BAR CENTRALE
Cuisine: Italian 
Address: 51 Willow St, Tauranga
Phone: 07 574 8200
Drinks: Extensive cocktail list, wines, craft beers
Reservations: probably for dinner or events
Like some - but certainly not all - people, I am a truffle lover. In fact I'm a regular Pavlovian dog, drooling at a mere mention of the elusive subterranean fungi. I bloody love those things! My partner Jan on the other hand doesn't even like the smell.
So when I discovered there was a Truffle Pizza on the menu at Bar Centrale you can bet your life I was immediately off for another lunch there (without Jan). By happy coincidence my son Cohen has just moved from working at Oscar & Otto on the Strand to Bar Centrale (he's the tall handsome one). He told me about the pizza.
It was another lovely sunny day, perfect for the terrace at Centrale. Obviously cocktails were required...
- LIMONE Mezcal, Limoncello, Lemon Marmalade, Lemon juice, Lemon Bitters $21
- MAI-TAI-P-O'-PINA Pineapple Rum, Aperol, Cynar, Pineapple Shrub, Coconut, Lemon, Peach Bitters $21
Another two winners! The Limone was beautifully refined, a distillation of lemon flavours, including their own housemade lemon bitters, intense and focused. The other was - as suggested by the name - something of a cross between a MaiTai and a Pina Colada. Again it had a real complexity and balance, not too sweet and not too much coconut, and not too bitter from having both Aperol and Cynar (another Italian liqueur made by Campari). I liked it a lot!
OK. The main event...
- TARTUFO PIZZA Mozzarella, Italian Truffled Ham, Mushroom, White Truffle Oil $32
- PORCHETTA Roast Pork, Braised Fennel, Charred Lemon $33
First thing I should say is, yes, that is a seriously expensive pizza. Second thing is OH MY GOD!!! Sorry for sounding like a teenage girl for a second but that pizza was simply the most wonderful thing that has gone in my mouth all month. You could smell the truffle as it approached the table and with the ham and the oil and some unmentioned truffle paste it was just a truffle lovers dream. My mouth is salivating again as I think back. Damn, it was fantastic.
The Porcetta? Also very good. Also not exactly cheap. It used pork belly. But it was absolutely perfectly cooked pork belly, beautifully moist and tasty with crisp Euro-style crackling. I was surprised to find it stuffed with something a bit like a salsa verde rather than the more regular (I think) meat stuffing but it was delicious nonetheless if what you want on a plate is two big chunks of very meaty pork.
Right, that's all I've got to say. Bar Centrale continues its excellent high standards. They may charge "Auckland prices" but everything about their operation also delivers "Auckland quality" (if there is such a thing!).
A QUICK NOTE:
One more thing... They also make their own ginger beer. Takes me back. It is served in small glass bottles and at $9 is - again - quite expensive. And - again - quite wonderful.
(And it reminded me that I've never made my own ginger beer. I've always meant to. I've heard it's really easy. If anyone has a reliable recipe please send it if you'd be so good. Otherwise I'll search on-line - I shall report back with the results!)
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