Milano Cucina Review

Buonasera! Change of pace (and language) to Italiano tonight.

So far, all the reviews have been positive (or on the verge of positive), but tonight is about to change.

Tonight's review is on a recent outing (last Saturday night) for a friend's birthday. Went to an Italian restaurant on Hutt St. called Milano Cucina. I had an 'intermediate' level of expectation when I went there, based on the reviews which I have received (and the prices as well).

First is the comment in regards to service - the food started arriving in 40 minutes since it was ordered which is absolutely not acceptable, considering most of the food for other tables were out and our table was actually seated before a couple of the others. Here are some of the photos of the food which were ordered:

Scaloppina Milano - veal scaloppini with prosciutto, provolone cheese, asparagus and potato puree

From this dish, the veal was tender and the provolone cheese wasn't overpowering. The sauce was good, but what brought this dish down was the potato puree. The 'supposedly' puree was more similar to badly mashed potato - it was lumpy,  grainy, plain and the sauce did not help it at all. Maybe the chef who made the potato puree should take a page from the French on how to make potato puree more flavourful (BUTTER is the key!) and also learn how to make it smooth. The asparagus was over cooked as well and as a result, the sweetness and flavour was drained out.

La Scala - marinated lamb, Spanish onion, fresh tomato, tzatziki,  fresh lemon, parsley

My friend ordered this dish (I didn't understand why he did) and was not satisfied with it. First off, sorry for thinking this, but from the flavours described in the menu, it sounds more like a Greek influenced dish rather than an Italian dish. I am a bit unsure in regards to why such a dish would even appear in the menu. From the looks of things, the lamb which were on the pizza did not look very appetising either - more like lamb scraps (unfortunately another unsatisfying dish).

Steak with polenta - specially made 

SM ordered this dish because she wanted polenta, but the other choice of polenta was with chicken (which was a bit boring), so one of the waiters suggested switching it for steak. The polenta was very disappointing - we thought it was going to be a creamy based polenta rather than the block, and the sauce provided was inadequate; the steak was not bad, but was a bit dry - could have easily been fixed with more sauce.

There wasn't a picture in here, but another friend of mine ordered Capretto and it was served with polenta as well. The capretto was cooked very nicely (I think the only positive of the night), and the sauce was adequate, though the 'block' polenta did miss the mark once again. There was a bit of difference in the same dish unfortunately - another friend of mine ordered the same dish and did not receive much of the sauce.

Berry panna cotta

This was an absolutely disgraceful dessert, in fact, I don't think it should even be called that. First off, the panna cotta (if I can even call it that) is ridiculously grainy and rough, and it was too hard. The "wobble" was not evident at all (perfect panna cottas, or even half-decent ones, should wobble when the plate is moved). What made it more disappointing was the fact that this was in fact the WRONG panna cotta - what was listed on the menu was candied almond (or something like it) served with almond bread and coffee; upon questioning, the waiter seemed puzzled - the service was unacceptable as they should have realised what was written on the menu and customers should be told if the dessert on the menu has been changed or unavailable (this could have been the fault of the chef, but regardless, they should know better). It may look like a pretty dessert, but the texture of the panna cotta was a failure.

Affogato "drowned" with Frangelico

This was my dessert, and at least they got it right - the espresso was well done and not burnt. 

Unfortunately, my visit to Milano Cucina was not memorable but quite the opposite - there seems to be miscommunication amongst their staff and some of their dishes were absolutely not acceptable, especially at a restaurant standard. The presentation of the dishes were fine, but that's about the only positive comment (apart from the capretto been cooked quite well). 

I wouldn't recommend this place if you are looking for a good Italian restaurant. I guess it would be fine for a casual dinner, but for the cost of some of the dishes, you probably would avoid this place altogether. I hope my experience in the future is more positive (if I ever return to the restaurant again).