Mancini's Italian Restaurant via Menulog, Belfield

Hooray for the ease of ordering via the internet! Technology really does make our lives easier these days. Thanks to Menulog, I was given the opportunity to test out one of Sydney's top online ordering systems with over 2000 restaurants to choose from. I was given a $25 voucher code and decided to use it on Mancini's Italian Restaurant as there are only certain restaurants that do deliver to your chosen location.

The system itself was very easy to use. Pick your dishes and then confirm details such as address, and then pay through your credit card and voila! Food will be on its way. Of course, there is a delivery fee.

I chose the double pasta deal where you receive two pasta dishes for $25.95 (save $5.95!) with an additional $5.00 delivery fee whacked on top. It would be nice to have a description of what the pastas were when you click to order the double pasta deal as it would save us the bother of having to go back and try remember the Italian names of the pastas - but it's no biggie. It also would've been better if they had a coherent list of all the pastas on the menu besides just the gnocchi and a few others in the list of main courses instead of having to go to their restaurant for descriptions as well. However, the great thing about this particular restaurant was that you could order the night before to receive it for an early lunch. That's a win I say! And it was exactly what I did.

The next morning, I received a call at around 11 to confirm my order and then not long after, a text message as well. It was nice of them to ensure it was what I had ordered. My delivery arrived at exactly 12:45pm on the dot. How precise is that? The delivery man was friendly as he took our pastas out of delivery bag - it was quite amusing being delivered such a small looking box from his delivery bag. The pastas were still steaming hot as we opened up the boxes.

Left to right: Penne Crema Al Pollo  & Gnocchi Sorentina, normally $15.50

The gnocchi came with a napolatana sauce topped with basil and mozzarella cheese - a lot of melted mozzarella cheese! Whilst the gnocchi wasn't house made and albeit a bit stodgy, I still enjoyed this dish and was my preferred one out of the two we ordered. It was a very standard pasta and the napolatana sauce was very flavoursome.

The Crema Al Pollo was supposed to come with fettuccini but they accepted by request to substitute for penne as I find fettuccini messier to eat. The creamy sauce turned out to be the napolatana sauce with the addition of cream, which toned down the flavour a fair bit but I prefer a stronger flavour! And I think I have a preference for my avocado to be raw after trying avocado cooked for the first time. There also wasn't quite enough sauce yet it was oilier in comparison to the gnocchi.

Overall, Menulog is an incredibly easy to use online menu ordering system that is convenient and saves you the trouble of having to leave your house. Because let's face it, sometimes you really don't want to :P I'll gladly order through Menulog again to try other nearby restaurants.

Mancini's Ristorante Italiano
21 Burwood Rd
Belfield, NSW, 2191