LA MIA PASTA - NEWTOWN, SYDNEY

La Mia Pasta
170 King St
Newtown, Sydney

There aren’t many people in this world that don’t like pasta - we certainly do. The Italians live on it and us Aussies love it too. You can cook it so many different ways and combine it with so many different sauces, it’s probably one of the most versatile ingredients on the planet.

La Mia pasta is something like a pasta haven. Sure, there are plenty of pasta places around, but there aren’t many that make their own pasta fresh every day and cook it to order, right in front of you.

La Mia Pasta opened its doors not long ago in Newtown’s famous King Street. Although its branded as a takeaway restaurant, there are plenty of tables and seats inside so you can definitely order and eat in. The restaurant has that ‘new’ feeling and one thing we noticed when first walking in was the cleanliness of the restaurant and kitchen. The place was spotless and literally shining.

At the counter we noticed a very full menu on the board. With over 100 different combinations of pasta shapes and sauces to choose from, we didn’t know where to start so we sought some assistance from the lovely staff. Ordering was basically as easy as 1,2,3. You pick your pasta, you pick your sauce and then you add any extras you may want. Beside the many pasta and sauce choices, we noticed some salads available so we started with a Greek Salad and some garlic bread as we were both very hungry.

Count N has had quite a few Greek salads in his time and this one here at La Mia Pasta was definitely a crowd pleaser. Loaded with fresh pieces of tomato and cucumber it was full of flavour. They also don’t skimp on the feta cheese here  There were plenty of chunky pieces all through the salad (our favourite part of the salad). The garlic bread was crispy and was devoured in seconds.

Our first pasta dish was a mouth-watering slow cooked beef ravioli served with a traditional Napolitana sauce - topped with fresh basil. Bursting with flavour and richness, these heavenly pillows of pasta were generously filled with the tastiest beef chunks. The sauce, La Mia Pasta’s signature tomato sauce was cooked to perfection with the right mix of herbs giving it that really authentic Italian flavour.

Next up, some fettuccine in a bolognese sauce - another hearty pasta dish. The texture of the fettuccine was al dente and quite frankly, perfect (another benefit of freshly made pasta, the texture is so superior). The freshly ground mince was plentiful in the bolognese sauce and again very light. If only we hadn’t devoured all the garlic bread in the beginning, it would have been the perfect scooping agent for the yummy sauce. Oh well!

Lastly, we decided to try the gnocchi as after two pasta dishes we thought it would be nice to try something different and moving away from tomato based sauces, we ordered it with a mushroom sauce. There is nothing worse than a tough, dry and chewy gnocchi drowned in a bland sauce. This was certainly not the case here. This freshly made gnocchi was soft, delicate and with a silky smooth texture.


The sauce, made with garlic, cream, mushrooms and a splash of white wine was delicious. A white sauce can verge on the wrong side of heavy at times, but this one was light and bursting with the natural flavours of fresh mushrooms.

La Mia pasta also has a few desserts on offer but this time, the counts had to decline. Thought the Swiss dark chocolate mousse looked quite good and almost swayed us into ordering some.

Our experience at La Mia pasta was great. The food is full of fresh ingredients and the friendly staff are on hand to answer any questions. Everything is prepared quite quickly without compromising on taste. You can pretty much bet on having your pasta prepared in under 5 minutes.

You can eat in or take away and La Mia Pasta will even deliver to your door if you live close by. Next time you are in Newtown and feel like pasta, be sure to pop in to La Mia Pasta. We certainly will visit them again.

The Counts, who review for Sir and Mlady Dine Out, dined as guests of La Mia Pasta. Special thanks to Nir for this invitation.

 

MENULOG - ACROSS AUSTRALIA

Menulog - Curry Connection Indian Cuisine

We were recently given the opportunity to try Menulog for the first time courtesy of the nice people at Menulog (thanks Josh!). We decided to do this with a group while we were at a friends place for a catch up.

We never realised how easy it was.

We went to the Menulog web site and entered the suburb we were in. Instantly a whole batch of nearby restaurants appeared on the screen. We were then able to sort by availability on that day of the week - a Sunday - and whether we were picking it up or having it delivered.

We chose Indian by a simple vote among the group - then we easily sorted again by nearby Indian Restaurants listed, that delivered on Sundays. We had a few choices, looked at their menu's online and chose Curry Connection in Hornsby.

Then it's as easy as choosing your dishes, how many serves you want and any extra's.

We were all pretty hungry so we ordered plenty - and choosing was the biggest (in fact the only) challenge of this whole exercise.

Once complete we had the chance to check our order, confirm it and pay. Delivery was only $3 - which seemed a bargain but some places even deliver free on Menulog for orders over a certain amount.

We instantly received a confirmation of our order with a confirmation number. We also received an SMS again confirming the order, with the reference number, an expected delivery time and a contact number. It was extremely efficient and easy.

And of course our food arrived as planned. The first thing we did was check to see if it was all there - and it was. It was all still hot too. We then set it out and dug in. Of course we had over-ordered - but we do that a lot. All this meant was plenty of left-overs for the next days lunch - woo hoo!

Was Menulog easy - yes. Would we use it again - yes (and in fact we have already at another friends place!)

 

IL GRAPPOLO CUCINA E PIZZERIA - ROZELLE, SYDNEY

Il Grappolo Cucina e Pizzeria 
1/41 Terry St
Rozelle, Sydney

Il Grappolo is a light and airy restaurant tucked away in a quiet part of Rozelle. It's a relaxed place - somewhere close to the CBD but quiet and secluded enough to allow the hustle and bustle of the day to disappear.

In true Italian style it has a lovely indoor/outdoor feel to it - with a verandah at the front for al fresco dining that opens completely into the main restaurant area. It would be so lovely there on a summer evening or a weekend lunch. As it's not on a busy strip we found parking to be very easy in the nearby streets.

Chef/owner Marcus opens Il Grappolo from Tuesday to Sunday for dinner and on weekends for lunch. They also do take away and delivery - a bonus for locals!

Sir started with a campari and soda while we perused the menu. It was so European here just relaxing after a busy day with the beautiful aroma of food drifting all around us.

We started with the fiori di zucchina - quite decent sized zucchini flowers filled with a mixture of prawns, blue swimmer crab meat and ricotta.

It was a generous serving sitting high on the plate on a bed of colourful rocket leaves. The bitterness of the rocket went well with the sweet tomato and crab and prawn meat. The lightly crisp outside revealed a soft fluffy filling that was very tasty.

We decided to try one of the pizzas as our other starter so we ordered the gamberi. It was another generous serving - with the thin traditional pizza base topped with plenty of local prawns, sliced cherry tomatoes, chilli and fior di latte. It was extremely tasty and had so many prawns on it - they really don't short change you here with toppings! A couple of glasses of Montelimo Nero D'avola went so well - and kept to the Italian theme. 

Mlady's love affair with good gnocchi continued here with her choice of the gnocchi Napoletana - home made potato gnocchi with tomato and basil.

The vibrant colours looked appealing as soon as it arrived at the table. It smelled as good as it tasted too - with it's rich full flavoured sauce. The gnocchi was light and fluffy and this classic combination was a great example of a simple dish done very well.

Sir went for a meatier option - the agnello - rack of lamb served with cauliflower fritters which was a daily special. It was another appealing hearty dish with the lamb pink, tender and very tasty. The cauliflower fritters were a nice surprise - extremely tasty and combining well.

The insalata di fico - an interesting combination of fig, prosciutto and bufala mozzarella - was a great side salad for both our mains. It was very fresh and tasty and a great Spring/Summer salad.

All the desserts at Il Grappolo - like most other things - are house made.

The Semifreddo al Torrone - nougat parfait with burnt orange sauce - sounded good but turned out to be even better again. It was beautifully presented in a thin pastry cylinder filled with a generous amount of parfait and all nicely plated. It was a struggle finishing it all - but Sir managed - what a trouper (in fact it was never in doubt)!

Mlady had what is again becoming a regular Italian thing for her - Tiramisu. When you think Italian desserts, most people probably list Tiramisu in the top three.

The sponge fingers soaked in coffee and layered with mascarpone cream was a big serving again and delicious.

She really battled to finish it all too - even though it was a light fluffy dessert. 

Il Grappolo is a charming place. It's like an oasis in the middle of suburbia - the locals are so lucky! It has great food, a nice relaxed vibe and it's also not far from the CBD and worth the short trip to try it.

Sir and Mlady dined as guests of Il Grappolo. Special thanks to owner/chef Marcus for his lovely food. Big thanks also to Astrid the Restaurant Manager for inviting and hosting us and to Silvia and Sophie for also looking after us so well on our visit.