Ometto Pizza Bar — Restaurant in Newcastle-Maitland

The best vegan pizza (and Gnocchi!) I've ever had, from anywhere in the country including dedicated vegan pizza joints in Sydney and Melbourne. Not only that but also one of the best traditional style bases I've ever had too. The pomodoro sauce was 10/10 as if from a Nona's own personal recipe book.

The only downside was the wait, granted there was a few take-away orders for them to do plus one large table and I can appreciate there is only so much room in a good quality Napoli-style oven such as theirs - having kitchen experience, I know wait times can fluctuate and things happen; upon arrival the bright and inspired flavours of the meals cheered us up quickly.

One waitress serving who was busy between helping the kitchen with side-tasks and looking after the front of house, so I can't place too much pressure on that aspect because she really was very polite and friendly and did have her head on a swivel, always coming over to us if we gestured for help.

The atmosphere was cosy, dark but not too dark and thankfully not feeling at all like an overly intense, bright noisy commercial places - only thing that would improve is maybe some tasteful or traditional decor and music, but the place felt very cosy and romantic regardless and no music is a very welcome change, keeps people from talking over eachother , and is always better than poppy garbage. Kudos on the lighting.

The pricing was completely reasonable and honestly, for two diners to have wine and two mains, I was very happy with the affordable bill considering how impressive the food was.

Ometto genuinely feels like a venue that cares about the flavour and traditional quality of their craft. I am honestly looking forward to coming back very, very soon. Props to the chef on nailing the bases and sauce and to our waitress for balancing FoH and kitchen assist duties like a pro while being friendly and sweet.

See...

Had really high hopes for this place. Most of the reviews looked positive and also a few people had spoken highly of it. But unfortunately my partner and I left very disappointed!! Full, but disappointed.

First impressions weren’t great to start with. All the staff were so young, the tables hadn’t been set yet and the main guy looked a bit flustered with orders and people coming in.

We waited 45 minutes for our meal. Ordered the supreme and the Gorgonzola potato pizza & the Gorgonzola gnocchi. The flavor of the pizza was good but the supreme was soggy in the middle, the toppings and not enough cooking time caused the pizza to get soggy pretty much strait away. The Gorgonzola potato one was delish but the let down was there was a higher percentage of pizza dough/crust then actual topping spread out to the edge. And the gnocchi, it sucked. Bland, grainy and floury flavor. Wasn’t a fan.

The major complaint of the night and something I strongly suggest management ensure doesn’t happen again…. One of the guys on the pizza line prepping the pizzas, as he was working (in full view of the dining area) he grabbed his hat with one hand, with his other hand sleeked his curly sweaty hair back, put his hat back on and proceeded to carry on touching food!!! That is not on and breaks so many OH&S regulations.

Won’t...

We had high hopes when we arrived, but this turned out to be a really disappointing experience. It took 30 minutes just to get our drinks, and nearly 50 minutes for our appetizers to arrive. Meanwhile, we watched walk-in takeaway orders being processed quickly and consistently, and it felt like they were being prioritized over dine-in customers.

There was only one waitress working the entire floor, and while she was clearly doing her absolute best, it was obvious she was overwhelmed and had no support. She was friendly and apologetic, but there was simply no way she could keep up with the demands of a busy restaurant on her own.

The appetizer board we eventually received was lackluster, and after the long wait, it felt like a letdown. We ended up cancelling our pizza order altogether.

To top it all off, the place was visibly dirty. Sticky tables, cockroaches on the floor of the food prep area, and dust and grime on surfaces behind the counter and along the walls made us question the basic hygiene of the establishment.

We won’t be back, and I’d advise others to steer clear until serious...