Sociale (Como, Italy)

I'll keep this post less detailed than usual, because after all, aren't holidays about trying to relax as much as you can?

After a few days wandering the streets of Prague, we made our way to Italy, more specifically, Como to spend some time with family by the lake. After a day visiting the beautiful (touristy) towns of Varenna and Bellagio, and enjoying the fresh lake breeze under the warm sunshine, we decided to head into the main town of Como for dinner.

The streets certainly are pretty:

After being vetoing a few restaurants we walked past, and being turned away from a restaurant due to lack of space, we ended up at Sociale, a homely restaurant tucked away near the cathedral. 

Our waiter was mostly attentive throughout the evening, and well versed in Italian, English, and French, among other languages too I'm sure. We started off with the obligatory bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, a bottle of red: 

and some cold appetizers,

Affettato misto da

 and warm appetizers to share.

Antipasto caldo del Sociale

Tonda di polpette

 For mains,

Spaghetti alla carbonara

Osso Buco

Proposta di pesce del giorno 

As you can see, the food couldn't be considered light by any standards. Hearty and filling, it was perhaps over-seasoned with salt and/or MSG (we were all very thirsty afterwards). Reasonably priced however, we left with full bellies and in a happy mood (good food, good wine, and good company will do that after all). 

A nice evening walk along the lake capped off a pretty superb day.

Como, you were so touristy but still so lovely.

Sociale
, , Italy
Wed - Mon 12:00pm - 230pm, 7:00pm - 10:30pm

Vapiano

Sometimes restaurants are popular simply because they’re new, or have some ‘gimmick’ that draws people in. The new location for the Vapiano brand (from the USA) fits both criteria for popularity, but is uncharacteristically backed up by some good quality food.

First up, the gimmicks. When you enter Vapiano, you don’t pick up a table number or wait to get seated, you pick up an order card. The idea is that your food and drink orders are placed on the card and you can settle the balance at the end. Pretty neat, and it certainly makes split bills a breeze. 

Vapiano Chipcard

The food definitely has Italian influences, but the menu is clearly split into pizzas, pastas and salads. So clearly split in fact, that there are separate ordering stations for each. You pick what type of dish you want, you order and the chef makes it for you on the spot. Then you get to watch the fun of rapid-fire cooking which is more entertaining than sitting down and waiting for your meal in my opinion.

Pesto & Gnocchi

Both times I managed to pop-in outside of rush hour, which meant very little time passed between mentally deciding what I wanted to eat to the food in my mouth. That’s always a plus in my books, but I can see how the system may be frustrating during busy periods.

Still, even if there is a wait, the food is worth waiting for. It’s a fluid, customisable menu so everyone can pick a dish that suits their taste, and gluten-free options are available as well. The first time I went, both M and I ordered pasta dishes.

For him, spaghetti bolognaise, simple and packed with flavour using very fresh ingredients.

Spaghetti Bolognese

For me, gnocchi with pesto, also simple and delightfully tender, although was perhaps a bit on the oily side.

Gnocchi with Pesto

The second time I was there for an early dinner service. I’d actually planned on a dinner straight afterwards, so settled for an antipasti plate to share.

Large Antipasti Platter

Filled with cold cuts of meat and various cheeses, olives and marinated vegetables and paired with soft bread, it was my type of appetiser.

The other dishes I didn't get to try, but they looked and smelt pretty good (except the salad, which I thought looked a tad boring). Crappy lighting and hungry friends also results in crappy photos, so apologies. 

Interesting Pasta - I forget what this was

Insalada with Beef

Toscana

Con Carne

It would have been a shame to let the dessert selection go untasted especially when they looked so attractive.

Panna Cotta

Tiramisu della casa

Classic desserts that are hard to go wrong with are always a winner.

Even with its slightly gimmicky set-up, there’s nothing gimmicky about the food dished up at Vapiano. It’s fresh and uncomplicated, and what you see is what you get (almost literally as you can watch them cook it for you). The atmosphere is cosy and the service is fast. Table service is non-existent, but that’s mainly a function of style rather than a drawback as it certainly makes sense for it to be a help-yourself kind of place. Vapiano is already a favourite with the CBD lunch crowd and it’s really not hard to see why. Maybe we’ll see more new restaurants adopting this format in the future – it has potential.

Vapiano

Vapiano
Ground Floor, Rear at Flinders Lane,
Sun-Thu 11am-11pm, Fri-Sat 11am-12am

Non Solo Pasta

As the name would suggest, Non Solo Pasta serves up not only pasta, but a myriad of other authentic Italian dishes. Heading in a peak lunch hour, the restaurant was hectically busy, so I was expecting great things from the food. What I wasn't expecting until I checked out the decor, was for pizza to be sexy, but hey, that's one way to market your food. 

Pizza is Sexy at Non Solo Pasta

Run by the formidable Remo Nicolini of  +39 Pizzeria, you'd expect the pizza to be nothing but good, and indeed, should the name not be 'Non Solo Pizza' instead? 

Non Solo Pasta

An open kitchen gives diners an unobstructed view of the pizza construction process with a busy team of workers making pizza base after pizza base and topping them with a gorgeous combination of toppings. 

Non Solo Pasta

(It looks like there are plans to open joints in Sorrento and St Kilda!)

So while the main course of pizza was decided, we had to order something else and settled on a serve of  arancini from a menu that contained salads, focaccias, paninos, pastas and sweets.

Arancini

The arancini came in two flavours; spinach and mozzarella and bolognese. These were a little disappointing and had obviously been left out for quite a while - they were dry to the point of toughness! Shame. If I had to pick one of the two, the bolognese was slightly moister and with a better balance of flavours. The light flavours of the spinach and mozzarella made for a fairly boring arancini.

Bolognese, Spinach and Mozzarella Arancini

The pizza on the other hand was good with a chewy, but not heavy, base. I generally prefer a very thin crust with lots of toppings, but this was tasty in its own, if unusual (to me), way.

Tartufata Pizza

We ordered the Tartufata with white truffle cream, fior di latte, mushrooms, roquette & parmesan.  It was lightly flavoured, and my only criticism was that the cheese was a bit on the salty side. The portion size was more than generous and easily shared between the two of us (although my friend had stuffed himself full of sweets beforehand so that may have contributed to this).

It's a little disappointing that Non Solo Pasta is only open for dinner on Friday nights, but that could be expected with the current Docklands hospitality environment. This place does pizza well, but might need slightly more work on the accompaniments. A reasonable price and generous portion sizes adds appeal to the place, and the Italian staff deal comfortably with the pressure of a very busy restaurant. Lekker Photo also has some beautiful photos of the place if that's your thing.

Non Solo Pasta
Shop 2,

Breakfast & Lunch Mon-Fri, Dinner Fri