With small bar licences being handed out like pamphlets at a voting booth, the once dark and dingey Peel Street alleyway has been transformed into a vibrant and trendy social destination, giving life to the laneway culture that we so often see in Melbourne. A handful of new bars have opened since I last walked down this street, with La Moka being one of them.

Inspired by the social norms in their home country, the Italian owners run this establishment as a cafe by day and a bar at night. There’s a small breakfast menu which is made up of muesli, toast, rolls, cornettos and brioche with various spreads and fillings. The lunch time menu is a bit more extensive with sausage rolls, pasta, pizza, baguettes, flat breads and soup. They also have a variety of sweet and savoury treats which are available all day.

During the day, this place has a very casual relaxed feel about it. There’s are seats on the ground level as well as upstairs on the mezzanine. The low hanging light fittings, the exposed ceilings and the unpolished granite benchtop are some features of note. There’s also plenty of natural light that flows through it’s small frontage which makes this place light and airy.

For lunch, I had the Meatball Ciabata which consists of Italian meatballs, grana padano cheese and spinach. The dish came out after a 20 minute wait and was nicely presented on a wooden chopping board. My initial thoughts was that the bread roll was small. For the $11 price point, I was expecting something a bit more substantial.

The meatballs were probably once round but then flattened so that they don’t drop out of the bread. The meatballs were juicy and succulent and full of rich tomato flavour. The sauce had plenty of depth and would have went well with any sort of pasta. The grana padano was beautifully melted over the meatballs. It was slightly salty with a subtle nutty flavour that provided good balance. The spinach was fresh and crisp, and added a slight crunch to the texture. The ciabatta bread was light toasted and firm enough to hold all the ingredients in.

The staff were friendly and the service was good. I did think the meal arrived a bit later than it should have, but it’s the better the meal be properly prepared. Table water was brought to me without even asking and the chopping board was cleared soon after I had finished. The atmosphere was relaxed, although there weren’t too many customers while I was there.

The cost of the my meal was $11 which I thought was slightly overpriced considering it’s small size. Don’t get me wrong, it was delicious but it would have been more satisfying had it been 50% larger. Judging from the food behind the counter and their menu prices, everything looks quite reasonable. Most expensive breakfast item is $6.50 and lunch $11.50.

I can actually see myself coming back to this place. It’s like that little bit of Italy down Peel Street.

WHERE: 16A Peel St, Adelaide