The Spaghetti House Trattoria

When asked to recommend good Italian food in Brisbane, I'm always struggling to provide worthwhile suggestions. Sure most of the Italian restaurants here have some decent dishes but I still think traditional Italian dining is missing in the Brisbane food scene. 

The Spaghetti House Trattoria has filled that gap. It takes you across the globe to Italy from the moment you step in. From the heavily accented waiters to the rustic decor. It reminded me of the restaurants in Italy that I've seen on SBS food and travel shows; with long wooden tables, covered with bowls of assorted olives, sitting it's oil and tall glasses filled with crispy mini bread sticks. I could easily see a big Italian family coming to sit at this table and sharing a meal together.

The restaurant is lined by racks of wine, both Italian imported and local. The back table had a row of cheese graters with hunks of fresh parmesan cheese, ready to be grated at the table. The interior really sets the scene for an intimate family style dining.

Will is an avid olive lover and he is your best critic for them. He thought these ones were great. I always feel a bit apprehensive eating olives whole because they're too salty for my liking, but these were perfect. I dipped some of the bread sticks into the olive oil as well and then popped an olive in my mouth - divine. We polished the lot. I wasn't game enough to try the extra large ones but Will said it was the best of the lot.

Figs wrapped in Prosciutto with Gorgonzola Fondu

We ordered the specials for entree. This was something I've never had before. The dish is also served with bread to lather up the fondu. It is such an unusual dish, a combination of flavours I never would have put together but I really enjoyed it. A nice savoury dish to start your meal but had a nice sweet kick to it from the figs as well. I was upset when I finished the bread, realising how much of the gorganzola fondu was left behind. Luckily the ever attentive waiters spotted this and offered me more complimentary bread sticks. Already a happy diner.

Grilled Scallops in Half Shell with Salsa Verde

The scallops with salsa verde were all cooked perfectly. This was the first time Ive had scallops with a verde and thought it went really well together. A nice change from your usual cauliflower puree or chorizo combination which can sometimes overpower the delicate scallops.

Slow Cooked Pork & Beef with Soffrito, Wine & Tomatoes - Ragu alla Bolognese

I ordered the traditional bolognese hoping that this was going to be the real deal. A while back I did some research on bolognese sauce and learnt that we were eating it all wrong here in Australia. Your household brands Dolmio, Leggos etc make a tomato base sauce whilst a real bolognese is meant to be a meaty ragu. Spaghetti House's bolognese was exactly that. There wasn't a lot of tomato sauce on the plate but instead a meaty sauce that looked like it was cooked and reduced in a tomato base. Even though it was mince, the meat melted in your mouth, probably from the slow cooking. Will was a bit thrown off by it, perhaps expecting his mums spag bol. But for me, this was exactly what I sorted out for - real authentic bolognese. It was delicious with the fresh parmesan grated on at the table.

Saffron Linguine with Scampi, Seafood Bisque & Cream - Zafferano LInguine con Scampi

The star of the meal had to be this scampi linguine. It is to die for. I loved how you could taste every ingredient in the bisque sauce. It wasn't your typical 'cream & cheese' sauce. You could taste the fresh parsley and white wine and then the cream just pulled it all together. There was a perfect amount of sauce and it was just a little runny so that when it was served to us and left sitting on the table, the pasta didn't clump up into a solid cream mess. Sometimes I find the sauce can get lost in seafood pastas when accompanied with overpowering seafoods such as mussels and clams. I enjoyed the simplicity of the scampi and it was nice and sweet too. To top it off the linguine was cooked al dente. Such a great dish and I'm salivating as I write this.

I can't wait to eat at The Spaghetti House again and try more of their dishes. There were so many more great sounding dishes to try and not enough stomach for it. I missed out on dessert because I could not bare to leave any pasta behind. Brisbane, if you're looking for authentic Italian food, search no more, try this trattoria. 

Dish I'd order again - Saffron Linguine with Scampi, Seafood Bisque & Cream

The Spaghetti House Trattoria
Shop B, 129 Boundary St
WEST END QLD 4101