Tag Archives: Italian food

more than a mezzo-forte huzzah for Mezzo

The blogosphere, among other things, has given me the impression that Mezzo Bar + Grill (formerly Oyster) in the CBD gets mixed reviews. However, when my dashing partner decided to take me there for some wining and dining, I was quite happy to leave preconceptions at the door – amply assisted by the imbibing of a Negroni at the bar. Being alone whilst drinking in quite the restrained manner (for me, you understand, quite the rarity) gave me the opportunity to people watch and observe the staff. They were warm and attentive and greeted guests immediately upon entering. I felt that this was a good sign and it was now up to the food to impress further.

To start, oysters. In typical gourmand form, I chose a half dozen of the mezzo caldo oysters and two Bloody Mary oyster shooters. The mezzo caldo was a more elegant take on Oysters Kilpatrick. Someone is probably going to shoot me for that, but I don’t mean that with any negative connotations at all. I could easily have slugged down a whole dozen. Probably the same for the Bloody Mary shooters (pictured above at the beginning). Our waitress recommended a glass of bubbly Chandon to go with these.

Tris’ choice for entrée was easily the winner of our choices – the tuna carpaccio. It looked stunning and tasted divine. It left a lasting impression on me taste-wise and visually well after the meal was over and I only had a single mouthful – tomato sorbet and gorgeous vegetables below the tuna with a slight crunch offsetting the softer texture of the tuna. The only issue Tris had with the dish was the use of orange. He felt that the sweetness didn’t sit right with the dish because it wasn’t quite delicate enough. Despite this, I still had entrée envy.

For mains, with no hesitation I went with a special offered – rabbit loin. Tender, gamey and juicy. I was smugly satisfied with my choice. The lovely waitress recommended a glass of sangiovese which was just perfect with the dish. If I weren’t a complete wine ignoramus, I would have got the name, sigh. In any case, it’s inspired me to explore this wine style more so if you have any suggestions good examples, hit me up.

Tris chose the paella which is on the menu. Presentation-wise it looked gorgeous, but I feel I got the better main out of the two of us. It’s a bit of a personal dirty word, but I’m going to say his paella was more on the ‘deconstructed’ side. It was generously brimming with seafood. I say it’s deconstructed, Tris says it’s not paella proper. This wasn’t a concern as he thoroughly enjoyed it.

There was no way I was leaving without dessert. I had the tiramisu. The waiter cheekily joked that it’s something of a social experiment having the tiramisu – you are presented with the pan and left to serve yourself. I suspect many cut themselves dainty slices, but not I! I went for a quarter of what was in the pan. No one rushed out to stop me which is just as well or I would have got into a fist fight. It was delicious – not too rich or sweet.

The better half went for the more sober choice of Sicilian doughnuts. Thank goodness one of us has some good sense.

Alas, it was upon ordering coffee that we both came unstuck. I’m assuming, given the crockery is emblazoned with the name, that the house coffee is Vittoria. Whatever coffee Mezzo is using at present is genuinely awful. The bitterness just about killed my palate and wouldn’t bloody leave. I should have ordered tea. I mention this because restaurants should and can devote as much care to their coffee choice as they do to their other beverages. I’m not saying they should immediately rush out and get on the third wave coffee bandwagon, just choose something that won’t have your diners scrunching up their faces in horror.

Does Mezzo deserve its mixed reviews? Based on this visit, I’d have to say that aside from the coffee, I loved it. The service was flawless (though Tris suspects that as soon as they saw his camera, they got wind that we were dirty food bloggery types, the charm factor was turned up a notch. Incidentally, they were right…). It’s pretty expensive and this means I’d leave repeat visits for special occasions (yes, either at my cost or if a loved one was treating me) but I would revisit and definitely recommend. If you don’t want to do the three-course meal shebang, they do have happy hour for oysters and a Monday pasta night – both of which I’m keen to try out.

sometimes I hate the ‘burbs…with good reason

2 Replies

I hate Mothers’ Day, just like I hate birthdays and Christmas. Yes, even my own birthday. Hallmark holidays are incredibly stressful. Such days like this are a little harder to coordinate with my brother getting married, but that is life. I didn’t realise it at the time, but my father had made arrangements for us all to dine out for Mothers’ Day thinking that his selfish children had not bothered to organise anything for Mum. I have to confess, I still feel pretty awful about that, especially as the place we went to was pretty awful.

I have mentioned before that my folks don’t really like to travel much to go out to nice places because they hate the parking and looking up directions and such so I thought nothing was wrong with Dad organising for us all to go to the local cafe-restaurant Nova Vista in Mill Park. It’s about two kilometres from my parents’ place so you can make a mad dash home after eating. They had a special reduced three-course menu for Mothers’ Day which was very wise, I thought.

There weren’t many vegetarian options so I made it a pescetarian night (I do like to go veg on occasion). Mum had the bruschetta with tomato, basil and bocconcini. It looks fine but she wasn’t particularly happy with it.

Dad had the antipasto platter with the usual suspects. It was…passable. I guess it would have been haute cuisine for the 80s.

I had the salt and pepper squid as did my sister-in-law. Again, not the sort of stuff that inspires great books of literature to be written. Flavourless but to their credit not rubbery. I love it when it’s fresh and cooked well but lots of places stuff it up.

I think the following main is pretty appalling, so I’ll just get it out of the way. Mum and I both chose the swordfish fillet. At the bloodline, it was raw. Yes, sashimi-raw. Both my parents are horrified by the idea of raw fish so this was unforgivable.

Here’s what the dish looked like. Not ground-breaking cuisine, no, but it looks okay, don’t you think?

Here’s what the fish fillet looked like once you cut into it. I am not exaggerating about the sashimi rawness.

Mum’s was worse than mine, and she did inform the staff. The manager came out and offered her a free drink of her choice which she declined. He was very apologetic about the incident.

My brother ordered a chicken parma which was left unfinished. I asked him what was so bad about it and he said it just didn’t taste nice. I’ve never seen my brother leave a parma ever. I’m tempted to argue it’s un-Australian. Seriously, you won’t catch me leaving one unfinished either. I’ll leave the chips but never ever the parma. I hope I’ve stressed enough how seriously I revere the parma. Sadly, my love for the parma hasn’t protected me from the occasional racist abuse from yobs with shitty taste in beer (I happen to be brown).

Dad’s main was probably the best but he was far from pleased with it – the 400g rib eye. He maintains that the reason he ordered steak here was to see how it compared to his own – he cooks a mean steak. He wasn’t impressed that his had a lot of gristle.

Seeing as a set amount was paid per head for all three courses, dessert was ordered by us all. Most of us had the pavlova roulade. Nice, but nothing special. The pavlova was delightfully light which was exactly what I needed after a big meal, even if it did remind me of hospital food. You probably think I’m joking but last time I was in hospital, there was a mad clamour for Sunday evening pav – it’s pretty hard to screw it up.

Two of the party had the sticky date pudding, and thus was the end of what felt like special school camp afters.

Nova Vista used to be so much better – it wasn’t too bad when it first opened, but the standard has really dropped. I actually love their three cheese gnocchi (its quality differs as the cooks have yet to discover the beauty of the sauce burner on their stoves) on the regular menu but lately I’ve had some appalling culinary experiences (for instance, under no circumstances do I recommend their soup of the day – it is tasteless and I’ve had better things come out of cans or sachets). The staff are nice, but I don’t intend to go back here ever. If any food staff are reading this, this is pretty much a post on how not to do things if you have a food establishment. Oh well, all of the major fast food joints are nearby and at least they are consistent no matter what ‘burb you’re in: sometimes that can be a good thing.

a carb-laden visit to the old hood

4 Replies

Naughty @cloudcontrol of Half-Eaten blog has been singing the praises of Maria’s Trattoria, which is situated near the Queen Victoria Market, and I could ignore the siren call no longer. I used to go to Maria’s very regularly for the gorgeous pumpkin-filled agnolotti – an entree serve, which would still have me tottering out in pain, sans dessert. Sadly, when I lived in the area, I didn’t get around to going. Seeing as it was my dear partner’s birthday week, I insisted upon taking him.

Even on a Monday, Maria’s is still frantic. Our young waitress was slow, but also very apologetic, and we were in no rush, so it was okay. I saw the familiar face of one of the older ladies who works there – she has a well-coiffed copper bob. It felt like home.

Perhaps foolishly, I ordered the pasta mista for two – your choice of three pastas, served in one big plate. We chose the pumpkin agnolotti ai funghi, the tortellini alla romana, and the spaghetti con cozze. This last one was not available, and the lovely copper-bobbed waitress suggested two other selections that might suit and I said the spaghetti pescatore was more than a suitable subsitute.

Wisely, my pre-meal bread consumption was kept to a low. If nothing had changed at Maria’s, then I was guessing the serves would still be big-arse. The menus, I noted, have been reprinted and look snazzier than previously.

When the food arrived, there was no doubt that it’d be enough.

Time to get reacquainted with an old fave. I’d forgotten just how sweet the filling was. The creamy sauce and mushrooms offset this well. Still remains a favourite.

I’ve mentioned previously in my Libertine review that I’m not a big veal fan, and even less so in stuffed pasta. The tortellini, which was stuffed with veal, was delicious. It must’ve been that such examples of veal-stuffed pasta in the past were, quite bluntly, appalling.

Already full after these two stuffed pastas and there’s still the spaghetti to go!

We made a good go of it, and paid extra attention to nicking mussels, squid, and octopus tentacles. Oh okay, I did.

So with a big-arse plate of pasta, and two glasses of house red, my wallet was just over fifty dollars lighter which is excellent value for a meal for two. More importantly, the birthday lad felt pampered and such. Maria (yes, the actual lady herself!) said thank you and goodbye to us, and I left grinning like a fool.

I often forget to go out for Italian because, to be honest, it’s so readily available. This makes me forget that it can actually be good. Maria’s Trattoria is not top-end dining and does not boast a fancy wine list or anything like that, but I love its charm. It’s busy for good reason. Cheers Billy for reminding me of its existence. One friendly tip – if you’re going, make sure you take a good appetite with you. I only wish I could dine here and have room for dessert. Perhaps when I embark upon a career as a professional eater.

eat, drink, stagger

a very tame lone wolf (formerly in cahoots with riff-raff) who loves to do the above

Tag Archives: Italian food

more than a mezzo-forte huzzah for Mezzo

sometimes I hate the ‘burbs…with good reason

a carb-laden visit to the old hood