Balzari

Spontaneity never killed a cat. Hubby and I decided last minute to go out for a meal. It has been awhile since we had dinner where it was just the two of us. No reason not to go out on a date even though we have been married awhile now. It was nice considering I was getting over a cold and did not feel like cooking.The weather has been wild this weekend.

Yesterday, there were hail stones the size of tennis balls and I think this phenomenon is known as a supercell thunderstorm. Just glad we were not caught in, although I thought the roof was going to cave in on our passata making session. Did I mention that I spent a whole day with an Italian family making home made tomato sauce? Guess not, but that will be in another blog. I thought I'd contiue with an Italian gastronomic dinner in line with my recent encounter.

I've not been to Balzari on Lygon Street, which was given good reviews in the Melbourne Weekly. Suppose to have good  Italian fare and the MW was not wrong. We ordered an entree of Ciccioli pork crackle, Fritole (Doughnut) of anchovies, lemon and parsley, and a Harvey Bay scallop with celeriac puree and apple salad. It was my idea to try the pork crackle. I felt my coronary arteries go into spasms while I pop these little deep fried pork rind (I cannot believe I ate deep fried FAT) into my mouth, but it was worth it. Scallop and fritole were really nice too.

For mains, hubby could never go past a steak. It was a Chargrilled Angus Porterhouse with roasted Mushrooms plus a Cabernet and Mustard Sauce, which was cooked to perfection and melted in your mouth. I had a tagliarini [tah-lyuh-REE-nee] which are long, paper-thin ribbon noodles, usually less than 1/8 inch wide tossed with Spanner crab meat and parsley. Really lovely. We had a side order of cherry tomato salad with basil and candied pancetta. Very refreshing.

Dessert sealed the deal. We ordered the Dolci Platter to share which was a trio of desserts. Pear ice-cream, chocolate semifreddo with a prune and caramel sauce and pannacotta with raspberry jelly.

Overall, very satisfying meal. I thought the meals were a little heavy on the salt, but hubby thought it was fine. Would definitely recommend it!
(Sorry for the first few photos being so dodgy- did not have the flash on- DUH-)