Tag: italian food

by Davin Lee

Cucina & Co

Following on from my previous review of Cucina Bar & Restaurant, we ventured across the road to continue eating at Cucina & Co. This place had a great industrial feel to it and we were quickly seated on the black communal table.

We started with the pumpkin focaccia and I instantly fell in love with this dish! The pumpkin base was delightfully appetising, along with the prosciutto and fresh tomatoes it combined to make a cracker of a starter. I use the term starter lightly because this was so filling that we were a bit worried of what was to come.

The Pizza Royal and Pappardelle Giuseppina were our other favourites. The buffalo mozzarella was of high quality, and I could taste the milky/creaminess in the cheese. The base was thin and crispy, yet it had a slightly chewy texture. These are the pizza bases which set the standard and it’s worth coming here just for this experience! I don’t get to eat Pappardelle much, but I can really see the appeal with this pasta. The large flat shape really soaks up the ragu sauce and holds onto it. The lamb and pork ragu was tender, succulent and flavoured beautifully.

Unfortunately I wasn’t a huge fan of the nutella desserts. The fried pizza dough drizzled with nutella was way too dense and doughy for my liking. The nutella calzone was just an explosion of nutella! As much as I love nutella I was seriously overwhelmed with the quantity of it, and add to the fact that I was so stuffed from all the food, it did not go down too well.

Luckily we finished off with a limoncello which helped ease the digestive system a bit! This one was really tasty and I cannot wait to open a bottle which an Italian friend gave us last month. It seems like an alcohol which I can get used to!

We’d like to thank Enzo and his team for the invite and hospitality. We enjoyed the food here and will revisit in the future.

Cucina & Co.
Approx $40 AUD per person
Address: 325 New Street, Brighton VIC 3186
Phone: +61 3 9530 5324
Website: www.cucinaandco.com.au

Cucina & Co. Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

by Davin Lee

Rita’s Cafeteria

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Rita’s Cafeteria was introduced to me as one of the places to go to for great pizza, funny enough I don’t even rate the pizza that highly. I had stopped ordering the pizza after the second trip. I found the pizzas to be quite thick crusted which I don’t prefer and although the ingredients of the toppings were special, I didn’t think they were worthy of the hype.

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It was actually because of this, that I was fortunate enough to discover their main dishes! They are really tasty with a nice rustic style presentation. Prepared by a trendy hipster in the kitchen, he also uses a lot of micro greens for decoration. The menu is always changing and I love coming back to try out the new dishes on the menu. Prices range from high $20 to low $30.

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Some examples which I’ve tried and loved include the pickled octopus salad, the spatchcock, caprese salad which consists of tomatoes, basil and buffalo mozzarella, radiccio salad, and the risotto with prawn, crab, peas, lemon and marscapone. So simple and yet it tastes so good! As the menu is always changing, you’ll probably won’t get the same dishes. However, it’s great to know that you can enjoy something different every time you come back!

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I really like Rita’s Cafeteria because they provide very tasty dishes, with special flavours that I can’t find anywhere else. I would highly recommend anyone to try out their main dishes, and I hope you enjoy them as much as I have. Oh and their house red deliciously goes well with the food!

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Rita’s Cafeteria
Approx $35 AUD per person
Website: ritasabbotsford.com.au
Address: 239 Johnston St, Abbotsford VIC 3067
Phone: +61 3 9419 8233

Rita's Cafeteria Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

by Helen Le

Thirty Eight Chairs

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Firstly, apologies we haven’t been posting as often as we would have liked to. With moving to our new place, selling our old home AND exams for me, it’s just a tad hectic to say the least! Hopefully once everything is settled, we’ll be able to get back into doing what we love doing – eating and writing about it!

So recently we found a little gem which has probably replaced one of our usual favourite go-to places. If you are in search for some yummy Italian food, look no further. We were recently recommended to try out Thirty Eight Chairs and they certainly did not disappoint!  This small and intimate restaurant has a limited number of chairs but serves fresh and delicious Italian dishes. It is nestled in a quiet alley in South Yarra with some tables spilling outside of the restaurant. Being a bit chilly on this particular night we opted to sit indoors. Because it is small, it is essential that you call and make a booking!

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The staff are all Italian and are so warm and welcoming, you feel right at home as soon as you enter. We were seated at a quaint little table near the back. We ordered some Italian red wine, recommended by the staff there when we asked for something similar to a shiraz. They let us test and then have this wine imported from Italy for their restaurant, it was a 2012 Lecorbe, Toscana. It was so good and had the right complexities to it. We wanted more but it was the last bottle!

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For starters we ordered the Bresola di Wagyu which came with parmesan cheese, croutons and sicilian citrus oil, and the Cicale di Mare, which were the Moreton bay bugs with lemon butter sauce. The wagyu slices were SO soft it just melted in your mouth! Combined with the other ingredients it was heaven in your mouth. I could have eaten that whole dish to myself but of course had to share with Davin. The Moreton bay bugs were really fresh and cooked to perfection. The lightness of the lemon butter made the natural flavours of the bugs the star of the dish. It was a very enjoyable dish.

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For the mains, I ordered the Gnocchi al Pomodoro, potato gnocchi with red datterini tomatoes, mozzarella and basil. I absolutely love gnocchi so couldn’t say no to trying it. It was so delicious! Each bite of the potato gnocchi was light and fluffy and did not feel heavy at all. The datterini tomatoes gave it a lovely light and enjoyable flavour to it. I cleaned it up pretty quickly!

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Davin ordered the Linguine ai Fruitti di Mare which had linguine, seafood vellutata in tomato base, crab meat, deveined prawns, orange zest and bread crust sauce. Again, amazing dish and the flavours all came together so well, it wasn’t a heavy pasta dish and you could eat lots of it. We were both impressed with the pasta dishes. We also ordered the the Caprese salad to go with the mains which had Roma tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella DOC and basil. I loved the buffalo mozzarella, it was fresh and with the tomatoes and basil, a match made in heaven.

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For dessert, we ordered the Meringa, Crema, Fragole to share. It had meringue, vanilla cream, fresh strawberries and berries compote. Um, yes please! It had everything I loved in a dessert. When it came out we just literally scoffed it, it was so good! I would definitely order that again, and maybe just for myself next time. Staff also gave us complimentary dessert wine to go with our dessert.

Overall, we had a great experience. From the great food and wine, to the lovely service, we can assure you we’ll definitely be back!

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Thirty Eight Chairs
Approx $60 AUD per person
Address: 4A Bond St, South Yarra VIC 3141
Phone:+61 3 9827 5553

Thirty Eight Chairs Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

by Helen Le

48H Pizza & Gnocchi Bar

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Recently Davin and I were invited by the lovely owners of 48H, Fabio and Michele, to a complimentary Italian culinary experience. They proudly claim to be Melbourne’s first ever pizza and gnocchi bar and so we were quite excited to check it out.

Although this was a sponsored dinner, we reminded ourselves that we had to be honest with our thoughts on our experience. And of course we wanted to share this experience with you too!

Upon arrival, we were greeted warmly by Fabio, who shook both of our hands and welcomed us inside. The restaurant itself was lovely, with the rustic brick walls, wooden tables and a touch of modern lighting. It wasn’t too big of a restaurant so it gave you that cozy feel which we immediately liked.

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Fabio gave us their menu and took his time talking us through all their dishes. He provided some recommendations then asked us if we were interested in trying anything in particular or if we were happy for them to decide on the dishes they wanted to serve us. We were more than happy for them to run with it as we were open to anything and everything!

He started off by pouring us some bubbles, their NV Prosecco ‘Tasi’ DOC imported from Veneto, Italy. Now I don’t normally drink sparkling white wine but this was exceptional. It was crisp and refreshing and actually went very well with the meal. They were very generous throughout the whole night with the pouring.

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The first dish served was the salmon marinated for 48 hours and served with butter, black salt and herbs. It came with fresh, warm homemade bread. It was a lovely a dish and the olive oil that the salmon was marinated in was smooth and luscious, you could have plenty of it! The salmon portions was presented in a cute jar and was also very generous.

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Next up was their potato activated charcoal gnocchi in gorgonzola (blue vein cheese) sauce, radicchio and vin cotto. Oh my gosh this dish was amazing! Those that know me know that I love all cheeses especially blue cheese. This sauce was made to perfection. You could really taste the blue vein but at the same time it was not too intrusive. The charcoal black gnocchi was also so soft, light and fluffy. It did not feel heavy at all and you could eat lots of it!

Fabio explained that all their gnocchi is made with gluten free flour which makes them lighter and easier to digest. You could really taste and feel this when you’re eating it. The only thing I would have to say is that the presentation could probably have been a bit better. But I cannot fault the dish.

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We were then served one of their pizzas – the Lipari which consisted of Sicilian cherry tomato sauce, prawns, caper berries and organic oregano. Again this was an amazing dish and Davin’s favourite. The lightness and sweetness of the cherry tomato sauce combined with the perfectly cooked prawns and the thin and light pizza crust was a match made in heaven.

The pizza dough is where their 48H ethos comes in because they make sure that the dough is leavened for at least 48 hours to ensure that the pizza is light and aromatic. Again, you could really taste this.

Finally dessert was a twist of the traditional panna cotta where just the fatty part of the milk was used to create the dish. With the addition of blood orange syrup for sweetness, it made it a very interesting dessert.

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Throughout the meal, Michele who is the chef, also often came out to happily talk with us about his dishes and the fresh produce he uses to maintain the high quality of the food. You can tell that both Michele and Fabio are so very passionate about their food.

Even though we expected the great service they provided because after all, we were invited, we did quietly observe around the restaurant and saw that they were also treating their customers around us with just as much care and respect. They seemed to be attentive, chatty and warm and welcoming to everyone which was a good sign.

Overall, it was an amazing experience. We really enjoyed Fabio and Michele’s hospitality and would definitely recommend 48h to others. Although the presentation of the dishes is probably not up to the level of other high quality restaurants, the food itself was top quality, fresh and tasty. So if you’re ever in the mood for some Italian, do check them out!

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48H Pizza & Gnocchi Bar
Approx $40 AUD per person
Website: www.48h.com.au
Address: 373 Malvern Rd, South Yarra VIC 3141
Phone:+61 3 9824 2573

48H Pizza & Gnocchi Bar Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato