Canberra: Dieci e Mezzo

After the 3-hour drive to Canberra from Sydney, we went Dieci e Mezzo for dinner. The restaurant was unexpectedly situated in the foyer of a commercial building in the city centre, which I thought was pretty unusual for an Italian Restaurant. However the meal was enjoyable with good food and caring staff, so I will definitely re-visit for the next Canberra trip.

經過3個多小時的車程，我們從悉尼到達坎培拉，首先到Diecie Mezzo晚飯去。這意大利餐廳出乎意料地坐落在市中心的一幢商業大廈的大堂內；但無損食物和服務的質素。下一次再到坎培拉的話我也會重臨這餐廳。

Braised octopus, borlotti beans, 

green olives, focaccia    AUD$12

紅燒八爪魚，borlotti豆，青橄欖，佛卡夏麵包   澳元$12

Seared scallops, cacciatore sausage, Bredbo 

black garlic, blood orange, fennel   AUD$23

烙扇貝，cacciatore香腸，

Bredbo產黑蒜，血橙，茴香   澳元$23

Pickled W.A. sardines, cauliflower, 

capers, mojama, crisp pastry   AUD $22

醃漬西澳產沙丁魚，椰菜花，酸豆 ，西班牙醃吞拿魚，薄脆片   澳元$22

Sautéed Moss Vale mushrooms, slow cooked 

organic egg, buckwheat polenta, pecorino   AUD$20

炒Moss Vale產蘑菇，慢熟有機雞蛋，

蕎麥玉米粥，pecorino 芝士   澳元$20

Spaghettini, prawns, peperonata, 

capers, white anchovies, basil AUD$33

幼意大利麵，蝦，雜甜椒粒，酸豆，白鳀魚，羅勒   澳元$33

Braised New England veal cheeks, 

Jerusalem artichoke, endive and orange AUD$34

紅燒New England產牛臉頰，耶路撒冷洋薊，菊苣，橙    澳元$34

Hazelnut and chocolate crostata, 

malted ice-cream, candied mandarin AUD$15

榛子巧克力塔派，麥芽冰淇淋，蜜餞柑   澳元$15

Warm lemon and ricotta torta, yoghurt sorbet, 

Marsala, golden raisins, honeycomb AUD$14

暖檸檬ricotta芝士蛋糕，酸奶雪糕，

意大利馬沙拉甜酒，黃金葡萄乾，蜂蜜脆脆   澳元$14

Overall I think there was a good balance between of taste and presentation of these dishes, with enough flavouring yet retaining the fresh and natural taste of the ingredients. The dishes were more on the authentic side with some creative input which made them very well received. The atmosphere was fairly relaxing and quiet (at least at dinner time) and made it a good venue for friends’ night out in a small group. Price was reasonable for the quality of the dishes and service.

總括來說，我覺得這些菜式在味道和擺盆兩者都頗佳，有一個很好的平衡。食物有足夠的調味之餘亦保留了食材新鮮和自然的味道。菜式偏向保留了傳統意大利風味並加入一點點創意，容易被大眾接受。輕鬆和安靜的環境（至少在晚餐時間）適合一小群朋友聚會談天。在如此質量的菜餚和服務下，價格亦算合理。

Restaurant/ Café Scales

I always find food review being the hardest to write because everyone has a different palate: a plus for me does not necessarily be the same for you. And flavour itself is also too abstract to be described; I can describe the texture, the ingredients and the presentation but not until the food is actually in your mouth, you will never know the taste of it. So the idea of reviewing a restaurant/ café on a more objective scale came to my mind. I guess a food outlet can both be good or bad, depending on what one is after. I hope that this scale review method will give a better sense of what a particular restaurant/ café provides, so you can choose the right place for your next event!

我一直認為食評是世界上最難寫得好的，因為口味是因人而異的嘛：對我來說的好味並不代表你也一定喜歡。加上味道本身也是很抽象的；我可以形容食物的質地，陳述食材和擺盆，但在食物真正在你的嘴裏之前，你是不會知道它的味道的。所以我想用一個比較客觀的方法來介紹一間餐廳/咖啡店。我認為每一間食肆既可以是好也可能會有不足，視乎你期望的是什麼。我希望這種「尺評」方式能令大家更容易按自己的需要來選擇到合適的食肆！

I have thought about what we as the customer would care the most and created separate scales for restaurants and cafés. So the scale works like this: each category has a bar with different criteria on the 2 ends; for each restaurant/ café reviewed, I will place a red dot to indicate if it lies more to one than the other; it can also be well-balanced and I will place the dot in the middle. Of course this is all based on my personal experience and therefore not 100% objective; but hopefully these scales can provide you with a clearer idea of what to expect there.

我想了想大家到餐廳或咖啡店時最注重的會是什麼，繼而為餐廳和咖啡店分別設計了6個獨立的「尺評」。「尺評」的運作如下：每把尺的兩端各代表不同標準；我會用一個紅點來表示該餐廳/咖啡店的定位，可以是較偏重於其中一邊或者兩者平衡的話，紅點會被放置在中間。當然，這些都是基於我個人的經驗，因此不會是100％的客觀，但希望「尺評」能令你對這些餐廳/咖啡店有更清晰的了解。

Restaurant Scales 餐廳尺評

Café Scales 咖啡店尺評