E cucina

I'd been to E cucina before in the city, both times has left reasonable impressions - I still remember my first pork belly there - very heavy on the fat, so heavy I felt sick halfway through a fairly small portion. However, times change and so do menus and styles.

For a CBD restaurant, E cucina has a rather dim and romantic feel. Service was quite good and relaxed feeling. We both felt quite at home there.

I chose the potato gnocchi because I couldn't find anything else particularly exciting on the menu. It was quite soft and delicate, but lacked a bit of the excitement you normally get with a meaty sauce (mine seemed to be vegetarian). The goat's curd was very creamy but light, admittedly a little tasteless but was very nice in texture. A little more spinach would have kept it exciting without resorting to meats if the dish was to be vegetarian friendly. Alternatively, a little chorizo would have lifted the dish with some excitement.

As a side salad, craving greens, I had a hazlenut and spinach salad which I could not stand. The hazelnuts seemed glazed with a bitter, headache-inducing syrup. I left this untouched.

The portion size was a little smaller than most places, but I was satisfied with the serving size. I had none left over and didn't feel overfull. The bill was reasonable, especially considering the location in the city. Four stars.