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Posted 2015-02-12 by Mon's Adventurefollow
It's not often that I eat Italian, but having heard so many good recommendations about this place, I was ready to give it a try.

What particularly stood out to me was that it is mainly a pasta bar - the main courses all being special pastas with fine details (except for one or two alternatives).



I had heard from a fellow writer that she had found it hard to book last minute, but the day before our dinner I managed to easily get a table over the phone. I guess we were lucky because when we arrived, it did prove to be quite a small space.



Being non-drinkers, we went for a mocktail and Italian soft drinks. I enjoyed that even the non-alcoholic drinks were there to encapsulate you in Italian culture rather than offering the standard coke. The mocktail was nice and fruity and the soft drinks were interesting.



I chose the Chinotto because I'd heard the waitress' description involve 'bitters', so I thought it would be similar to a lemon lime bitters. It was actually a lot of bitters, to the point that my friends were reminded of coffee.

I would recommend the Arancia Rossa (above) instead as it was more of a familiar and accessible blood orange flavour.



But to the more important part - the main meals. I have always found it a bit difficult when there are specials, but not written anywhere. Especially at European places, it's hard to remember what the specials are - lucky our waitress was happy to repeat them to us several times.

My friend decided to the get the tempting special, tagliolini with spanner crab a go. The pasta was generally lovely, but had very little crab to fill the belly.



My other friend ordered the casereccie - ragu bolognese. It was interesting seeing all these different types of pastas rather than just the standard spaghetti or gnocchi. The swirls of pasta were definitely an unusual shape to what we were used to, but the pasta itself was tasty.



Meanwhile, I had the spaghetti affumicati with smoked spaghetti, clams, tomato, garlic and chilli. I didn't taste any chilli but the clams were delicious. Just a little more kick of flavour would have been great, but it feels like is more about their subtle flavours. They do provide fine attention to detail and the pasta was still quite delicious but not mindblowing.

The pasta was not as cooked as we were used to, but we weren't sure if perhaps this is the correct way to cook it, since they are a specialty pasta bar?



We also ordered some polenta chips to share, which were perfectly crumbed but could have done with some sort of sauce on the side.

Overall, this place wasn't as amazing as the hype suggests but it was still an impressive pasta bar with a sophisticated Italian atmosphere. The prices were also decent and it was interesting to be immersed into the culture as well as be subject to some lovely service. Give it a go for yourself and see if it's your type of pasta!

#cbd
#food_wine
#italian_restaurants
#city
#restaurants
%wnmelbourne
170287 - 2023-06-15 06:46:10

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