Pizzeria Magma — Restaurant in Melbourne

Chewy, fluffy, ‘dough si dough’ pizzas with quality toppings, combined with some very tasty starters, great wine and vibe made for our perfect Friday date night.

We weren’t planning to step out but we drove past Pizzeria Magma last week on the way back from Thin Slizzy Pizza and the red magma lights caught our eye, so we made a booking for last night.

Let’s start with service, excellent. The staff were ln the ball and very attentive. Atmosphere was chill, moody lighting, with killer tunes playing softly in the background (cue Two of Hearts - Stacey Q: reminds us of our younger days hitting the clubs on Johnston St such as Bar Salona, 120 bar etc). Anyways we digress, let’s get to the food.

The braised cabbage, well, we didn’t know what to expect. Picture a lasagne style dish (but made with cabbage), layered, topped with 36 month parm sauce, garlic and chilli. What the heck bro!!? Not expected, this is something that we would expect at a fancy shmancy wine bar at double the price. Very impressive flavour profile and texture. We wanted more but needed to eat some protein so we paired that with some prosciutto and melon (life is about balance). And to tip things back to the carb dark side we smashed a bowl of frittes with a garlicky mayo which was damn fine.

For the pizza we went back to our usual Margherita , but with added salumi, so technically not a Margherita, and also a side of their home made ajvar sauce. Being from the balkans myself, ajvar (a chilli/pepper/eggplant relish) is something I (Ronny) have been eating for over 40 years and Charlene only the last 8 years (for some reason Lebanese people were deprived of ajvar, poor folk) Anyhow, the ajvar was made into a sauce and used as the base for one of their other pizzas but we asked for a small bowl on the side to dip the pizza crust.

So how was the pizza, well the dough was fluffy, chewy, crispy, charred, it was a damn fine dough and crust, done right. It’s more of a 11” pizza size but the dough is thicc, like my wife, that I can sink my teeth into and chew, and similarly with the pizza. Texture was insanely good. The toppings were fresh, fragrant and a great balance between the sweetness from the tomatoes, and the umami from the cheese and salumi. And dipping the crust in the ajvar sauce just elevated it to the next level. Brilliant.

What we have leaned the last couple months on our pizza tour of Melbourne is the ones we have selected (after my careful deliberation and strategic curation) is that they are all top players in their respective pizza style. Magma is a 5 star in their domain, unique pizza toppings, dough/crust that’s thicc-er than our usual Neapolitan we are accustomed to, but a welcome change and experience.

Thanks for...

Can't tell what I love more about this place - the food or the ambience. So spacious and vibey, perfectly spatially aligned restaurant to make each table feel intimate with heaps of leg room. Excellent beats and ambient lighting, could sit in there for hours! Best iteration of this site as a former frequenter of Supermaxi i hope Magma stays here forever. Have brought friends who hate restaurants and friends who love fine dining and every single person rates this place. Food and drink are also 10/10 and super reasonably priced for the quality. Specials are always incredible and they cater to dietaries which means i can basically try everything on the menu. Super classic flavours with a hit of sweetness or fresh herbs or something that just takes it to the next level. Specifically recommend the 'Menta' pizza - it's perfect, and the Marinara pizza (pictured) which is just iconic. The waitor was also so lovely and clearly very passionate and knowledgeable which rlly contributes to the vibe. I often come here exhausted from work and leave with the best energy in the best spirits. Cannot...

Pizza is nice - but not amazing. The menu is limited which is a shame because you just can’t have pizza and expect people to come back. There were only 4 item for entree so I got a pasta tube filled with ricotta that was deep fried. When it came out I died. I expect to have at least 3 pieces for sharing. One pasta tube size of my index finger. Not enough for one person let alone 2 people. The waiter just needed to look a little more presentable looked like he just got back from a surfing season. It was also expensive- $89.00 for 1 pizza 2 soft drinks and 1 pasta tube. I don’t understand the hype of this place. It’s not a Resturant is just a hang out place. It definitely not a place to take your partner too for dinner. It’s a place you would go just for...