Inside Vanilla Pod’s Belconnen restaurant. Photo: Kazuri Photography.
Vanilla Pod may not be the first name you’d associate with a restaurant serving mouth-watering pizza and pasta, but its origins make perfect sense once owners and cousins Raj and Nishan Singh explain the story.
The name is a sentimental nod to their first cafe, Vanilla Bean.
Although I’m familiar with Vanilla Pod Pizza and Pasta Bar in Kingston, I’ve only just discovered the Vanilla Pod Pizza and Pasta in my neck of the woods, in the revamped Belconnen Fresh Food Markets.
The restaurant offers plenty of outdoor seating under umbrellas, making it a brilliant spot to linger. Their expansive menu covers the full spectrum of dining options, from brunch, cake and coffee to post-work drinks and dinner.
The pine-nut pesto and parmesan pizza bread sounds incredible, especially as I can see the pizzas being slid into a wood-fired oven.
The margherita pizza Photo: Kazuri Photography.
We order a Margherita pizza and an unadorned Calabrese pizza, along with a seafood spaghetti. I get a coffee while we wait and two mocktails to wash down the lunch.
The coffee, a dark, heady blend created especially for the restaurant, tastes rich and smooth and I make a mental note to come here for late afternoon catchups when most cafes might be closed.
The pizza bases undergo a 48-hour fermentation process and when our freshly baked pizzas arrive steaming and fragrant, I notice the “leoparding” on the crust – a hallmark of true Neapolitan pizza. Thin base, tender with a slight chew, and crisp smoky edges – chef’s kiss!
The house-made tomato sauce has had the acidity cooked out of it and it is an aromatic vehicle for the pizza toppings.
The Margherita pizza is surprisingly vibrant. Strewn with cherry tomatoes, basil and slabs of bocconcini, this is a pizza representation of the Italian flag.
Pizza Calabrese has fiery salami rounds baked into its dough along with bocconcini and basil. As we bite into the slabs of pizza, redolent juices of salami drips down our chins. Each mouthful is scrumptious, lush with melty cheese and a hint of heat from the salami spices.
I cannot resist a good spaghetti dish and Vanilla Pod’s seafood spaghetti is outstanding.
Flame-kissed calamari, prawns and fish tossed through the marinara sauce-coated al dente strands give the rich tomato sauce a beautiful smoky flavour. The squeeze of lemon on it is perfection. I actually take some of it home and enjoy it even more the next day.
If you are just popping in for coffee and cake, the house-made cakes in the dessert cabinet look delectable. Italian dessert staple like tiramisu and pannacotta share shelf space with a variety of cheesecakes, muffins, banana bread and sticky date pudding, with gluten and dairy-free options available.
While not professional bakers, Raj tells me that regulars regularly request birthday cakes made in-house.
I am keen to come back with a crowd so we can order a bunch of pizzas and pastas to share.
Which would you order?
Vanilla Pod Pizza and Pasta Bar is at 10 Market Street in Belconnen. It’s open every day from 8 am – 9 pm. Follow Vanilla Pod Pizza and Pasta Bar on Facebook and Instagram.
