Amalfi Pizzeria has gained a reputation as one of Adelaide’s best restaurants.

This hasn’t come about through flash presentation, headline-seeking antics or an ambition to be so different that people come out of a sense of experimentation.

No, its reputation has been forged through 30-odd years of consistent hard work to serve up large dishes of comforting and traditional Italian food.

Amalfi’s menu reads like a typical Italian café menu – ragu, amatriciana, marinara, polpette, cotolette, and saltimbocca alla romana are all meals steeped in history and served commonly at restaurants across the world.

However, Amalfi serves these dishes and many more with such a high quality, you’ll find a loyal and large crowd packing the restaurant each night.

On this early week night, the six outdoor tables are full and at least another 30 people have been turned away by 7pm.

The room is packed tightly with café-style tables and chairs; there’s a small bar (more for show then practical use) and an open kitchen in the back left corner where flurrying chefs and steaming pots radiate warmth and atmosphere through the restaurant.

The wine list isn’t overly extensive, but covers all bases and has a decent selection of reds, including Italian varieties.

The waiting staff scurry between tables, apologising to customers for the unexpected rush and overburdened service. The small kitchen dishes out food at a remarkable rate; large stock pots boiling furiously are fed continuously with the restaurant’s own branded pasta.

Sauces and stocks, all made on the premises, are ladled into searing pans and mixed with pasta or used to finish one of the many varieties of meat dishes.

The specials board contains a selection of pastas, risottos and veal scaloppini dishes.

Tonight, a special pasta del giorno linguine molluschi, or linguini with cockles and mussels in fish stock, garlic and olive oil, is on offer. It is the perfect combination: the condensed stock clings to the pasta, and is delicate enough to let the cockles and mussels remain the salty star of the dish.

The “Amalfi” pizza, basically a “supreme”, has a fluffy base and is topped with a heap of fine ingredients, most noticeably smoky salami and briny anchovies.

Also ordered is the “Amalfi” pasta, a dish in which savoury-cream sauce clings to long ribbons of al dente egg pasta (no easy feat) laced with pancetta and mushroom, and finished with a hint of chilli. Basically it is a grown-up alla panna – the cream sauce is subtle, a hint of mushroom, with the perfectly cooked egg pasta being the stand-out.

All meals can be selected as an entree, which could easily be considered big enough for most, or a main. It is, however, very unlikely that many people eat three courses at Amalfi – even the entrees are sufficient for most.

The main courses are generally served on a large, heavy plate: with your mound of steaming pasta, a spoon, cheese and cracked pepper is offered.

Having eaten at Amalfi many times across many years, I can say this is always a place you can trust to deliver consistent quality food.

4/5

Amalfi Pizzeria Ristorante

29 Frome St, Adelaide

(08) 82231948

Opening: Lunch, Monday to Friday. Dinner, Monday to Saturday.

Entrees – $12 -$27

Mains – $22 – $32

Cuisine: Italian