Malena

I have been meaning to try out Melana for quite a while but got push back to to my ever increasing of my to-eat list. I finally got to it after our day at the Distillery here, here & here. We had an early reservation at 6:45 and as we arrive, the place was rather empty and my friends were questioning me about my choice... and I assure them that it's because it's a beautiful day and people are staying out late (crossing my fingers at the same time, wishing that the food are indeed good) and good thing people start poring it after 8:00 =D

Really like the decor and their second floor which is available for private party up to 40 are even prettier. Love the Vintage light dangling down =P

♥ the chairs

Love the Stainless Steel wine rack, great contrast to the woody/ neutral decor

♥ their olive oil, don't know what it is but there's some sort of floral note to it ?!?

most places serve you really "rancid" tasting olive oil, but this one was sooooo good.

Lamb Sausage & Poached Egg

~ green asparagus, cremini mushroom, fingerling potatoes & garlic crostini

Just love every part of my app, the sausage was just bursting with flavor w/ the asparagus cook just right (a lot of places tend to over or under cook them) and when mix with the egg yolk, everything just came together perfectly.

sardine " in scapece"

~ pancetta, parmigiano fricco, garlic crema

Great presentation and texture here but the sardine flavor itself was very subtle and I would prefer it to be a bit stronger since it should be the star of this dish.

Fritto Misto

~ calamari, prawns & chef 's addition of crispy gigantes, lemon & red pepper conserva

The description forgot to mention halibut, this was a huge appetizer, the 4 of us have been able to share this. And it really do taste a lot better than it looks, not greasy with a super light and thin batter (^_^)

They served their pasta in 2 sizes, appertizer and main size and I order 2 appetizer size as my main since I can't decide between the two.

Squid ink chitarra & Lobster

~ tomato, fresh herbs & calabrian chillies

Love the sauce and lobster and I',m not sure if I like squid ink pasta at all. Would have love this a lot better if it was just regular pasta... I try squid ink paella and I loved it, but maybe it was only on top of the rice and not made by it like the pasta =P

my friend order this as her main too but she keep saying that it's super salty while I find mine just right, at the end she decided to try mine and realize that it's just hers (>_<)

Sheep's mild ricotta gundi

~ coriander braised rabbit, spinach and crisp carrot

The texture and flavor just didn't do anything for me, love the one that I had here a lot better.

The sauce, carrot and rapini was really good but the gundi itself was not my liking at all. I really don't know how to describe it but just not that good =P

Grilled rock hen "al mattone"

~ eggplant, zucchini & tomato caponata, charred lemon & smoked paparika oil

Surprise, once again loving the "chicken" dish and by the amount of chicken dish that I liked recently, I'll have to take back my "don't like ordering/eating chicken in non-chinese restaurant" speech.

This was super flavorful, moist with tasty charred crispy skin and the portion was huge, they gave you a whole hen =P

Greek Honey "loukoumades"

~ crispy fried doughnuts, attiki honey, pistachio & cinnamon crema

♥ my choice of dessert, served hot with the super delicious honey... what not to like ?!?

I was debating on this or the lemon phyllo tart, next time for sure =P

Mascarpone & Almond Canolli

~ amaretto peaches & candied lemon

My friend ordered this because she love mascarpone but it was overly lemony to enjoy the sweet creamy cheese and I think the shell wasn't that good either (like the one from here better)

Warm Chocolate "bougatsa"

~ phyllo custard with toasted peanuts, wild blueberry and mascarpone

No comment, just good old chocolate wrap with phyllo and the mascarpone was on the side

Verdict :

Would love to go back but skip their pasta dishes this time or try their sister restaurant L'Unita too

Love the chicken and all the apps. Will try their fish dishes for sure next time I'm there.