Dine Around Chronicles cont'd... Pizzeria Prima Strada (Bridge Street location)

Pizzeria Prima Strada website

Continuing on with our Dine Around Chronicles, we set out for Pizzeria Prima Strada on Bridge St. to check out their $20 three-course menu. At first, I didn’t even realize where the restaurant was in the plaza, as there are two garage doors on the side of the building; however, once entering, you are faced with the cashier countertop and a direct view into their open kitchen. I couldn’t help but be impressed with their wood-burning pizza oven, with actual piles of wood stocked along the walls at the ready. The feel of the restaurant was sort of a blend between garage and classy family restaurant – strange, but it works!

Once seated in our rickety, wicker chairs we all decided on the Dine Around menu. I decided on the Melanzane & Tonno (local tuna served on cubed roasted eggplant and other veggies), Salsiccia Piccante pizza (housemade fennel sausage, tomato, mozzarella, and roasted red peppers) and for dessert, a scoop of hazelnut ice cream with a vanilla ice cream centre, rolled in coco powder.



The tuna and eggplant appetizer was incredibly delicious and moist. Sometimes I find cooked tuna comes across too much like canned tuna, but this certainly was not the case. The eggplant on the bottom wasn’t very noticeable and served more as something to compliment the protein, adding a little flavour and textural contrast in the dish. I recall biting something hard in the dish that was sort of mixed in and indistinguishable in the caponatina (perhaps part of a pit from an olive). Aside from whatever that hard object was, I was very pleased with the appetizer.

The salsiccia pizza was thin crust, baked in their wood oven, but came out a little soggy due to the sauce and a little burnt on some parts of the crust. I’m not sure if the sogginess was just due to the type of pizza or if this one just didn’t come out right. My friend ordered the daily special clam pizza, which had a different sauce and a less sloppy base. We traded slices, and both pizzas were delicious, albeit completely different. The salsiccia pizza was hearty for a thin-crust pizza, but didn’t leave me feeling grease-logged afterward. The fennel sausage was incredible and paired well with the sauce and cheese. My only complaint about this pizza was it was a little sloppy to eat and became a wee-bit salty after eating the entire ~8” pie.

The clam pizza was pretty amazing itself, as I have never seen a pizza with clam shells on it. This pie was made with a cream sauce and topped with shredded red onions, which added a nice heat to it. The clams in the shell were a nice touch, but a little irritating to get the meat out of while trying to enjoy the pizza. As mentioned before, this pizza wasn’t as sloppy as the salsiccia, and the flavours worked well.

As for dessert, I don’t recall the name the waitress used, but it was delicious! The hazelnut ice cream was silky smooth, not too sweet and had a light bitterness from the coco powder. The vanilla centre was unlike typical ice creams, having a true vanilla bean flavour. As for the other desserts, my friends that had the tiramisu, and the gelato topped with espresso said they were incredible as well.

The service was friendly and on point, checking up on our table and refilling water regularly. The restaurant was a bit noisy, but what can you expect from a full-house? While this was the Dine Around menu, I am confident that their regular menu items are of the same quality and that the prices aren’t that much steeper. I will certainly go back and recommend the Bridge St. location to anyone that enjoys gourmet, thin-crust pizza.

- Mr. Pink

Pizzeria Prima Strada - $20 Menu
Appetizer 1
Insalata Della Casa mixed greens, berry vinaigrette, shaved parmigiano
Appetizer 2
Insalata Fresca fennel, orange, red onion, chili flakes, grapefruit, mint
Appetizer 3
Melanzane & Tonno roasted eggplant caponatina, local tuna conserva

Entree 1
Pizze Margherita
tomato, fairburn farm mozzarella di bufula, parmigiano, fresh basil
Entree 2
Salsiccia Piccante
housemade fennel sausage, tomato, mozzarella, roasted red peppers
Entree 3
Funghi
porcini cream, roasted mushrooms, roasted onions, fresh thyme, mozzarella, pecorino

Dessert 1
Gelato
Dessert 2
Affagato vanilla gelato topped with espresso
Dessert 3
Sorbetto