Ah, where do I begin to tell the tale? Rigoni was THE restaurant that I lived close to for a year but sadly, I never got the opportunity to walk in due to financial constraints as well as lack of time convenience. After that many years, I finally got to visit this place for dinner on a busy friday evening.
Service at Rigoni is undeniably top notch; waiters are constantly on their feet ensuring that diners have their glasses filled and any queries are promptly responded to. Albeit the noise from the excited crowd, the waiting staff spoke clearly and loud enough for all of us to hear:)
Bruschetta di tonno ~ confit tuna with green olives, fried capers, cherry tomatoes and parsley. I desperately wanted to like this dish but sadly, as you may notice, the tuna did not do the other ingredients justice. It reminded me of canned tuna with it's familiar scent. Do note that this is from my personal observation and it probably varies with other customer's views.
Bruschetta di funghi ~ confit pine mushroom, rocket and pecorino with rocket pesto. I am a huge fan of mushrooms and had to try this out for myself. Has a subtle hint of salt from the pecorino which blends well with the mushroom and pesto flavours.
Calamari fritti ~ fried calamari with watercress, wild rocket, snow pea salad, fresh lemon and homemade tartare. The highlight of this dish would be the tartare sauce. It oozes a strong character and when paired with the lightly fried calamari pieces, it was divine. I was a happy diner but would have liked a bit more for the cost of this entree (it was about $17.90 for an entree size).
Spaghetti tutto mare ~ blue swimmer crab, black mussels, black tiger prawns, fish, calamari, garlic, onions, parsley and Napoli. A very generous sized main course which is packed full of seafood. I am a fan of generousity and this one ticked all the right boxes. To top it off, the sauce was a mildly flavoured sauce that does not overpower the seafood taste. Yummo!
Gnocchi with pumpkin, clams and chorizo ~ this was one of their specials for the night and it was so good. It has a creamy sauce component to it but it did not make the entire dish gluey or yucky after a few mouthfuls. Very interesting flavour combination and definitely a winner with those soft blobs of gnocchi.
Fondante di cioccolato ~ chocolate fondant with tamarillo sorbet, white chocolate butterscotch and fairy floss. Fondant tasted fine to me although would have liked a little more oomph to it.
Tiramisu di rigoni with poached quince, almond lace biscuit and chocolate gelati ~ The tiramisu had lovely layers to it and the chocolate gelati was yums. The quince was a little too sour for my liking but aside from that, it was an alright dish for me.
Overall, Rigoni may be a bit pricey for some but for the service that you get, it may be negligible. I would strongly recommend their main dishes though!:)
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