My First Time Was Great.
Posted on 08. Oct, 2009 by Pam in Dinner, Restaurant
I have a friend who probably takes almost all his meals and coffees (or wishes he could) at Solarino’s, a cozy cafe on Howey Place off Little Collins Street in Melbourne. A few friends have also made Solarino’s one of their more regular haunts — a place to go for good coffee, dessert, a light meal or something more hearty.
I’ve often been there for a coffee and for one of their truly good sweet temptations, but never for a meal. Until last Tuesday when, famished after a day of work, I knew a coffee and even one of their nice tarts wouldn’t satisfy.
The menu projected on Solarino’s wall presented a few tasty possibilities, but my eyes kept returning to the penne pasta with Sicilian lamb sarsa. Sounded really really good, especially for one who was hungry and cold. While waiting for the pasta (and my friend Reinar), I was given a hearty bread basket (hearty especially for one). I would have liked it better if warmed up but it was still nice and chewy.
And my first time did not disappoint! When it came in all its rich and glistening goodness, the penne pasta with the minced lamb generously interlaced through it (and with a little bit of a nice contrast provided by coriander if I remember correctly) truly hit the spot. It’s nice when something that sounds good on the menu tastes even better once you try it. I thoroughly enjoy the pasta and the lamb, and use some of the bread to mop up the little bit of sauce that was left at the bottom of my plate. Yum. (And Reinar, with his soy chai latte instead of his usual long black, just looks on as I kind of make a pig of myself). So, yes, I said this should be my first post in the “high-brow but low-brow too” Masticator’s Digest.
P.S. > Our friend and Solarino’s habitue Mik joins us and I convince him to order the lamb pasta. He loved it as well and said so to the chef (he was passing by our table) and, unfortunately, we learned it would be the last day for that pasta as they were changing over some of the menu items the next day. So, this is shared with the hope that I come by Solarino’s in the near future and find the lamb pasta back among the options on the wall. Perfect for when I am, once more, cold and famished.
reinar soy chai latte???????
Is that so bad. To go hippie once in a while.