Osteria del Toro, Te Aro (30th August 2010)
When I last saw Rissa at the Harem Honey Hunt, she mentioned that her and Ben had planned to celebrate their 2-year anniversary (2-years since they first met) at Osteria del Toro that night but didn’t end up going there for dinner. Hmm, I wonder if they would be keen to do a double dinner date ('they' I mean Rissa actually, for the boys would jump at the idea of having dinner together while us girls tend to save a few special places for dates for two) since I’ve been meaning to bring Jono to the restaurant too as he’s not been there before…I emailed Rissa suggesting the double date and she said yes! Great, so double date it is then :)
I headed over to Osteria del Toro after work around 6pm and Jono was already at the bar ordering us Peroni beers. I like the restaurant, so beautifully decorated giving it such grandeur yet buzzing with chatter and glasses clicking like a busy Italian/Spanish family restaurant. I’ve been here a few times and the last time I stepped foot into this place was probably over a year ago when my buddy Scott was still in NZ. I wasn’t aware the restaurant had a special paella night on Mondays where a giant Valencian-style paella is cooked right in the middle of the restaurant – you can get a paella dish with a Torres wine or St Moritz beer from Barcelona for $25 which was a very good deal. Perhaps that’s why the restaurant was so busy on a Monday night! I hadn’t thought about booking as I wasn’t expecting such a crowd – lucky we were in early and didn’t have to wait to be seated.
Turned out, I was the only person at our table who had been to this restaurant. “Osteria del Toro virgins,” said Jono cheekily. Yes indeed! We chatted and caught up with what has been happening in our lives over our shared entrees of Hummus Dip (chickpeas, sesame and garlic with pita bread) and Spanish Chorizo. Both delicious and frankly, I would have loved more but need to leave room for my main. Several other tables had ordered the Zorba’s Famous Saganaki Cheese (Greek sheep cheese flamed with ouzo) and the staff would all shout ‘Opa!’ at the flash of flames as the waiter/waitress serves the entrée at the respective tables. We’ll have to try this the next time we come here – it sounded and looked really interesting! Us girls had the paella special for our mains (ooo, huge prawns and mussels!) while Ben tried their rabbit dish and Jono had the Fatima Tagine, and we all shared a side serving of vegetables. The paella was very good but I didn’t like the tagine as much as I thought I did. It was my favourite dish at Osteria del Toro though having tried some from Jono’s main tonight, I actually much prefer the Moroccan lamb shank recipe courtesy of Scott - we've made it at home a few times and it always hits the spot. I guess paella is my new favourite now...
Cost each couple around $85 all up for our beers and food, a reasonable price for a restaurant of such class (one would have thought it would cost much more just because the place looked expensive). A great place to come to for special occasions or if you want to impress :)
It was a lovely double date and Jono and I got to dodge the rain with a ride home in Rissa’s car (no need to get wet walking from the bus stop home yay!). Thanks Rissa and Ben for the fun evening – let’s catch up again soon!
I headed over to Osteria del Toro after work around 6pm and Jono was already at the bar ordering us Peroni beers. I like the restaurant, so beautifully decorated giving it such grandeur yet buzzing with chatter and glasses clicking like a busy Italian/Spanish family restaurant. I’ve been here a few times and the last time I stepped foot into this place was probably over a year ago when my buddy Scott was still in NZ. I wasn’t aware the restaurant had a special paella night on Mondays where a giant Valencian-style paella is cooked right in the middle of the restaurant – you can get a paella dish with a Torres wine or St Moritz beer from Barcelona for $25 which was a very good deal. Perhaps that’s why the restaurant was so busy on a Monday night! I hadn’t thought about booking as I wasn’t expecting such a crowd – lucky we were in early and didn’t have to wait to be seated.
Turned out, I was the only person at our table who had been to this restaurant. “Osteria del Toro virgins,” said Jono cheekily. Yes indeed! We chatted and caught up with what has been happening in our lives over our shared entrees of Hummus Dip (chickpeas, sesame and garlic with pita bread) and Spanish Chorizo. Both delicious and frankly, I would have loved more but need to leave room for my main. Several other tables had ordered the Zorba’s Famous Saganaki Cheese (Greek sheep cheese flamed with ouzo) and the staff would all shout ‘Opa!’ at the flash of flames as the waiter/waitress serves the entrée at the respective tables. We’ll have to try this the next time we come here – it sounded and looked really interesting! Us girls had the paella special for our mains (ooo, huge prawns and mussels!) while Ben tried their rabbit dish and Jono had the Fatima Tagine, and we all shared a side serving of vegetables. The paella was very good but I didn’t like the tagine as much as I thought I did. It was my favourite dish at Osteria del Toro though having tried some from Jono’s main tonight, I actually much prefer the Moroccan lamb shank recipe courtesy of Scott - we've made it at home a few times and it always hits the spot. I guess paella is my new favourite now...
Cost each couple around $85 all up for our beers and food, a reasonable price for a restaurant of such class (one would have thought it would cost much more just because the place looked expensive). A great place to come to for special occasions or if you want to impress :)
It was a lovely double date and Jono and I got to dodge the rain with a ride home in Rissa’s car (no need to get wet walking from the bus stop home yay!). Thanks Rissa and Ben for the fun evening – let’s catch up again soon!
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