Ti Ama, Hobart

One of the restaurants that I've been wanting to try for a while in Hobart is Ti Ama, particularly after Dave had dinner with some work friends there one evening and came home raving about how amazing it was. Ti Ama is a trendy Italian restaurant (evident in their pizza oven that is disguised as a disco ball) that is located in Battery Point, just near Salamanca.

Dave and I headed to Ti Ama for dinner on Friday night after work. Arriving for our booking at 6:30pm, it was already buzzing with people celebrating the start of the weekend. We decided to start with a couple of drinks - a Willie Smith cider for Dave, and a Calippo Dream cocktail for me, which was a refreshing fruity cocktail with vodka, pineapple, lemon, lime, vanilla, passionfruit and orgeat.

I couldn't decide whether I wanted to go down the pizza or pasta route, so we ended up getting one of each to share, along with one of the starters of grilled Tasmanian octopus with green beans and Sicilian bread dip. The octopus was beautifully fresh and tender, and a nice light starter before we moved onto the carb-heavy main event.


For the pizza option, we ordered the salami, pesto, mushroom, red onion, provolone and mozzarella pizza, and for the pasta, we went for the pappardelle lamb ragu, both of which were incredible. The base of the pizza was one of the freshest, lightest, authentic-Italian-doughiness pizza bases I've had in a while, and the saltiness of the salami, paired with the fresh pesto, mushrooms and red onion, and the creaminess of the provolone and mozzarella, made an incredible combination. The home-made, thick pappardelle pasta was paired with tender lamb ragu pieces and topped with a generous serving of freshly grated parmesan, making it a wonderful dish to share alongside the pizza.


Even though were were pretty full after the octopus, pizza and pappardelle, we couldn't say no to the dessert special of dark chocolate semifreddo with toasted marshmallow. The semifreddo was the perfect balance of slightly melted yet still firm in the centre, was just the right amount of dark chocolatiness without being too rich, and the bar of toasted marshmallow along the side helped to take the edge off the richness.
 
Now that I know that Ti Ama really does live up to its reputation of providing authentic Italian food in a trendy, buzzing environment (and also offers takeaway options), all the while providing excellent, fast and friendly service, it won't be long before I am back at this awesome spot for another hit of Italian deliciousness.