Nom Nom Nibblies- we live, we laugh, we cry, we eat.: Spigolo & Zeta Bar

ALL. YOU. CAN. EAT.

It only took those four words to get J&L planning another trip back to Darlinghurst. Spigolo Trattoria & Pizzeria offers an all you can eat pizza, pasta and beer deal for just $22.90! And being the food bargain lovers we are, we set off there with S and Y last Friday for our end of the week catch up. Just a few minutes’ walk from Hyde Park, we arrived with empty stomachs ready for a big Italian feast…

Spigolo Trattoria & Pizzeria

It was a very hot day, and since there was no air-conditioning inside, we chose to sit outside to enjoy the cool breeze. We made ourselves comfortable and J immediately asked “So…Can we have the all you can eat?”

“No... Not tonight”, our waiter replied with a distinct Italian accent. He pointed to the menu clearly stated in bold “Only From Sunday to Thursday – Lunch & Dinner”

“Oh.”, we sighed. (Don’t you hate those disappointed feelings you get at restaurants when they don’t offer what u prepared your stomach for?)

“Well…we ARE already here… so we might as well just try out their other stuff” suggested Y.

So instead we browsed the ala carte menu, still slightly disappointed there would be no all you can eat that night. =(

J chose the Funghi Risotto a risotto with oyster mushrooms and chicken stock. It had a good texture overall, but was more bland than expected and not as tasteful as she thought.

Funghi Risotto ($16.90)

S decided on the Milanese Risotto a saffron risotto with chicken stock. “Ah good choice” the waiter said. Though when the dish came, S found it a little too plain for her liking. It was plainer than the funghi risotto but had a more cheesy flavor.

Milanese Risotto ($16.90)

L went with the Meatballs which was traditional home made meatballs in Napoli Sauce with steamed vegetables. The Meatballs weren’t as juicy as L expected and ended up having to use most of the sauce to give it more flavor. The vegetables gave a nice balance with the meat though.

Meatballs ($16.90)

Y opted for Asparagi Pizza which had Asparagus and Fresh Tomato. The base was crispy and light, yet it was probably a better choice to choose a pizza with more than two toppings for more flavors.

Asparagi Pizza ($17.90)

After we finished our meals though, we could smell the meals of others around us... The Lobster pasta dish looked delicious, beautifully presented with a whole lobster head on top of the pasta; and the salt and pepper prawns looked fresh and tasty (they smelt really nice) - perhaps we just didn’t pick the right dishes hey?

Spigolo did have the ambience right though. With their cute I LOVE PIZZA Shirts, authentic Italian waiters red tablecloths and a fake grape vineyard on the ceiling. They also had live piano and singing performance! It did feel like an Italian experience.

Cute Spigolo Shirts :P

Craving for something sweet, we finished our meal at Hilton Hotel’s Zeta Bar that is having their Cryogenic Sorbet & Cocktail Bar every Friday night until the end of March. It was absolutely packed, but with ice blocks, sorbets and puffs on offer, it was definitely worth the wait :P hehe.

We firstly started with the Nitro Puffs! This was incredible and a must try if you ever go to Zeta! It was a Piña Colada puff that was cryogenically frozen with liquid nitrogen. It was a pretty weird and indescribable experience eating it! It felt like you had put a really light and dry ice block in your mouth (a bit like a piece of meringue but ice cold), then it suddenly explodes and cracks into pieces…and then slowly melting inside your mouth into a smooth creamy liquid. We also got told to try and breathe through our noses, Y did it really well but the rest of us had some trouble... hehe because it was so hard to keep our mouths shut when there's an explosion going on in there! When she breathed through her nose, all the cold vapour rushed out and made her look like a fire dragon :P hehe

Nitro Puffs (3 for $10)

S also tried the Piña Colada Sorbet, which was refreshingly cool and sweet. The alcohol wasn’t too powerful and the strips of toasted coconut went very well with the smooth sorbet resulting in a crunchy and delicious treat.

Piña Colada Sorbet (One Scoop for $4)

Impressed with the sorbet, we decided to try a few others. The Mojito, the Black Raspberry Clover Club and the Spiced Black Raspberry Mule. These were much stronger than the piña colada with a bitter aftertaste. The added berries were a nice touch and gave it a nice balance.

Spiced Black Raspberry Mule Sorbet, Mojito Sorbet and Black Raspberry Clover Club Sorbet (3 Scoops for $10)

Y chose the Black Raspberry Vodka & Tonic served over mixed berry ice. The mixed berry ice is actually a frozen block of ice with some fresh berries inside. This pretty drink looks sweet, but was actually pretty strong.

Black Raspberry Vodka & Tonic served over mixed berry ice ($10)

Unfortunately the Champagne Ice Blocks had run out by the time we had arrived which was a shame. =( Guess it looks like we’ll have to drop by another Friday night to try them ! :P hehe… which means…. MORE NITRO PUFFS! yay! (haha yes… we are a bit obsessed with those)

But wait… our nibblie journey did not just end there hehe! None of us were satisfied because we all wanted to end our day with something really sweet :P so we decided to walk down to Mizuya for some green tea ice cream. Unfortunately, there was a 30min wait by the time we got there… so then we went to the nearby Korean convenience store instead. Korean ice cream are lovely! They have lots of flavors and different kinds to choose from :D

L picked a strawberry ice block which had a creamy inside to it. Love strawberry and cream! Y had a watermelon flavored one and it was very cutely shaped in a slice of watermelon! hehe S and J both chose the cookies and cream flavored ice cream sandwich :D the cake was really soft and tasted really good hehe :D