Esposito

I  have been to Esposito on many occasions, and whether it was with a large group or an intimate dinner for two, the restaurant always produces a consistent standard.

 This Italian restaurant in Carlton is known for its fresh seafood and quality ingredients. A couple of days ago, I received an email newsletter about their Snow Crab Ravioli. It wasn't on the menu when we got there, but we were served sample portions each. It was really fresh tasting, but everyone agreed that it should come with a light sauce. Anyway, Esposito will not be placing this dish on the menu as Snow Crabs are hard to find. I'm glad that I had a chance to sample it.

For starters, we also had oysters two way. Kumamoto oysters, which were very small (maybe the size of a 20 cent coin) served with a vinegar dressing and large oysters in tempura batter and a wasabi mayo.

For entrees, the boys had the crayfish tortellini with a crayfish broth each, while the girls shared a main size seafood spagettini (which is one of my favourite dishes at Esposito). The broth tasted amazing, but I could not really tell it was crayfish in the tortellini. I enjoyed the spagettini as always.

For mains, I could not go past the duck, which had a pan fried breast with a confit duck leg, served with roasted baby beets. The duck confit was really yummy as it just melted in your mouth. I'm not a fan of baby beetroot as it tasted a bit earthy. For once, hubby did not order the steak, but instead had the nori wrapped salmon served with shitake mushrooms and zucchini flower. The salmon was cooked to perfection eventhough it seemed like a really thick cut.

Our guest had the porterhouse steak with a red wine reduction and wild mushrooms served with mash, and the fish special which was grilled wild barramundi with a green olive tapenade and artichoke puree. The steak has been on the menu a long time and I can see why because it never fails to satisfy. The barra was very fresh and the green olive tapenade went surprisingly well with it.

By the end of dinner and two bottles of wine, we were really full. The dessert menu did not really have anything that was to our liking (nothing with chocolate! ARrrrGgggHHhh!) so we decided to head home and have some fruits instead. We also played some Wii and I have to say I am better at Mario Kart when I've got alcohol on board. Oh ya, we also had some KFC krushers for dessert, which is Golden Gaytime Ice Cream blended! A little bit random but was really good!