il tempo!

Restaurant: Il Tempo, Shop 8 250 Flinders St, Melbourne VIC 3000

Food Digested: Bruchette (Goat Cheese & Fresh Asparagus), Spaghetti Mare (Prawns, Scallops, Calamari & Light Napoli Sauce), Risotto D’anatra (Shredded Duck & Porcini Mushrooms), Tiramisu, Creme Brulee, Strawberry Baked Cheesecake

$$$: $50+$2 (with $50 for $100 worth of food voucher from Crowdmass)

Lily’s Rating: 7

This is the first Italian food post! Also the first time I’ve used a Crowdmass voucher, and I’ve been very excited about it since I bought the voucher. It was absolutely freezing today, but I was glad I had a nice dinner catchup with two of my closest friends tonight. After a long walk, we ended up at the end of one of Melbourne’s most famous little hidden streets, Degraves Street, and took a little while to find the “Il Tempo’ sign, but as I had already walked past once, I was sure it was there, and we eventually saw the name somewhere. We were warmly welcomed by a friendly guy who opened the door for us, and we were seated at the best table in the restaurant that was up some stairs and right next to the window so we could watch the people outside. Amazing service, from the moment we stepped inside.

Il Tempo

The interor was quite interesting…as you can see. After a bit of deciding, we ordered our food and eagerly awaited for the food to arrive. (I was really hungry, even though it was still pretty early…hehe). It didn’t take long for the place to be full of people too! Food arrived quite quickly, faster than I’d expected…=]

Goat Cheese & Fresh Asparagus Bruschette

My friend Nikki ordered the Goat Cheese & Fresh Asparagus Bruschette ($15.50). I tried a little bit, but as I don’t like anything that tastes like goat or lamb…I didn’t like it. So I will ask her what she thinks later…but! My friends liked it.

Spaghetti Mare

I ordered the Spaghetti Mare ($24.50) with prawns, scallops, calamari & light napoli sauce. The first thing I tried in this was the scallop, and it was smaller than I would’ve liked and tasted fishy and not too fresh. Slightly disappointed. The calamari was pretty bad because it was the chewy kind. However, the prawns were fresh and the sauce was nice and not too salty or oily and the spaghetti was also just right.

Risotto D'anatra

Yuen ordered the Risotto D’anatra with shredded duck and porcini mushrooms ($24.50). This was the best so far! The taste was just right, the duck blended very well with the sauce, rice and mushrooms. The mushrooms were great! I think it’s because I love mushrooms though x) It must’ve been a good sign for someone who doesn’t usually eat meat to like the duck in it!

Strawberry Baked Cheesecake

Dessert time! We ordered one each, of course. Nikki ordered the Strawberry Baked Cheesecake ($12.50), which I also sort of wanted. It was good, but definately nothing special or out of the ordinary. The strawberry jelly at the top was quite nice, and cheesecake not too sweet, but the base was too thick and hard…

Creme Brulee

Yuen’s Creme Brulee ($12.5o)! Having recently studied the art of creme brulee, inspired by Masterchef, Yuen knew that to eat the creme brulee properly, he had to tap it with a spoon to see if it cracked. And indeed it did! It tasted amazing too! Very creamy with a nice vanilla taste.

Tiramisu

My tiramisu ($12.50), because I always want tiramisu. It looked really cute and tasted great! Definately enough Kahlua in there =] and the sponge finger in the middle was a good idea because it made it look more interesting. But having said all that, I don’t think it stood out much from other ones I’ve tried at restaurants…I wouldn’t pay $12.50 for this…

So…short post this time. It was good fun to hang out with friends and eat good food, but I was disappointed with the seafood in my spaghetti. The desserts were definately better than my main. The Risotto D’anatra is worth getting. The service was the highlight because the staff was so friendly and helpful! I probably wouldn’t go there again, but hey, anything’s better than, say…Sofia? =P

Also…thanks Crowdmass! Looking forward to buying more vouchers and going to other restaurants!