In our little coastal town, we are truly blessed to be able to embrace international cuisines! La Piazza Continental Cafe, nestled in the buzz of The Well Centre, is everyone’s go-to spot. A colourful play area happily entertains the kids with easy access to the outside tables for family-friendly seating and a more cosy seating area inside. La Piazza exudes an Italian ambience. Its warm lighting and the friendly, yet very vibrant, atmosphere is the perfect setting to enjoy their newly launched tapas platters.
Leo, our waiter, greeted us warmly, then he seated us and handed us the tapas and cocktail menu. I ordered a Bacardi Strawberry Mojito, and my colleagues ordered Aperol Spritz and a Strawberry Daquiri. We arrived hungry, so we decided to get three Tapas boards! We love the Tapas concept, and La piazza is the perfect place to enjoy it. Bite-sized pieces of fabulous food, Tapas are all about sharing and community, the authentic Italian way!
Our first board was like the perfect starter platter! With arancini (a deep-fried risotto ball filled with spinach, mushroom and mozzarella, crumbed and deep-fried served with napolitana sauce), deep-fried ravioli, crumbed artichokes (served with a basil aioli dipping sauce) and deep fried penne, classic Italian flavours served with napolitana sauce. This platter was all about getting you ready for what was coming next. Mamma mia!
The next Tapas Board was the real deal. You will simply never go wrong with a meat and seafood combination. We were served perfect pork belly cubes (sticky pork belly, garnished with crispy crackling), grilled peri-peri chicken livers with toasted ciabatta, calamari piccolos (grilled calamari tubes, tossed with lemon butter and nim jam sauce) and perfectly char-grilled pork loin rib snacks. You’ll be pleased to know that all the platters are served with complimentary focaccia! Marco is a passionate restaurateur, and as he does with all his customers, he came to check on us and found that our drinks were low. He suggested we try the Bacardi Passionfruit and Mango Mojito, one of his personal favourites. At first sip, I could understand why!
Last but not least, the Tapas Dessert Board. Two scoops of homemade gelato, deep-fried chocolate spring rolls and a chocolate fondant served with candied peanuts and freshly whipped cream. The taste, flavours and the whole experience were, as always, perfection! Tapas sharing platters are great for the entire familia to connect and socialise over great food.
032 946 1527
1 Albertina Way, Ballito
Words by Toni Savannah Reddy