.
Ahhhhh!!!! You’re exactly like me then. Hehehehehe!!!!
my favourite is the cabonara….
Italian are really good in pasta and pizza…
Oh? Then we cannot go Italian together – can only take one photo…unless you order the pizza… Hehehehehehe!!!!
They’re indeed very generous with the ingredients. Unlike here where you can count them with 10 fingers. Haha.
Precisely. Tiny bits smaller than what I can dig out of my nose!!! LOL!!! 😀
Euwwwwww…. you so disgusting one!!!!! Lol!!!
Who? Me? *blinks innocently* LOL!!! 😀
My cousin lives in New Zealand and has been telling us to go over many times but we never did. You make me want to plan a trip there someday 🙂
You should. Good that you have relatives there – can save a lot. Hotels and apartments, not expensive…but after converting, can faint!
Wood fired ovens make lovely pizzas…
Definitely – like Sibu kompia, traditional charcoal oven-baked VS electric oven-baked. A world of difference.
I think it’s very good the owner come out and mix around with customer. At least any complaints or compliments, he will receive it first hand
I think he’s supervising, making sure everything’s all right. That’s how to run a business…not like the KL ones – all the Banglas, the Myanmarese left to do the cooking and everything…towkay nowhere to be seen.n
I love the shots of the crowd that you take. It reminds me of the cafe scene in Australia – the ONLY thing that can make me wake up early in the morning in the weekends! 😀
They’re similar eh? But I prefer the weather here a lot more…and the scenery is a whole lot nicer.
Hhhmmnn, Italian restaurant again? I love pastas…no lasagna?
I don’t think I saw that in the menu…or maybe I did not notice.