Pizza Madre

Long wait for pizza but we got some big floppy ones cut into unexpectedly large quarters. They tasted good though (margarita and potato), from the bases to the sparse toppings and the lots of herbs. Really quite good but I'd expect better at this price.

Great sourdough pizza run by the guys from Twochaps in Marrickville. Menu is seasonal and they use some great cooking techniques and source good quality ingredients

Adjacent the mayhem that is the Sydenham and Illawarra Road intersection, our conversation struggles to compete with the flight path directly above our heads. The small interior of the venue jam-packed with local families and chaotic kiddos had persuaded us to dine al fresco.

If only my dinner companion could hear me better, I was explaining that Pizza Madre was a relatively new-to-the-scene Pizzeria, whose shtick was ‘locally sourced’. And they meant it. 

Even my Negroni ($16) was made with Australian ‘Red Okar’, rather than the classic Campari. The flavour of the Negroni (and thought that went into selecting its alternative ingredient), was appreciated. The fact that it came premixed, was less appreciated.

The Pizzas impressed, even for a purist such as myself. I had my doubts about what clearly looked in photographs to be a Neapolitan style Pizza (is there any other kind?), being made with sourdough starter. Nonetheless, it worked better than I’d expected. 

As the self proclaimed purist, I went with the Smoked Mozzarella, Tomato, Basil and Oregano ($21), and my date, the Eggplant with Black Olive, Elephant Garlic Oil and Buttermilk Ricotta ($24). This proved a perfect sample of the ‘simple’ to ‘less simple’ flavour spectrum. 

Both Pizzas were produced to a very high standard, and the non-conventional methods and ingredients used only served to galvanise my appreciation further.

While some might argue Pizza Madre is a less Italian style Pizzeria, I would note that Italian food philosophy, being grounded deeply in local produce and seasonality, might suggest that this pocket of the Sydney Pizza scene is arguably more Italian than the ‘classic’ places. 

It’s still no Lucio’s, but certainly one to check out in my opinion.

We know Pizza Madre gets super busy so we booked a table and arrived early. The pizzas here are absolutely amazing and probably one of the best pizzas we have ever had. The pizza base is delicious and the toppings are so tasty you forget it's vegetarian! There's a good selection of beer and wine also. The waitress we had was super friendly and helpful. We will definitely come back to try the other pizzas! Highly recommended.

First time visit, a bit quiet at Saturday lunch. Saw the fresh roasted miso eggplant when entering the restaurant, ordered the eggplant salad. Also picked king mushroom pizza. Size is very generous. They only do vegetarian pizzas and menu changes every month, they would update it on ins. I would definitely give it another go for more vegetarian pizzas.

Highly recommend the four cheese pizza! It’s not greasy and overly heavy, and the honey was a very nice addition. Lemon gin slushy was very light but soooo yummy. Absolutely the highlight of the night! Definitely make a booking. Line can get long. Also worth the wait for the pizzas, although they take a while to come out.

Pizza Madre is now one of my top 5 pizza places in Sydney and that’s saying something because I love a good slice! These folks have somehow kept all the important parts of what makes a pizza great and then shaken up the rest to make it exciting and fun again. Best part: not one animal was hurt for my slice. We had an eggplant and fermented chilli pizza and it was sensational. Creamy, zesty with a super mild spice-hum to liven the tastebuds. We ordered through the website and arrived just as we paid online - very simple process. A friendly staff-member came outside and greeted us and took note of our order. Our pizza was in our hands in about 15 minutes. Well done pizza made: you’ve stolen a pizza my heart 💜