Italian Charm @ Sorrento Trattoria

S, W and I decided to head out to the Portsea/Sorrento area for breakfast, which turned into brunch and then lunch. In fact we didn't actually manage to make it down until well after 2pm. After a spot of shopping along the main strip in Sorrento and an obligatory ice cream, given it was a 40 something degree day, we finally decided it was time for some real food.

Our awkward timing meant that most places had their kitchens closed before the dinner rush, but I spotted a little pizza joint across the road that seemed to still be open. Initially we planned to take away a pizza and eat it down by the beach, as the restaurant didn't seem to be more than a tiny take away shop front.

Upon entering the shop and seeing a few empty tables, we decided to dine in. It wasn't until I walked past the counter and saw a beautiful little courtyard in the back, that I realized the restaurant was much bigger than I thought. We picked a table in the back garden, draped in sunlight and were made to feel very welcome by our waitress.

After perusing the menu we decided to order the cheese platter, a main sized chicken and avocado gnocchi and a medium chorizio pizza. The cheese and fruit platter was generous, the pizza was a little on the crisper side and the sausage overdone, but it was still rather tasty, and the gnocchi was also quite nice but a tad bland. Despite my criticisms, the food on a whole was better than many of the Italian restaurants I have been to. Sorrento Trattoria is a nice place to bring the family for an enjoyable and affordable meal. From what I recall the meal was around the $60 mark, maybe even a smidgin under.

I was glad we paid this little restaurant a visit, kitsch tablecloths and all, the place had a charm about it. I'd even go as far to say that the garden nestled in the back brought back memories of my time eating my way through Italy.
 

My Rating: 7/10

Curry Munching @ Elephant Corridor

Sri Lankans and anyone who shares their love for a good spicy Lankan curry, are spoilt for choice in Melbourne. However, when it comes to finding somewhere fancy enough that you could take a date, there honestly isn't much on offer. But that's where Elephant Corridor comes in. It is an absolute gem of a find, it's classy, tastefully decorated and provides honest Sri Lankan cuisine.

Technically Elephant Corridor is an Indian and Sri Lankan restaurant, but I must admit that I'm yet to try their Indian fare, despite frequenting it countless times. Sri Lankan food is very different to North Indian cuisine which many people are familiar with, so for those of you that do visit Elephant Corridor, I urge you to shy away from your usual butter chicken and try some Sri Lankan food instead.

Being too lazy to cook and in the mood for string hoppers, S,W and I headed to Elephant corridor for dinner. When we arrived there, the place was packed and I was starting to wish I had thought of making a reservation. Lucky for us the waiter was able to find us a table. We were seated and a basket of pappadums and a serve each of tamarind and mint chutney were brought over promptly. The accompaniments were full of flavour, however the pappadums disappointingly were a little stale.

After browsing the menu for a couple of minutes we decided to order three serves of string hoppers ($10.90 each), kiri hothi ($4.50), Sri Lankan beef curry ($20.90), cashew curry ($14.90) and pol sambol ($6.90). I had to restrain myself from buying the devilled chicken too, as I think they do a pretty mean job of it. It goes better with rice than string hoppers, so I gave it a miss.

For those of you who haven't tried them before, string hoppers are steamed mounds of noodles made of rice flour. Each serve consisted of 15 string hoppers, half were made of red rice flour and the other half white. They were hot, fluffy and steamed to perfection. Two servings would have been plenty, because we really couldn't get through the three that we ordered. In my opinion string hoppers are not the same without a good kiri hothi. Kiri hothi is a coconut milk gravy that you are meant to pour over the string hoppers to soften them up and add flavour, what we ordered was nice but not as good as the last time I had it at Elephant Corridor. The cashew curry was by far my favourite, cooked in coconut milk and spices, it was creamy and well ... I just couldn't fault it. Likewise, the pol sambol which consisted of grated coconut and spices hit the spot, it was fresh and wasn't too spicy. The beef curry similarly delivered, it was so good we ended up trying to scrape out every last bit of gravy.


All in all we were all very satisfied with our meal and left with our tummies a little too full. My only regret was that I didn't eat my string hoppers the traditional way. I was feeling a little self conscious with all the people around me eating gracefully with their shiny cutlery, but let me let you in on a little secret, Sri Lankan food tastes a world better when you dig in with your fingers.

My Rating 8.5/10