When you think brunch you often think eggs benedict, smoked salmon, poached eggs or smashed avo on toast but the restaurant we visited recently was actually an Italian restaurant doing brunch. I had been here before for dinner which was excellent so we thought we'd give their new brunch menu a try.
Safe to say that we were not disappointed!
All Day Italian 'Brunch' + Lunch Options = EVERYONE is happy
We timed our arrival perfectly such that we could take advantage of not just the all day breakfast items such as ricotta hotcakes, fried eggs, whipped avocado, brekkie rolls etc but also their lunch menu available from 11.30am which comprised of beautiful Italian pasta and other dishes.
We were one of the first to arrive (not surprisingly) and I love the minimalist but modern decor which is a theme a lot of restaurants seem to be adopting right now.
I started off with a strawberry, lychee and watermelon frappe - YUM. Super refreshing and fruity, my kind of drink for sure.
First up we ordered the wagyu carpaccio, raypanaer VSOP, rocket and charcoal puffs
Really loved how they served this with charcoal puffs instead of typical thin crisps or puffs that you see. You ate this dish like a steak tartare, so a bit of carpaccio served with a bite of the charcoal puffs.
Next up was the chargrilled octopus, green garlic, roasted peppers, & lardo on toast
This was one of the brunch specials for today and it seemed like an odd combination at first but once we took that first bite of perfectly cooked octopus we knew it was a winner! It's hard to go wrong when you have a) fresh produce that is b) cooked perfectly.
Next was the watercress rigatoni, tomato and buffalo mozzarella
To be honest, I was hesitant to order this dish as it sounded a bit so-so. I try to order things in restaurants I typically can't make at home but WOW were we surprised. The pasta was absolutely freshly made and perfectly cooked to al dente. You couldn't taste too much of the watercress (but watercress isn't a strong tasting leafy veg anyway) but it reminded me that even the simplest pastas with just ripe tomatoes and fresh buffalo mozzarella are sometimes the best.
We then ordered the saffron pappardelle, sausage, chilli and egg yolk
The pasta was clearly the star of this dish. Smooth, silky, flat ribbons of pappardelle - we gobbled this one up quickly.
We then had the veal parmigiana tongue sandwich
This was the weakest dish of the day I think but that's only because the others were such standouts. The sandwich just sort of tasted like nothing - it looked interesting but we couldn't tell what was veal and what was the parmigiana.
Always room for dessert...
We ordered the tiramisu to share because we were all so full and it looked very promising
It was honestly one of the lightest tiramisu's I had ever had!! Beautiful and fresh I quite enjoyed this and usually tiramisu is not one of my favourite cakes.
The chef surprised us with a free dessert which was a mango pancake. I know sounds boring and reminds you of the yum cha ones that are filled with whipped cream...yep proven wrong again, this one took that, strapped it on a rocket and took it to the next level.
Inside was not whipped cream but vanilla bean ice cream and the mango pancake itself was so fresh and not artificial tasting at all (as some at the yum cha places can be). Complimented with fresh pieces of mango this was a great way to end a great meal.
Closing thoughts
I honestly think Allegra must be one of my new favourite restaurants and we're so lucky because it's not too far from where we live so I think we'll be stopping by here regularly for a chill after work dinner.
The staff are very friendly and most importantly the pasta dishes are amazing. I really am a snob when it comes to pasta and I really enjoyed their pasta. It's super fresh, flavoursome and is presented beautifully.
That's it from me guys, let me know what you thought of this restaurant and which dishes you would have chosen to eat!
All photos in this post are original and taken by me on my Sony RX100