'Criniti's' Darling Harbour Review.

Hey Nibblers!

          As I mentioned in my 'Banh Bong Lan' post, my Mummy just recently turned 50! To celebrate, Mum wanted something with a good atmosphere and she loves the weekly Darling Harbour fireworks so I chose 'Criniti's' at Darling Harbour. I've eaten here about two times but I can't remember much of the experience so it was great to come in with no expectations. Mum also wanted to try those 1M pizzas 'Criniti's' offers so may as well use her birthday to try it. I know she loves the view so I booked about three weeks in advanced and requested a table next to the window for the view. They delivered and gave us a table outside with a great view of the harbour and heaters around us so, those Autumn chills were not felt at all. So far so good, Criniti's!

Criniti's Darling Harbour
Where: Level 2, Harbourside Shopping Centre, Darling Harbour 2000    Website: http://www.crinitis.com.au/about.html
         

We were able to sit at a table on their balcony area, overlooking the harbour.

          For our entree/ appetizer we ordered the 'Calamari Fritti,' ($19.90). On the menu, the dish is described as a crispy salt and pepper calamari with rocket and balsamic dressing. Every time I see salt and pepper calamari, I just have to have it. Presentation wise, it was good. The lemon they had on the plate had a mesh cover to stop seeds from falling which is a nice touch. Portion size was decent but when it came to taste, the calamari was salty. It was perfectly crispy and cooked however, after a couple of pieces, the salt took over.

Calamari Fritti ($19.90) - Overall great looking dish but, too salty.

              The second appetizer was at my brother, Richard's request. He's not a huge fan of Italian cuisine so I made sure he picked a dish that appealed to him. He chose the 'Wood fired sausages' ($18.90) a 'wood fired pork and pepper sausage, parmigiano, rocket, cannellini served with Italian bread.' I liked the presentation of this dish. The rustic look and how we're able to see all the components in this dish was appealing. In terms of taste, nothing amazing. It was a pretty damn good sausage though. I love everything sausage so, a bit bias on my side. But it didn't leave an oily taste in my mouth afterwards which is good, makes it feel less fatty than it is. The rest of the components was so, so. Nothing spectacular apart from this dish apart from the fun presentation.

'Wood fired sausages' ($18.90) - great presentation but, it stops there.

         
           For our main, we ordered the 'Gnocchi ai quattro formaggi' ($22.90), 'home-made gnocchi with gorgonzalo, parmigiano, mozzarella, scamorza, cream and parsley.' I love gnocchi and I loved this gnocchi. It is really cheesy but if you ordered this without reading the description and complained, it's all on you. I think it's great as a sharing dish but, not as a main for one. The mixture of all the cheeses work well and give a very pungent taste so, if you're not a fan of cheese, don't go for this one. I loved the floral plate they displayed the gnocchi in. Would love a plate like this for myself.

'Gnocchi ai quattro formaggi' ($22.90) - for the cheese lovers

            The next main we ordered was the 'Linguine alla scampi' ($32.90) 'Western Australia Scampi, pomodora, pachino sugo, olive oil, chilli, parsley in a red garlic sauce.' I loved the presentation of this dish. Having the scampi on display, still in it's shell just made the dish feel put together, fresh and reminded me of a dish I would receive on a holiday at the beach. The linguine was al dente and every strand was well coated in the garlic oil which was delicious. It was just a light dish that worked well in between the heavy dishes. While the scampi was not enough for the six of us to share, have a hint of it was enough to take you to paradise.

Linguine alla scampi ($32.90) - simple and light.

          Lastly, the 1M pizza. We were allowed to choose three flavours and being a carnivorous family, I tried to choose meaty toppings. We chose 'Azzuri,' (proscuitto, bufala, mushrooms, artichokes, semi-dried tomatoes, basil and ricotta), 'Minchia,' (ham, pancetta, salame, capsicum, mushroom, mozzarella, olives and red onion) and 'Padrino,' (chicken, advocado, mozzarella and semi sun-dried tomatoes.)

           

From left to right: 'Padrina' ($28.50) , 'Azzuri' ($32.50) and 'Minchia.' ($29.50) Prices based on 30cm offerings so our 1M pizza cost $90.50 altogether.

          I felt all the topics were great but there a quite a few topics that you could choose from to satisfy your own tastebuds. I felt the 'Minchia' topic had a generous serving of meats but didn't have enough sauce on the base which made it a tad salty.

          The 'Azzuri' section of the pizza was delicious. I love proscuitto and basil and with the dollops of ricotta, it was perfect. They were quite generous with the proscuitto too which is a plus for what you pay for it anyway.

          My least favourite was 'Padrina.' They weren't generous at all with the chicken/ advocado toppings and no stand out from this one.

With my main men. My brother, Richard and boyfriend, Kevin. Views from our table.

             We couldn't finish all the pizza, so asked to take it away. They gave us our own pizza box which I like so, don't be scared to ask if you don't finish it!

Criniti's take-away box

Staff took a while to grab our bill so Kevin decorate the box

         All in all, service was pretty good at the start through to the finish, However, they took a while to clear finished plates and they did take a while with bills and such. We couldn't wait much longer as we wanted to head off to Vivid Sydney afterwards so, I had to walk up to a waiter myself. 

         In terms of price range, it's not the cheapest dinner. All up it was $226.10 including drinks for six people which isn't too bad but, in terms of taste and proportions I feel it is over-priced for what it is. It has a great atmosphere if you're prepared and book in advanced and know roughly what you want to order as it might be hard to order when they're busy. I think Criniti's is good for group dinners but not so much for an intimate gathering. My parents mostly loved our table and setting and they liked the overall experience with the pasta and 1M long pizzas but would not be a top place on their list nor mine. 

        Now, for shots from Vivid Sydney. The light festival is still on until the 10th of June so, if you still haven't been and are a sucker for pretty lights you should schedule for a lovely evening out. Expect crowds though!

Crowds at Darling Harbour waiting for weekly fireworks with my Mumma (The Birthday Girl).

The Contemporary Art Museum - cubed

Peached lights

The lovely Opera House

What are you looking at?

One of my favourite light projections of the night - Cadmans Cottage

         For more information about Vivid Sydney check out their website here: http://www.vividsydney.com/

Hope you all had an amazing weekend!

         Nibble Away,

                  Jo x.

Travel Nibbles: 'Life' Review

Ciao Nibblers!
       

     
       This week, we find ourselves in Rome, Italy. I had high expectations for Rome. I couldn't wait to eat pizza, have gelato even in winter and eat my carbs load of pasta.

       The best thing about travelling in Europe is having 'Trip Advisor' installed onto your phone so that you can log in to get instant reviews of places to stay, eat and things to do wherever you are. It's great as most of the reviews are written by other travellers that have already been so it helps you make an informed decision. Restaurants even advertise their rating in the window to attract tourists.

       I find it that a two hour flight in Europe takes you across several countries which in our case was England to Italy, while in Australia, a two hour plane trip only lands you across states.
       We were starving when we landed. Our first Trip Advisor place, 'Ristorante Tema' we tried received 4.5/5 ratings and, it was such a bust it's worth blogging about. We ordered the risotto, fettucine and gnocchi all with mushrooms and honestly every thing was just tasteless. The pasta was also still hard in the centre. Not a first great impression of pasta in Rome.

        By dinner time, we were so hungry that we decided to give another Trip Advisor recommendation and decided on 'Life.'


'Life' Review

Where: Via della Vite 00187, Rome                                                                                  Website: http://www.ristorantelife.com/

         'Life' has a very modern, sophisticated feel to it. It has a 4.5/5 rating on Trip advisor but after the lunch disappointment, we weren't expecting much from this. Staff were very welcoming and happily answered all of our questions.

        For our shared entree, we ordered the 'Smoked duck breast with pears and honey.' We mostly ordered this for the urge to try something new. It tastes like a less salty, sweeter version of proscuitto. With the accompanying pear/honey sauce it really gives it another texture and dimension. It was great with the side of bread as well. However, the bread was nothing special on its own. Hard on the outside and cold/dry on the inside.

'Smoked duck breast with pear/honey' €10.00 (approx. $13 AUD)

        For the mains, my cousin Katy ordered the 'Home made short pasta with Scampi from Mediterranean sea, Sea Bass, tomato.' I took a bite of hers and the pasta was al dente. It had a great tomato flavour and even though it looked like a small serving, there was a lot on there. It came out steaming hot and was such an improvement on lunch's offering. This is what I imagine pasta to taste like in Italy. 

'Home made short pasta with Scampi from Mediterranean sea, sea bass & tomato' €14.00 (approx. $18 AUD)

             Kelly and I went for the pizza. We were only going to be in Italy for 3-4 days so we wanted to tackle everything as quickly as possible. Kelly ordered the 'Carbonara' pizza. These pizzas had a thin crust and quite generous in their meat offering. The diameter was about 20cm so we were pretty stuffed by the end of it. What I loved about Kelly's was you could see the marks from the pizza cooking under a woodfire and a nicely cooked egg directly in the centre that shouts 'carbonara' at you. I had a bit of hers and it was pretty good. Had lots of flavour and was exactly like a carbonara but in pizza form. Such a great concept.

'Carbonara' pizza € 9.00 (approx. $11 AUD)

         I ordered the 'Pollo' pizza. This consisted of mozzarella cheese, chicken, bacon, tommato and was a but spicy. I enjoyed this. It came out fresh and hot and the topics span out pretty much around the whole base, there was not really a crust I had to chew on. Flavours were there and it was delicious. The only thing is there wasn't much generosity in the meat department.

'Pollo' pizza €10.00 (approx. $13 AUD)

       For dessert, we ordered two dishes. The first was 'Pastry with chantilly cream and dark chocolate.' I love chantilly cream so when I saw it on the menu I had to. The pastry was crisp on the outside, soft on the inside. Mix that with the sweet creaminess of the chantilly and this was absolute heaven. I'm drooling just thinking about it.

'Pastry with chantilly cream and dark chocolate.' € 5.00 (approx. $7 AUD)

           And what is a trip to Italy without trying 'Tiramisu?' Presentation wise it wasn't the best but, it sure packed a punch. The coffe flavour was intense but with the cream on top it balanced out wonderfully. Judging on the last dessert and this one they're doing pretty well in the sweets department.

'Home-made Tiramisu' €5.00 (approx. $7 AUD)

        That rounds up our first Roma dining experience. Try and finish your exploring around the Spanish steps because 'Life' is located around there. I liked this place and if I ever go back to Italy I would probably come back to 'Life.' I also have to add that if you come to Italy expecting pasta to be stuffed meat sauces and bacon, you'll be disappointed. I learnt that an Italian dinner course consists of four courses. The first would be your entree (e.g. bruschetta), your first course (pasta with mushrooms usually), your second course (steak, fish aka. meat course) and then your dessert. So, if you're craving some protein, the second course menus is probably what you should look at.

Hope you're all having a great week!

Jo x.