Baby Cafe & Pizzeria

The 'Pizzeria' title sells Baby short. Sure, the pizzas do their job, with tasteful combinations of A-grade ingredients (say, fior di latte, spicy Italian sausage, red peppers, smoked mozzarella, San Marzano tomatoes and rosemary) atop black-bubbled, yeasty bases. But it's the flipside of the paper menu, populated with sleek, modern takes on Italian classics, which piques real culinary interest. Octopus carpaccio is fresh and zesty, drizzled with olive oil, dill and hits of seeded birdseye chilli, while the only quibble one might have with the glorious richness of the porchetta, served with bracing grilled radicchio, is the sweetness of the accompanying balsamic-braised apple and caramelised onions: sugar is a drum that Baby, like its red-hot city cousin Chin Chin, can hit relatively hard. Hot, airy cinnamon doughnuts with Nutella sauce make for a delightful closing chapter to what, inevitably at Baby, is a raucous night out.

AND ... You can argue about the 'artistic' merits of the signature neon artwork.

THE LOW-DOWN
VIBE Chin Chin’s Italian cousin.
BEST BIT So much more than pizza.
WORST BIT Acoustics when busy.