Scalini - Botanic Avenue - Belfast

On Friday night, with the rain pouring down on us, we suddenly lost all sense of adventure. Heading towards the Botanic garden, where we would be sure to find a restaurant that would take us in with no booking seemed to be the sensible choice. On the down side though, we were confronted to a serious lack of options as nearly every menu was of Italian influence. Before getting drenched we stepped into Scalini, which won us over with its hearty menu and the promise of some comfort food to cheer us up.

I immediately felt warmed up by the buzzing atmosphere, the old fashioned furniture and the tantalizing smell of cheese, tomato and garlic. Instants later we were perusing the menu while sipping away a chilled and crisp glass of Cava Rose.

The cold and the humidity had both starved us and we decided to share two different starters: the deep-fried mushrooms and the spicy calamari. The mushrooms were a revelation. The first bite gave a great texture with a beautiful golden crispy batter but then you tasted the mushrooms, smooth and fondant coated in melted cheese and spiced up with mixed peppers: a real tease for the palate. The calamari was nowhere as intriguing. Despite a clever contrast between two types of squids, the seasoning was a bit bland and the absence of any kind of sauce let down the performance on the rest of the dish.

Never mind, our plates were empty in no time and replaced by two generous portions of pasta. Damien’s were penne with chicken, quite a classic but enhanced by flavored courgettes and toasted pine nuts. The sauce had a perfect creamy touch without having that heaviness that sometimes put you off the food. 

As for mine, a very traditional and simple choice, spaghetti carbonara, they were exactly what I was waiting for: smothered in rich and creamy egg yolk, garnished with smoky pieces of crispy bacon and superbly finished with aged Parmesan. Yum!!! I couldn’t stop myself and ended up cleaning the plate with my fingers: that’s real comfort food and I haven’t told you about the desserts yet.

You probably wonder how we could possibly have any space left for more after what we had just devoured but then again, we both have particularly hearty appetites and nothing would stop me from a getting a good chocolate cake. That is exactly what I got, the house specialty, the “to die for” chocolate fudge cake. It was as perfect as I expected: amazing fondant texture or should I say “fudgy” because nothing actually describes it better; two layers of chocolate ganache neither too bitter nor too sweet; and finally, an incredibly thick and glossy fudge chocolate sauce layered with melted milk chocolate. It was a masterpiece!

Damien had opted for a favorite from our childhood: the caramel fudge sundae. It came, as we love it, in a long stemmed glass. Two to three scoops of vanilla ice cream covered with heaps of caramel fudge sauce and home made, firm and vanilla flavored whipped cream: no disappointment there.

These desserts added a triumphant ending to an already fantastic evening. I would recommend Scalini with no hesitation if not for the pasta at least for the cakes!