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

tie me up

I would just like to say that I absolutely adore ankle boots. So when I first spotted the Siren Damsel heels, I fell in love. Despite looking like the Jeffrey Campbell Litas, I still wanted a pair of Sirens to call my own. However, selling at $169.95 at retail stores, I was a bit hesitant at buying them because I had just recently splurged $160 on my Litas and the Siren Damsels are quite similar in style though I would say more smart casual. Whereas the Litas would be a rebellious grunge girl, the Damsel would be her posh sister who likes to sip champagne. Fast forward a couple of months and I spotted these on sale at The Iconic for $118. Needless to say, I quickly nabbed myself the last pair left on the website on impulse at 2am in the morning because I had a voucher for $25 off! So at $93, it was a bargain compared to the original price.

Let me just have this chance to rave about how good the Iconic is! Not only did they have a sale for these shoes when absolutely no other stores do, shipping is free and I got these the next business day! I ordered on a Sunday and got them Tuesday morning. If that's not fast postage, I don't know what is. In response to these shoes, they look fantastic on! Though word of warning, these are a small make. Normally I fit a size 6 comfortably but these were quite tight. But I suppose they will stretch as it's leather so I'll just have to break these in.

I don't even know what's with me and high heels. I buy so many pairs and I don't have any occassions to wear these beauties! I keep telling myself I will wear them in the distant future haha. And now I have such a large collection of shoes that I'm actually finding it hard to have anywhere to store them! Well, as soon as I move out, I know I have to have a walk in wardrobe to fit everything in...

So tell me, are any of you guys shoeholics? ;)