Cucina Bar

We were invited to dine at Cucina Bar and Cucina & Co, and as a bonus we got to dine with @bearabbit & the mischievous +1! They were already at Cucina Bar when we arrived, I don’t think there’s ever been a time which they’ve been late. We were seated by the window ledge looking out to New St in the beautiful coastal suburb of Brighton.

After a quick and warm welcome from Enzo, we were on our way to sampling some great food! To say that the portions were decent was an understatement. We initially thought that we were going to be sharing all the dishes between us 4, until we realised that we were getting our own portions. We started off with the Sardine Beccafino. I’m a huge fan of restaurants using underappreciated fishes, and this dish is a reminder of how great sardines are. As I bit into it, I could hear a crunch followed by an explosion of flavours in my mouth! There was the sea flavour from the sardine, rounded up by the sweetness of the sultanas and orange. It was fantastic, I couldn’t fault it.

Having eaten rice my whole life, you wouldn’t think that rice could excite me anymore. Oh it can, it definitely can! These Arancini balls were some of the best I’ve ever had. Crispy on the outside and the rice inside was not dense at all. The cheese coated each grain of rice beautifully, I was in rice heaven! This is the carb I need in my life, I wouldn’t mind waking up to this every day.

 

When the platters of Tagliere Salumi (cured meats) and Tagliere Formaggi (Italian cheeses) came out, I started to get worried because we were supposed to go across the road to eat at Cucina & Co. Never ones to back down from a challenge we persevered. The best way to tell if an Italian cheese platter is good is to cut into the buffalo mozzarella! If the texture is smooth and creamy then you’d know you’re onto something good. This mozzarella ticked all the boxes and it had a prominent milky taste. The other hard cheeses were equally as good. I also enjoyed the cured meat platter especially the salami. The fat to meat ratio was perfect, if I was to consume saturated fat, this would be my go to meat!

We came, we conquered, and then we were ushered across the road to eat some more. It was a great start to our night at Cucina Bar.

Cucina Bar
Approx $45 AUD per person
Address: 312 New St, Brighton VIC 3186
Phone: +61 3 9592 1592
Website: cucinabar.com.au

Cucina Bar & Restaurant Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Tipico

We would like to extend a warm thank you to Tipico for inviting us to dine at their restaurant. Tipico is a modern Italian eatery located in Windsor. It’s really nice to see these new style Italian restaurants popping up around Melbourne, as Helen and I have always loved the twist they put on certain Italian dishes. Does Tipico hit the mark? Unfortunately not. Even though we’ve been blogging for a while, it does not get any easier to give criticism to any restaurant. The reason for this is because we classify ourselves as food lovers, and not food critics. I think I’ve set the tone for what is to follow, so please read on for my thoughts on Tipico.

It was not a good start for us for the night. There was a mix up between them and their marketing company, so we arrived without a booking. They finally managed to find some seats for us, so we sat down awkwardly. The feeling was kinda like rocking up to a party which you’re not invited to. Anyway, put all that aside, the place was buzzing and the vibe was cool so we were excited. There were exposed concrete walls, and a huge bar area, a great formula for a place to hang out for some drinks. We were seated along the window and my back was facing the bar area. I will mention that it was a bit weird to have people towering over me behind my back as I was eating though.

So onto the food… we started with the chicken liver pate with polenta bread, and the kingfish with orange dressing. I tried the pate by itself, it had good flavour but was a tad runny. The polenta bread on the other hand was not very pleasant at all. It crumbled like a shortbread and was a horrible match for the pate. It made it hard to taste the pate when my mouth was full of crumbs! Regular bread would have been a way better choice for this dish.

The kingfish with orange dressing may as well have been renamed to ‘kingfish with orange zest’ because that was all I could taste. The zest was really strong and fully overpowered the kingfish, which was such a shame because the kingfish looked to be good quality. This dish could be benefited with a touch of sourness in the dressing to make it appetizing. It should also be noted that for $22, the portion size for this kingfish dish ranks as the smallest out of all the ones I’ve ever had.

For mains I got the Tagliolini spanner crab pasta and Helen got a Prosciutto pizza. My pasta sauce tasted clean with good seafood flavours, however it was lacking the punch I was looking for in a pasta sauce and tasted a little watered down. I was searching everywhere in the pasta for some spanner crab, and it must be either really mixed in, not much of it or a combination because I struggled to find any. Please see pic – if any of you can spot the crab, let me know! It would have been nice to get some bits of crab to provide a contrast in texture. Helen’s pizza was pretty good. It was cooked well, had a great base, and the Prosciutto they used was beautiful! It only there was more of it, we barely got 6 pieces of it, there was still so much real estate to be used. We’re not looking for it to be packed like an American pizza, but for $25, a bit more Prosciutto would be appreciated. The buffalo mozzarella didn’t have any texture and just disintegrated in my mouth, it was also lacking the milky taste found in good buffalo mozzarella.

I won’t go too in depth with the pannacotta dessert, as it was just dense and just tasted like sweet almond flakes.

So in summary, was the meal awful? Honestly it wasn’t. The food was just very ordinary, and failed to shine or make an impact. I can’t help but think that for the price, the portions could be better, and I couldn’t help but notice they were skimping on the ingredients a bit. Consumers don’t mind spending a bit more money when they eat out, but with prices such as $34 for the pasta and $25 for the pizza, let’s see the spanner crab and let’s put a few more pieces of prosciutto on the pizza! These are the differences between a reasonably priced as opposed to overpriced. As it stands, we don’t foresee us returning to Tipico, but we do hope that Tipico takes some of my opinions on board and improve further. We wish nothing but the best for Tipico.

Tipico
Approx $50 AUD per person
Address: 242 High St, Windsor VIC 3181
Phone: +61 3 9089 0768
Website: tipico.melbourne

Tipico Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Cosi Bar Ristorante

Not too long ago we were in the mood for some Italian and decided to check out Cosi in South Yarra. Ratings for the restaurant were quite high and positive so off we went. Cosi is a fine dining restaurant with a lovely intimate feel. Upon entering you’ll notice the dim lights and white table cloths. Staff were also very friendly and efficiently seated us.

For mains I ordered the Tagliatelle with blue swimmer crab, tomato and smoked butter. This was SO delicious! Oh the flavours from the smoked butter and the generous chunks of crab meat. This was a dish to die for and we would happily order this again. The pasta was also super fresh.

Davin ordered the Spaghetti Marinara with white wine, chilli and garlic. This was also a really nice dish and had generous amounts of prawns and mussels. However we both agreed that my Tagliatelle dish was the winner.

For dessert we decided to share the basil panna cotta with berries and chocolate. We loved this! The panna cotta had the perfect wobbly texture and really tasted like fresh basil. It was an interesting and refreshing dish. I believe they may change the flavour of the panna cotta so it may not be available anymore. However we were so glad to have had the opportunity to try the basil flavoured one.
We thoroughly really enjoyed our experience at Cosi and felt the quality of their food was top notch. We will definitely be back when we feel like some fine dining Italian!

Cosi Bar Ristorante
Approx $60 AUD per person
Address: 68 Toorak Rd, South Yarra VIC 3141
Phone: +61 3 9867 39999
Website: cosirestaurant.com.au

Cosi Bar Ristorante Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Heartattack and Vine

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I’d like to share with you guys today a refreshing Italian restaurant located on Lygon Street. Now I know what you guys are probably thinking. Italian men standing at the front of their restaurant with menus, herding people in like sheeps! This is actually one of my pet hates, and I would never recommend a restaurant that does this. Heartattack and Vine is the total opposite of this unwelcoming stigma. They let their showcase of food, and the faces of happy diners do the marketing. We’ve walked past Heartattack and Vine many times after dinner. Everyone always looks happy and relaxed dining here. Having missed out on trying their food so many times, food frustration kicked in, and we made an exclusive trip to Carlton to try them out.

Heartattack and Vine is an Italian tapas style restaurant. They have an outdoor seating area outside, but since it was a warm day when we went, we opted for some indoor air con goodness. Dimly lit lighting sets a romantic and intimate scene. They showcased all their beautiful cichetti (tapas) at the front behind some thick glass. Staff were welcoming with big smiles on their faces, and we were seated straight away on the communal curbside bench. The dining area was small and cosy, and they soon realised how big our appetites were! We ended up taking up the space of 4 people with our food. The concept was simple, you walk up and pick what cichetti you want and either pay on the spot or start a tab. Cichetti were $3.50 each or 3 for $10. More substantial items such as oysters or house salads, had their own prices.

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After ordering 2 Italian reds, we were on a mission. The cichetti were great value and we pretty much tried them all. I was asking what everything was just to satisfy my curiosity, but I knew I was going try all of them! We were truly impressed by the variety offered, and it wasn’t too carb heavy, which was a bonus. The dishes were simple yet with all the ingredients combined they worked effortlessly. The produce was extremely fresh, proof is with the seafood. It’s hard to disguise freshness with seafood, the mussels and oysters here were spot on! Figs, quail eggs, mascarpone cheese are some of the other delicious delights you may find on the day. I say ‘may’ because they are constantly changing their dishes to the seasonal produce. I’m not expecting to eat the same things next time I come to here, and that’s an exciting thought!

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Heartattack and Vine offers an abundance of food to cater for any picky or adventurous eater. I don’t expect any two persons to eat as much as we did, but if you do decide to go a bit crazy, it certainly won’t send you broke. You’d be hard to find value like this, with quality to match. I have a feeling this will be one our regular go to places, and I hope it will be yours too!

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Heartattack and Vine
Approx $30 AUD per person
Website: heartattackandvine.com.au
Address: 329 Lygon St, Carlton VIC 3053
Phone: +61 3 9005 8624

Heartattack and Vine Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato