Saturday, January 16, 2010

400 Gradi

Address:  99 Lygon St, Brunswick East, Melbourne VIC 3057, Australia
Phone: +61 03 9380 2320

After having heard so many good comments on this restaurant I finally decided to drop by there with some friend this evening. I had great expectations because the good comments and reviews found in the various web sites that I am used to check before trying a new place... and I have to say that I am not disappointed at all. The food, was good very italian style and the service nice. Price? reasonable considered the food that we got and that it is good Italian restaurant.

We sat outside, because even with the booking the place was crowded and there were only free tables outside for the time we booked. Not that bad, it is always cool having a look at Lygon street while you are eating...

My first interest was to try Pizza but we delighted ourselves with a starter: Tre, due, uno - Gnocchi. Gnocchi is a special kind of pasta made with potatoes and that can be dressed with different sauces and flavours, such as Napoli sauce, cheese sauce, and spinaches or basil. Guess what we got? a trio of dishes including gnocchi with Napoli Sauce, Ricotta Cheese, and spinaches. They were very good and warmed up our expectations and appetite.

We then moved to the main course and we decided to have two pizzas and some Gamberi impanati (breaded prawns) with a dressing of lemon juice, capers, and capsicums. The prawns were quite good and my friend was happy with her choice. I really liked the dressing that was really light and tasty. Let's now move to the pizzas that is the thing that more interests me...
We ordered two very different pizzas: Pizza Caserta ( Fior di latte, Raw ham, and basil and rocket) - quite classic, and Pizza Suprema (White pizza with ricotta cheese, rocket, roasted pumpkins, pinenuts, ...) - not too classic. Both of them were good and I have to say that there is only another place in Lygon where I ate pizzas like this and it is D.O.C.. This is the very Italian pizza i like not sweet, with a thin crust, and well baked.

The serving was very rustic and impressive: pizzas were served on wooden boards and they were quite abundant in size, tasty, and salty enough. I am very happy to have found another good Italian restaurant where I can feel at home. I also have to say that the service was really welcoming and ready to free your table from dishes (yeah the table was quite small and the large pizzas were occupying the entire table...) and to ask if everything was ok. I had a really good evening and after that... since we were close, we stopped at Gelobar to conclude the italian food trip with some ice cream and desserts. Very good evening!

Price? all together: 79 bucks. Gnocchi: 13 dollars, Pizzas were about 20 dollars on average, and Prawns 17 dollars ( yeah we got also some orange juice 3.5 dollars each..).... Quite good I would say.

I have to say that the pizza was a little bit soft, but this is just a personal taste. If I compare it with its direct competitor D.O.C., the advantage of 400 Gradi is that you can have a wider selection of food. This is normal since 400 Gradi is a restaurant while D.O.C. is a pizzeria and mostly prepare pizzas. Pizzas are both very good, the advantage of 400 Gradi is that you can book. Thumbs up for 400 Gradi then!

Monday, January 11, 2010

Your Thai Rice and Noodle Bar

Address:  255 Swanston St, Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia
Phone: +61 03 9663 8010‎

I have been few times at the Your Thai Restaurant and this evening it wasn't even my first choice because I was looking for a new place to explore. Lately, I have been preferring Ghin Khao for Thai. Anyways, this time since it was a long time I was not going there I stopped by to have a dinner with my friend Sharlini that I discovered visiting her aunt in Melbourne.

I have always come out satisfied from Your Thai and this time it has not been different. The place is really colorful: not classy but with a lot of energy and freshness. The walls are painted orange and light green and you never have to wait for a long time to get served. Among the plethora of different dishes and combos available we got two chicken dishes:

- Crispy Chicken
- Lemongrass Chicken Rice
- Ice Blended Coffee
- and Sparkling water with ice..... (yeah today was very hot... around 43 degrees...)

We did not have to wait long for getting served and the portion were quite decent in terms of quantity. The presentation was good as well and the taste definitely ok. The crispy chicken came with a tomato flavored cup of rice and a fried egg on top along with some stick cut veggies. Sharlini was in charge of that order, while I was working at the Lemongrass chicken sided by a cup of rice and some stick veggies. During the dinner we all the time for chatting and getting brief each other about we did in the last two years... the place was lively but not so noisy where you cannot have a nice talk..

Once the dinner was over... we payed the bill and went out for a stroll near the Yarra river at Southgate... oh.... well the price? less than 25 dollars for everything that is a very good deal considered the quantity and the quality of the food... the only flaw I can reckon is that they do not accept debit card but only cash...... :(

I will definitely go back again for a quick easy and nice dinner with a friend.