La Scala - Christmas Dinner for work

This year's work Christmas Dinner was held at La Scala - an Italian restaurant located just next to Milk & Honey in Garema Place. I always see it when i pass the alley of cafes or to go Milk & Honey but in all these years, i've never stepped in La Scala. I guess that's because the restaurant looks rather dark from the outside and some graffiti on the restaurant sign just makes it less appealing. However, I have to say that it's a different story when you go inside, the first thing you see is an artistic and beautiful mask in a shape of a violin...there are other masks around the restaurant too. Tables and chairs are very simple and of dark brown colour which adds that extra Italian atmosphere to the restaurant.

We all started out with some entrees and i shared mine with Mol and Belz. We ordered Insalata di Mescardini Grigliati (tender baby octopus marinated in olive oil, lemon juice and a selection of Italian vinegars and herbs; served grilled on a cos lettuce bed and topped with chilli lime mayonnaise), Cape Sante alla Siciliana (seared scallops served on a bed of mesculin lettuce with olives, capers, anchovies and fresh Roma tomatoes; drizzled with oilve oil and a balsamic vinegar reduction) and the last one was Gamberi alla Lidia (king prawns wrapped in bacon and finished with garlic, wine, cream and a pinch of chilli; served with a timbal of saffron rice). I liked the scallops as they were of decent size and quite juicy. It was just a bit undercooked and probably needed that golden searing to make it taste nicer. The prawns and the saffron rice were lovely and i think that it's the richest entree i've ever had; the baby octopus were good but i think there was too much mayonnaise on them.

We moved to the Mains and i ordered a duck breast dish, it was duck breast laid on a bed of pumpkin mash finished with a sauce whose name i have forgotten. It said on the menu that the duck was going to be served medium rare but the one that i got was rather dry. I think the mash went well with the duck but it would have been better if there was less of it. Dishes that were ordered were: Filleto Di Manzo ai Ferri - beef fillet with the choice of mushroom, bacon and port sauce, Tortelloni Genovese (saffron and poppy seed tortelloni filled with sun dried tomato and ricotta, cooked with sundried tomato, persto, cream and brandy) and Scaloppine La Scala (veal).

To finish off the night we couldn't have missed out on the desserts!!! Knowing the teeny size of my dessert compartment, i decided to share the Strawberry Princess dessert with Mol! It was a beautiful and light dessert, definately suitable for summer and for people who just love a light dessert after the meal. It had layers of filo pastry filled with fresh (and awesome) strawberries, frangelico cream and strawberry jam topped with crushed hazelnuts! If you are a CHOCOLATE fan No.1, you should totally go for the Chocogasm! If you just want to try a different dessert, then maybe a Dark Knight (panna cotta) will be a nice option.

Insalata di Mescardini Grigliati

Gamberi alla Lidia

Cape Sante alla Siciliana

Forgot to mention about the Coffin Bay Pacific Oysters, they were not bad

Filleto di Manzo ai Ferri

My duck breast dish =P

The Dark Knight

Strawberry Princess Dessert

Chocogasm