Italian_food Archives - Gazing and Grazing

Da Noi is a Slice of Sardinia in Melbourne

March 24th, 2017

Melbourne's Da Noi restaurant serves up a sunny slice of Sardinia, from freshly grilled octopus to slow roasted kid (young goat). Food like this is almost always wonderfully satisfying, where the taste of quality meat shines through with minimal garnishing. "Honest" food as some other reviewers call it. It helps that the food is cooked well. We normally just leave our meal in the hands of chef-owner Pietro Porcu and this leads to a series of seafood based antipasti,...

Terra – Italian with a Tokyo Touch

April 27th, 2016

Terra restaurant is proof again that a Japanese twist on western products and food often surpasses the original. Chef Seita Nakamura's cuisine is firmly rooted in what he terms "Tokyo Italian", which is recognisably Italian but with ingredients that are Japanese. If done well, and Terra does, the traditional European dishes have a more subtle touch and some novelty.

Located on Tras Street in Singapore, which is now home to a number of good eateries, Terra is open Mondays to...

Il Traghetto – Good Hearty Italian in Takehara

February 21st, 2016

After a of day roaming around the nearby islands, I was looking forward to a good warm meal with decent wine and a place I could kick back and relax in Takehara. Il Traghetto certainly met our needs. This is rustic Italian food interpreted by Kaoru Shinzaki, a retired corporate man who loves cooking. Shinzaki-san uses fresh, local produce and seafood and my favorite dish was a delicious risotto full of shrimp that was as Japanese as it was Italian.

Shinzaki-san decided to retire in...

&Sons – The Right Formula of Quick Bites in the CBD

June 18th, 2015

I can see myself coming down to the CBD on a weekend just to eat at &Sons, a casual Italian restaurant serving really good quality food at decent prices. While the weekday lunchtime menu is of particularly decent value, we were especially happy with the a la carte pasta and appetisers. Portions are a decent size so that we could share one appetiser among four of us - a great way to try more from the menu.

&Sons refer to themselves as a "bacaro" - a name normally linked to...

The Lighthouse – Good Pasta and Views, Meat Courses Fall Short

June 14th, 2015

I went to check out The Lighthouse, the rooftop restaurant at The Fullerton Hotel, as I've always liked Chef Carlo Marengoni's cooking. I also wanted to try some of its southern Italian dishes to see how it compared to my experience from a recent visit to Sicily. In short, I enjoyed the starters and the pasta dishes but our meat courses disappointed especially when compared to what Chef Carlo used to offer at his own restaurant.

Firstly, the views in the evening from The...