inITALY Bar Ristorante

The menu at inITALY is gently persuaded by the seasons, but it doesn’t sway with the tide. For one, Chef Mario Caramella isn’t changing his menu to pander to the bunch crowd. No, you won’t get any eggs benedict here. But that isn’t necessarily something to bemoan. We’re happy to ride with a menu that showcases beautiful Italian produce transformed with a sure hand, and the recent menu revamp at inITALY gives us good reason to return again.

The menu revamp is fairly significant, with more two thirds of the menu making way for new creations. While the dishes still thread the region of classical Italian dishes not unlike those you would find in the Italian culinary bible The Silver Spoon, we see bolder, more unusual flavour combinations coming to the fore. A risotto incorporating beetroot and red berries strikes you with a brilliant cloak of purple. It’s cooked till perfectly al dente and paired with parcels of smoked eel which contrast beautifully with the sweet and earthy flavours of beetroot. Then there was asparagus — its proud, succulent spears teamed with fried egg, butter, and snowings of Raspadura cheese. A brilliant combination of flavours and textures. As white asparagus was in season during our visit, we were treated to them in lieu of the usual green varietal.

Souffle, rising baby pink with a heavy does of Venetian rose liqueur, was a little too fragrant for our liking. However, if you enjoy rose-scented desserts in the realm of Turkish delights, this soufflé might just hit the right notes on your palate. As for us, we’ll call for either the cannolo aperto, a deconstructed cannolo, or the excellent zabaglione made with cumulus-light moscato sabayon topped with prickly pear sorbet.

38 Craig Road. Tel: 6423 0918