Situated on Burwood Road in Hawthorn, Zesty Pizza and Pasta is perfectly located for all those Swinburne students to pop in for a quick bite. Recently re-branded from a vegetarian and vegan eatery, Zesty now offer a wide range of pizzas, pasta dishes and burgers. We were invited to try them.
Zesty is primarily a take away place. The décor is clean, and bright and there are perhaps 5 tables inside for people to dine in. The atmosphere is actually quite pleasant to dine in. Food is served on proper plates, the tables are really good quality wooden tables, and seats are comfortable. There’s lively background music and little noise from the kitchen gave a much more enjoyable dining experience than you would expect from first glance. The service was friendly, but I definitely think Zesty could do a little more with this to make visits more memorable and make them stand out against the hundreds of local eateries nearby.
As Zesty specialise in pizzas we decided to opt for these. We tried a traditional pepperoni pizza and one of their gourmet pizzas, the satay chicken pizza (thank goodness they’re not still a vegetarian only place!). The pizzas were excellent value, starting from $9.30 for a small, and $11.30 for a medium. We ordered a small and a medium and found this was plenty for two. The pizzas were well cooked, the bases were soft and light and a good thickness.
The pepperoni pizza, made with their homemade pizza sauce, was enjoyable, with generous amount of toppings and lots of flavour but I’m sure you can probably get something similar in many places around Melbourne. However, the satay chicken was out of this world! A break from tradition with a satay sauce base instead of the traditional pizza sauce, topped with perfectly marinated chicken, capsicum and mozzarella. This really was stand out, it was almost a fusion dish and the Asian flavours just blended beautifully.
Overall, an enjoyable experience – much better than your average take away. The food was fresh and came quickly, I only wish we’d had the appetite to try more dishes! There’s easy parking around the corner, if not on the road out front, so straightforward if you do just want to pop in and get take away. However, it’s also very welcoming if you do want to sit in and enjoy your meal! Thanks for having us Zesty, I’ll definitely be back for that satay chicken pizza!