Emilia reviews a pizza restaurant bringing a slice of New York to bayside
Click PLAY to hear Emilia’s full review of Sunnyside Sliced
I think I’ve found one! And by one I mean a great meeting place with a sun drenched (but covered) courtyard and shareable food. My friends, Sam and Charlie who spend most of their spare time hunting down the best bakeries in Melbourne, travelled out to Mentone for this pizza, returning raving about this New York style, pizza by the slice with some of the best bases they’ve had. High praise from these gluten lovers.
Ross, you said you’d never go back to New York so I’ve solved the only issue you might face with that declaration, a lack of New York style pizza in your life. Halloween is next week, the US election the week after – it only seemed fitting that some Amerciana slipped into my food review this week.
Sunnyside Sliced has a one up on New York though because it’s only 1km from the beach. I took the train down to Mentone, an express on the Frankston line took 30 mins from Richmond Station and I walked 2 mins down the road to Sunnyside Sliced.
To get to the courtyard you walk past their open kitchen where you can see their chefs hand stretching their long-fermented dough and placing up to 18-inch ‘pies’ on pizza stones and Sicilian deep pan dish pizzas in their massive pizza oven.
When I stopped to take a picture of the pizza chefs through the courtyard window he playfully held up the 50cm long fresh mozzarella. That’s the general vibe of Sunnyside. The service, despite there being a QR code on the table, was joyous and helpful.
Starting with a Margherita from their bar (also in the courtyard for good vibes), they make a good marg. We started with the Garlic Cheese Roll which was a folded roll, resembling layers of croissant with their family garlic mix oozing from the middle. To compare, I also tried the 3 Day Garlic Focaccia which is also fermented for three days and topped with extra virgin olive oil and parsley topped with Pecorino Romano cheese. I liked the focaccia better but the cheese roll is a good snack or add on.
The best thing about Sunnyside is that you can buy by the slice for $8(ish), meaning you can try all the different options.
My favourites were the Hella Honey, which comes on a traditional NY thin crust and uses Napoli tomatoes, provolone, Parmigiano-Reggiano, Spanish chorizo, and jalapeños and topped with Mike’s hot honey sauce. You can add Mike’s hot honey onto any pizza you like – it’s America’s leading brand of hot honey, known for being drizzled over Brooklyn pies.
I tried the Vodka Pizza on a gluten free base, this was a deep dish pizza which essentially is like a focaccia topped with three cheeses and generously lathered in house-made vodka sauce. It is finished with a lot of thinly sliced scallions and a special pickle sauce, probably too much green onion for my liking but the gluten free base was almost undetectable. By far my favourite included another New York food iconic in the reuben, It’s in their ‘pan’ style, I imagine for structural integrity as it features provolone, mozzarella, onions, jalapeños, beef pastrami by Uncles Small Goods, and is topped with dijonnaise and dill pickles. The pan style of it means you get crispy, cheesy edges and some of the most delicious mouthfuls of focaccia bread.
At the waiter’s recommendation I also tried the Sicilian Pan, Deep Dish pizza that they call ‘Grandma’ which is baked upside down and features their signature ‘Ciao’ tomato sauce, fresh basil, four specialty cheeses, sesame seeds, and garlic seasoning. What I just said about crispy, cheesy edges is doubled in excellence on the Grandma.
Special shoutout to the others I tried, that I really liked but didn’t make my top … 4. The Brooklyn Greenpoint which is named after the Fitzroy neighbourhood of Brooklyn, including their ‘Ciao’ tomato sauce, cheese, mushrooms, bell peppers, red onions, and Kalamata olives, all seasoned with garlic. If you’re a truffle lover, the White Truffle this one is a truffle lover’s dream. It combines Pecorino Tartufo cheese with garlic and rosemary roasted mushrooms, caramelised onions, and additional cheese.
If a table full of pizza sounds like a lot for you, Mom’s Lasagne or Mom’s spaghetti is a good choice. Their original beef lasagne was handed down by owner, Ali’s Mom, She’s been making it for him since the 1980s.
Lastly, if you’re a purist, look away, if not, finish your sitting with some Biscoff Tiramisu.
An as-big-as-my-head slice starts (and mostly remains) at $8, a whole 18 inch pie costs $58. The deep dish pizza’s cost $9 a slice, $32 for a mini pan and $60 for a massive pan. Pasta and lasagne is all between $24-28.
Perhaps aided by a beautifully sunny afternoon and maybe their allowance of dogs in their courtyard but I could just see myself spending a Sunday afternoon here for hours, trying all the different flavours of pizza. I only wish it was closer but it’s well worth the trip.
Sunnyside Sliced
34 Como Parade West, Mentone