Profiled by de Groots MediaMamma Teresa’s is one of those reliable places that never changes much, in a good way. Your favourite pasta as a child could still be on the menu, and taste as good as it did over ten years ago. Coming up to her thirtieth birthday, Mamma Teresa is proud to be serving much of the same food as when she first opened. Her bestsellers are so deeply ingrained in the menu that pigs will fly before the fettuccine marinara comes off the list. Even the popular specials make recurring appearances, such as spaghetti with lobster which is chalked up on the blackboard when available, and wiped off a few hours later as it disappears faster than a hog in quicksand.
The restaurant may not leave you trembling in excitement, but the prices are low, there’s corkage-free BYO (and, importantly, a bottle shop next door) and enough pizza and pasta to shut anyone up. Keep it simple and traditional with Italian meatballs in napolitana sauce, veal boscaiola, and pepperoni pizza. Or make the best of local seafood with sizzling garlic prawns, mussels in white wine and tomato, and fish of the day such as lemon sole. Gelato, creme caramel and tiramisu will finish off your meal in a fitting manner; leaving you rolling out the door one belt-loop broader, in a way only a real Italian Mamma could manage.
Sarah Theeboom, December 2007