Interestingly, the first visit turned up mixed reactions among our all girl group. We were six in all and at the end of the night judged some meals as outstanding and others just ‘so-so’.
But I really did like the ambience so when the opportunity arose to meet friends from that side of town at this friendly Italian café, we said, “absolutely.”
I’m so glad we did. What a satisfying and somewhat merry evening it turned out to be.
Opting for starters we girls went for an old fashioned favourite (don’t anyone dare laugh) – shrimp cocktails with a generous portion of avocado.
Hardly an exacting exercise for the chef and perhaps a bit pricy at $19.50, nevertheless we enjoyed them – shades of the ’70s and my own first attempt at a dinner party entrée!
The fourth member of our party was equally impressed with his bowl of mussels drenched in a sumptuous garlic and cream sauce instead of the Neopoletana sauce. Then came the mains. Between us we chose a real mix, scallopine marsala, venison, king prawns and pork belly from the specials board.
While none could fault their personal choices, pick of the night, in my mind, was the venison – I want that dish next time round!
Done casserole-style, the meat was particularly tender, the flavour, rich and sweet, due to the addition of black cherries (as well as mushrooms, bacon, and garlic in a Napoletana sauce).
At $33.50, this was the dearest dish but we felt the price was good value. In fact, if we had one complaint, it was that we ate much too heartily and had to decline dessert.
However, we did manage to end the night with a port before departing with that ‘all is well in the world’ feeling.
