We’re already fans of Vapiano’s fresh concept of making Italian dishes to order in front of you in a casual dining setting, so when we heard that they were doing some spring specials, we dropped in to see what would be on offer in the warmer months as Sydneysiders come out of hibernation. Tonight we’re trying a whole range of dishes (not just their pizza and pasta) compared to the last time we visited, which is very exciting. And what’s more exciting is that we’re running a competition to give you a chance to dine at Vapiano too! Keep reading for more details…
First up is a Classic Pumpkin Soup which is fairly smooth, but with a decently thick consistency. It’s served with some tasty garlic croutons, parmesan and basil, priming our appetites for more Italian goodness.
Classic Pumpkin Soup, $6.90
Next is the Pizza Porporano, which features some gourmet ingredients in the form of some slivers of wafer thin bresaola (air-dried salted beef), rocket, shaved parmesan, all drizzled with truffle olive oil for an extra hit of indulgence. The pizza is relatively light and crispy, with the salty bresaola and truffle oil anchoring it down in flavour.
Pizza Porporano, $19.90
For more substantial mains, we had the Pasta Gamberi Con Rosso, which is a tasty pasta (freshly made in house) served with juicy prawns, flavoured with mild chilli, semi sun-dried tomatoes and sun-dried tomato pesto for an extra kick.
Pasta Gamberi Con Rosso, $19.90 (above photo is not full size serving)
The other main we had was the Risotto Pollo Levanto, which was a delicious, creamy risotto with a mix of chicken, bacon and seasoned with garlic, chilli, red onion and topped off with parmesan and basil. The rice itself was cooked al dente, giving it a firm chewiness.
Risotto Pollo Levanto, $19.90
The spring special dessert is the decadent sounding White Choc Cheesecake with Salted Caramel and Honeycomb. It’s more like a deconstructed layered cheesecake, with most of the rich cheesecake itself sitting underneath a thick topping of rather salty caramel and chunks of honeycomb. It was a bit difficult to get to the cheesecake – you need to dig in to get to it, but once you get through the caramel barrier and mix it up a bit, it goes down much easier.
White Choc Cheesecake with Salted Caramel and Honeycomb, $5.90
The wine which we had paired with all these dishes was the Villa Maria Arneis which comes from New Zealand and the name of the grape comes from the Italian for ‘little rascal’ as it’s rather difficult to cultivate apparently. It’s a lovely white which is very easy to drink and it goes well with all the dishes we had from the spring menu.
Villa Maria Arneis, $9.50 (small) and $46 (bottle)
With their spring specials menu, Vapiano has given its roll call of dishes a seasonal revamp with some fresh new flavours shining through and even a risotto to add into the mix – well worth a return visit for an easy, casual meal with friends.
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COMPETITION TIME!
Want to win a dinner for two at Vapiano? We’ve got 4x of these to giveaway! Simply tell us here in the comments or on our Instagram Vapiano post “What is your favourite Italian dish and why?” The 4 entries judged to be the tastiest sounding will win, so brush up on describing those dishes!
Competition closes 2nd October 11:59pm. Full T&Cs here.
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Excuse Me Waiter dined as guests of Vapiano.
Vapiano
Cnr King Street & York Street
Sydney NSW 2000
Ph:(02) 9299 0079
View Comments (13)
Favourite dish is truffle pizza!!! Filled with lots of truffle and some rocket as well, yum!
The number one Italian dish for me has to be a lobster and crab ravioli with a creamy tomato sauce - so indulgent!
Bruschetta would be my favourite Italian Dish. The reason for this is because the simple ingredients are just refreshing and bursting with flavours on your first bite and the crunch of the grilled bread. But more importantly, anyone can make this entree even those like myself who can't cook.
Favourite Italian dish is spaghetti bolognaise! For a home cook it's hard to go wrong with a bolognaise sauce. A rich tomato based sauce with your choice of meat on top of perfectly al dente pasta - yum!
The best dish that I had was a spaghetti cabonara - simple, creamy and bacon. Luxe
I went here the other week and really liked it! the prawns with the spiral pasta was soooo good :3
I have so many favourite Italian dishes, because after all, who doesn't love to indulge in something as down-to-earth as a Domino's pizza, to the gourmet-takeaway beauties of Crust and their peri-peri chicken pizza, to the higher-class dining experience at La Rosa and their potato dough doughnut delicacies? Italian food is too good to miss! That being said, one of my favourite Italian dishes would have to be the margherita pizza. Such a simple pizza with cheese, tomato sauce, and some basil leaves, but one can tell if a restaurant serves beautiful quality Italian pizzas from trying the margherita - if the margherita's amazing, everything else is sure to be a hit!
Congratulations Tina - you are one of our top 4 winning entries for the Vapiano competition! We will be in touch with you via email.
Eggplant Parmigiana! Nothing beats the classic parmy!
Bolognese sauce remains the forever young dish of Italian cuisine, a favourite with all ages. The rich tomato sauce paired with a sweet mince can be paired with any pasta to create a pleasurable meal !
My favourite Italian dish is a simple margherita pizza - done well, you can't beat great quality ingredients coming together to make a great dish!