Arancini balls… crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside with mozzarella oozing out of the centre. Photo: Wendy Johnson

Star of the show… Bianco King Prawn pizza enhanced with chilli, yellow and green zucchini and ripe cherry tomatoes. Photo: Wendy Johnson 

Side salad… rocket and parmesan with aged balsamic vinegar. Photo: Wendy Johnson

Wagyu carpaccio… with peppery rocket, confit garlic, fennel and parmesan. Photo: Wendy Johnson

Dining reviewer WENDY JOHNSON discovers an eatery in Civic with a new pizza menu – and more.

THE interior is based on the iconic ’90s movie, “The Talented Mr Ripley”, and the restaurant chic Italian inspired – L’Americano Espresso Bar and Restaurant is clear about its place in the market and delivers.

Part of the Canberra Centre’s design precinct, with an entrance from Bunda Street, L’Americano is a unique offering in the city. 

A new pizza menu has been launched, inspired by the food heritage of the Italian Riviera (combined with some Aussie faves).

Our L’Americano adventure started with superb Wagyu carpaccio ($22) with peppery rocket, confit garlic, fennel and parmesan. The beef was thinly sliced, a lovely light pink, and served with a strongish creamy dressing. We were careful not to overload the beef with the dressing given its delicate nature. It was a mouth-watering start to our Sunday lunch.

Next up was the Arancini ($14). They were crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside with mozzarella oozing out of the centre. The intense and vibrant salsa rossa, created with red capsicum, chilli and capers, was excellent and the dish featured aromatic saffron and basil. The arancini balls were topped with shavings of salty parmesan on top.

We’ve heard that the duck liver pate, with pickled cherries and black pepper, is to-die-for ($18), but could only fit so much in so moved to mains.

The star of the show was the Bianco King Prawn pizza ($28), one of six on the menu. It’s a light pizza but don’t take that to mean it isn’t high on taste. 

The prawns, split in half lengthways, were cooked to perfection and the pizza enhanced with chilli (thin, fresh slices and flakes), yellow and green zucchini (to add colour and boost the flavour profile), and ripe cherry tomatoes halved. The white base of Fior di Latte and Mascarpone was delish. 

For a side salad we selected the rocket and parmesan with aged balsamic vinegar ($10). The rocket was super fresh, but the dish was overly salty (and we’re salt fans). 

We dined with a fresh, bright and inviting pinot grigio – Dal Zotto from King Valley ($58 a bottle and $12 by the glass). Overall, L’Americano’s wine list is well-presented and well-priced.

L’Americano has a concise “addition menu”, and on our visit included a Fraser Coast spanner crab risotto ($34), Caesar salad croquettes ($20) and seafood spaghetti ($36).

Desserts sounded amazing, but sadly there was no room for the Basque burnt cheesecake ($14), which we definitely wanted to indulge in. Perhaps next time, although this dolce might have to fight to be selected over the tiramisu.

It was attentive service with a smile at L’Americano until the end when we had to flag someone to get our bill. We were impressed there was no Sunday surcharge.