Orlando's Trattoria

There's a restaurant in Ramsgate called Orlando's Trattoria, which I have driven past approx. 1 million times in my life.  I've desperately wanted to try it for probably more than 10 years now, but somehow I never had.

Until now!  Last night James and I went there for dinner with his family (hello if you all are reading and thanks for a fun time!) and it was great.

Regular readers will remember that I love old-school Chinese restaurants and my attitude toward Italian restaurants is the same.  Lucky for me, Orlandos' Trattoria was seriously retro.  Flashing OPEN sign, saloon doors leading to the bathrooms, possibly also fake plants and wicker furniture (that could just be my mind using cliches to fill in the blanks though).

This bruschetta was the best.  I don't know how one bruschetta can be better than another but somehow it was.

Entree - salt and pepper calamari.  This batter was a bit different to the regular kind and, in my opinion, much better.  It was so crispy and delicious, and the salad it was with was really tasty too.

Main - veal saltimbocca.  This was really yummy too.  The veggies weren't exactly trendy but the potatoes were delightfully crispy and the tomato sauce on the veal was beautiful.

Dessert - creme caramel.  The presentation alone makes this a 10/10 for me.  I thought that was a glace cherry atop that pile of Dairy Whip, but actually it was a splodge of strawberry sauce.  It reminded me of going to posh restaurants with my parents as a small child in the early 90s.

Here's what I wore:

I'm really loving my $30 SES coat.  It's a bit worn already but at least I'm getting plenty of use out of it.  And it's so cosy!

And here's the red Kmart dress again.  This is getting tatty pretty quickly.  When I was a kid Kmart had a quality guarantee that if kids wore their clothes out before they outgrew them, you could get a refund or something.  I guess things have changed since then.  Still, for $29 it's acceptable.

I'm so glad I finally achieved my dream of going to Orlando's Trattoria.  I'll definitely go there again soon, and you should too.

Drivers of Sydney, Beware

Because on Thursday I got my Ps! It only took me six years. Did you know you aren't allowed to smile AT ALL in your licence photo now? It has something to do with their facial recognition software.

That night I had dinner at Thai Top North in Sans Souci or maybe Ramsgate.

James had a LivingSocial voucher - for $19 we got a mixed entree, chicken pad see ew, a chilli jam stir fry with seafood (which fortunately turned out to be real seafood, not seafood extender), plus rice, and a pink lemonade for me. We also took champagne and they didn't charge us corkage! Score!

All the food was really tasty. The prices were reasonable too and the service was pretty quick. I don't think I'll go back soon because it's a bit far away just for Thai (especially considering my own local Thai is absolutely outstanding) but I'd definitely recommend Thai Top North to my friends who live closer to it, it is an awesome little local Thai.

To eat this delicious meal I wore a black top with silver trim, black and silver shoes (Myer, $14) and a silver glomesh bag (Vincenzo's, $4). Can you tell I love matching?

After I got home I started reading The Hunger Games. It's awesome and kept me up for hours but more on that later.

Tapas, Indian, Bargains, Brunch

On Thursday James and I had tapas at Rodizio in Cronulla. We used a voucher from LivingSocial.

I've blogged about the exact same meal - a tapas platter for two - once before. It was yummy but I think it would be worth spending a bit extra to choose different dishes.

The decor there is really nice, like a backyard BBQ.

I was wearing a too big smock tunic dress thing by Mink Pink and a knitted cardigan-coat hybrid, both from op shops. It was a bit experimental.

On Friday James and I had dinner with both our sets of parents (hello Joanne, David and Mum if you're reading*) at Murraya. I don't remember everything we ordered but it was all delicious.

I was wearing a different giant smock tunic thing this time but the coatigan and boots were the same. My tights are fleece lined! Cosiest thing in the world.

On Saturday I bravely went to Quick Cuts. For once my hair wasn't completely butchered. Thanks Kim! I also scored a few bargains at Priceline.

The ORLY polish was reduced to five bucks but it needs about six coats so I don't think I'll buy it again. The CoverGirl foundation was $14, not bad!

On Sunday I went to Book Club. We had brunch this month, and in honour of the Royal Anniversary it was a bit English themed.

The book we read was Wool by Hugh Howey, a scifi novella. I liked it; I'm keen to read the rest of the series. Thanks Eleanor for hosting!

Afterwards I ran errands, cleaned out my wardrobe and did some uni work, whilst wearing navy.

At one point James popped round with sticky date puddings and helped me make my bed with my electric blanket. I even took a picture of my neat room and freshly made bed but I guess I lost it.  Try not to be too jealous of my glamourous lifestyle.

On Monday we went to a cafe at uni, Out To Lunch, where I had a tasty orange hot chocolate.

This is actually James's tea, because I can't find my attractive hot chocolate picture either.  This new Blogger is confusing.

Our outfits matched! Red and navy FTW. Not intentional I promise.

I should clean my mirror.

And later we saw The Avengers. It's not exactly movie of the year but I rather enjoyed it. I like superhero movies, and this was a really good superhero movie.

I was a bit confused about the Hulk though. One minute he's fighting the good guys because he can't control himself, the next he's taking instructions and working with everyone. Can anyone explain? Anyway it was still good.

And today my sister got her Ps. Well done Betty!!