Pinocchio

Pinocchio is an Italian place in South Yarra. Here they do good quality food but the service can be slow. They are right near the train station.

They have been featured a few times in the Italian Good Food week. And since it is good food week I decided to visit.

The entree of aranchini ball was lovely and addictive. It was crunchy on the outside and piping hot on the inside.

They have their $25 special nights which includes pizza and pasta on selected weeknights. Here I had the Aglio E olio which was a bit bland. It could have done with more olive oil. But still the pasta was al dente.

But the white wine went well with the food.

Do visit if you have the time and they are featured in the Entertainment book which you can buy off us and support the Salvos through their mission.

Carlton Italian Fiesta and wine

The Carlton Italian Fiesta was on and it was all about good food and wine. Here the Italians enjoy their food and wine. They mainly enjoy pizza.

During the daytime, it was quite busy but at twilight, it was quite fun to dance, eat, drink and be merry. I have never been to one of these before but I do enjoy a good festival at night where there are no kids. Kids ruin my enjoyment- they run around with balloons and things and I do not enjoy.

But here at the Salumisti bar, it is peace and quiet and free canapes. But you have to purchase a drink. I purchased their on the TAP white wine which was good with my pizza and the anchovy canape. Other canapes featured pork which is Salumnisti's specialty.

There was a cheese one with a capsicum piece on top. That would work well with the Shiraz.

My pizza from 400 Gradi was good. It was doughy and cheesy just the way that I liked it.














Do come to next years festivities in Carlton as this year was great.

Carosello

Carosello is a little Italian place in Moonee Ponds right outside the train station. Here they can be quite busy but I went on a night where there were no trains about (replacement buses due to works). Hence I didn't have to put up with all the noise and the boom gates.

Here they are a family friendly pizza place. The last time I heard of it was on Eat and be Merry blog. Here they said that the food is quite good. But Penguineats didn't like it. I have to disagree with them.

The service here was friendly and the waiter was attentive. The food here sure looks good.

The bathrooms are at the back. They are clean and welcoming.

There is outdoor seating.

I got the Brescola pizza ($25) which is quite thin. Being a late night dinner this was a perfect serve. Here the pizza was so thin that it was soggy.

But I loved the fig sauce as it took away some of the saltiness of the brescola.

I would come for a drink and pizza as this is such a nice place to go to.

Teatro at Southbank

This was supposed to my Week 46 treat as I survived the last 45 weeks of Marathon training. So I decided to go to Teatro a newish Italian place which Gastrology really liked.

Red Wine

Cutlery

Oysters

Cannelloni up closely

The bathrooms are on the right side of the kitchen as you walk in. The kitchen is an open one in which you can see everything going on in there.

The oysters were small but I really liked the sherry vinegarette sauce as it was so addictive. Here I had the Sydney Rock oyster and the Pacific rock one and they were so small. I have seen bigger at South Melbourne Market.Here these were $3.50 and $4 respectively.

They had their $15 lunch specials seeing as it was a weekday that I went. Here I had the baked cannelloni which was nice but a tad bit overcooked. And the focaccia was an extra $5 This was nicely baked a good dusting of salt.

The red wine worked well with the lunch and the cold weather today.

Rating: 13/20- if only their service was not slow. The place was quiet except for a big group of fourteen people and three other tables. One went up to pay.

Il Tempo

Il Tempo is an Italian place in Degraves st. Like many of the cafes there they are very cramped inside but they have two stores. A walkway separates the two.

I have been on two occasions. One to try their pizza and the other to try their pasta. Both times they were friendly. One of those times was on a very busy Friday night where I sat outside and needed to use the bathroom. The bathroom is in the store with the champagne and drinks bar.

The service was friendly with a smile and both times it has been cozy.

The carbonara was good and very cheesey. There wasn't much egg in there though. There was lots of bacon down the bottom.

The pizza with feta, mushrooms and oil was really great and very filling. Here the base was doughy but not too bad.

I would have stuck around for dessert after pasta but I felt like the hotcakes across the road at the Big Umbrella. And the dessert would have cost me an extra $15.

Il Nostro Posto

RNIS dined as guests.

We have been here once before. And its in some little cozy laneway called Hardware Lane. Here they have been around for 11 years and have not been found.

We loved sitting in their cozy dens whether it is upstairs or down. This time I liked downstairs very much. Here we got to see the good wines on offer. Some of their wines are imported from Italy.

Their wines are really great and they have a long wine list. I loved their red wine and it worked with the entree and the main. The red wine works well for winter and mushroomy dishes.

Here we had the aranchini to start with. It was good and very cheesey and the salad worked well. But I would have liked a little more.

The penne pasta was the best highlight of the night. It was al dente and the sauce is just like what my mum makes at home. It worked well with the red wine. Pity though that my friend had coke as Italian food always works better with wine or a campari or two. A campari is an Italian cocktail which can be sweet or sour- whichever way you make it.

Mushroom pizza

The mushroom pizza was equally just as good with the red wine but I could not understand the tomato sauce. I would have thought that like Ladro's they had a white base. But my friend and I enjoyed it with the chilli sauce.

For dessert I had cannoli with a moscato. I was a little bit tipsy but I wanted to try a dessert wine since the Italians love their desserts with dessert wine and the wine never failed me. It was sweet and crisp in taste. It tasted like apple.

The cannoli is made in house. Here I loved the freshness and the sweetness of it all. I didn't like a lot of the chocolate sauce by my friend did.

Rating: 15/20- good food, good service. Do book as they are bound to get busy on Friday nights.

Fatto

Fatto is a great Italian place and they have been up and going for a few years now. But they have always been too expensive for us students. That is until their $10 pizza deal came up and their $5 Birra Moretti. Birra Moretti is an Italian beer which is pale in taste, but its also very wheatey in smell and taste.

The bar is always busy and the bathrooms are in the restaurant area.

Here it worked well with the mushroom pizza. Normally pizza is $20 but here it is only $10 for a plate of 400 Gradi. The mushroom pizza does not come with tomato sauce- hence it is blonde.

But the other food in the restaurant is much better. Here you can get 2 courses for $45 which is not bad. I was always a fan of the spaghettini as I saw many good pictures online of it. Here I was not wrong. The pasta was al dente and the crab was fresh. But they put too much lemon flavour in it which overpowered the dish a lot.

I loved the ricotta ball. It was a nice start to the meal. It was very light on the palate and that paste worked a treat!

Then for dessert it was cheese again. This time it was French brie and lavosh. I enjoyed the quince paste with the brie.

Rating: 15/20- enjoyed a good meal and was full at the end. The service was friendly but a little bit pushy at times. Towards the end of the night they let us sit and chatter away but not at the start where things got busy. Luckily I booked ahead.

American Honey at Campari House in short

Campari house have released some new cocktails and not that many new eats. This week's theme is American honey. This honey is quite sweet and the gin is quite sweet and smokey. It is also a little bit spicey adding in that kick.

It was in their lounge that they had this event and many people turned up and got their free snack and drink. Pity that there were not any ribs as promised on their Facebook page.

But people were able to purchase drinks and food at the bar. Most of them were relatively expensive. 

Campari house is featured in the Entertainment book which you can buy off Healthy International students site and help them to support the homeless. The Salvation Army is a charity that supports the homeless and 20% off the sale of the book goes towards helping them.

Campari house has a discount of 25% off the total bill.

The popcorn on offer worked well with the gin. It was smokey in some areas and sweet in others.

Do come by Campari house for a drink and a pizza or two.

MFWF: Script bar and bistro

Script bar and Bistro is in Southbank where Melbourne Uni is and the Arts centre. On a Tuesday night they were not too busy and I was waiting for a tram which was inconsistent to take me to Golden Fleece which seemed far from my running track.

They have been inside the MTC for eight years and love the patronage of the theatre goers.

Here they love their writers and their cheese. I could be in cheese heaven. But they only have a limited menu for dinner and no specials. Although I did spy a $14 burger special.

The atmosphere is relaxed.

So I chose lasagna which is vegetarian with lots of cheese  ($27 for a small piece)and a shiraz ($9) to brighten up a cold winters night.  The bread was good and the butter was very creamy. The salt was lovely.

The shiraz worked well with the lasagna and in the lasagna I could hardly taste the kale. It was overcooked.  There was a lot of cheese and I enjoyed it.

Oh well if you are going to charge $27 it should have been a bigger piece. Oh well I'll probably come for the wine and cheese instead.

Criniti's in Carlton

RNIS had received a $20 dining voucher from Dimmi and all thoughts are their own.

Crinitis is in Carlton and they are an Italian place. They are featured in the Entertainment book at a 25% discount and if you buy from us you'll be supporting the Salvation Army and the good work that they do with the homeless.

The service was friendly and they were not mean.

Their meals are mammoth and I found that their pasta was hard to finish in one sitting. Their marinara was $24.90 (down from $35). They do have one metre pizzas though but you would have to share them. I could smell the pizzas cooking.

Their pasta was ok. It was not that great and it did smell a little bit fishy. The spaghetti was al dente and it normally doesn't come with bread. But the seafood was a little bit overcooked and they put too much tomato in there to make it like Spaghetti O.

The bread though was really good. It was that great sourdough bread with butter.

Rating: 14/20- its ok. I would come here for a drink though. I still can't understand why they have such a bad rating.

Do buy the Entertainment book from us here.