Borsari Ristorante, Carlton

I was invited for dinner at Borsari Ristorante last week in conjunction with my friend's graduation. Its located at the corner of Grattan and Lygon St in the Carlton suburb close to the University of Melbourne.

The restaurant seems like it has a nice atmosphere from the inside.

For starters, here's some garlic and herb bread. Pretty standard fare.

Then came along two plates of pasta. The in the foreground is fettucine papone - which basically includes chicken, avocado, pesto, cream cheese and a dash of napoli sauce.

The spaghetti marinara was pretty good, and so was the lasagna. Such delectable fresh mussels, yum yum.

Digging in...

Now lets take a look at the mains. They're approximately $30 a dish. Kinda over the budget for typical international students, but pretty standard for most western main courses.

Flounder - Whole flounder grilled to perfection drizzled with virgin oil lemon jus or lemon butter sauce. Pretty standard. No complaints from the person who ordered it.

Scallopine Milanese - Milk-fed veal pan-fried with basil, tomato, marsanne wine and gratinated with ham and bocconcini cheese.

Scallopine al Vino Secco - Milk-fed veal pan-fried to perfection with dry wine and fresh butter sauce. The customer who ordered this was pretty satisfied.

Pollo Esquisito - Fillet of chicken filled with spinach and fontina cheese, wrapped in filo pastry and oven-baked with a white wine sauce.

Caneton Roti al’ Orange - Half a duckling, pan-fried in butter with orange zest and flambéed with Grand Marnier. The duck's skin was exquisite in taste, but the meat below was tough and dry. A let down really for an interesting dish. If you'd like some nice, juicy roast duck, try Pacific House in Richmond or opposite QV.

Lamb shanks. Strangely I can't seem to find it in the online menu :s  Perhaps its on special order.

My dish arrived the last. Escalopes di Vitello con Gamberi - Baby veal pan cooked with fresh water prawns and mustard, flambéed in cognac and a touch of cream. I was expecting richer flavours, but that perhaps is just me.

If your expectation of a western meal is like mine - a whole slab of meat with plenty of potatoes and vegetables, you're better off going to a TAB bar. Plus, its cheaper too (at approx $15 a dish).

Cheers.