Not gourmet food…
When I suggested to my Korean hyung Eric that I wanted to eat Italian/pizza, I really had no idea that we would end up at Sofia Restaurant in Camberwell which started in 1969, and used to be a pizza parlour.
Heck, I didn’t even know what Sofia Restaurant was as I had my heart set on some choices that I read online. And when I checked out the reviews for Sofia’ Restaurant on Urbanspoon (50 percent likes), I really wanted to suggest another alternative, but since he was helpful enough to suggest, I thought, “Whatever, let’s go with it.”
Let’s just say I went in with little expectations and came out feeling something like this, “This isn’t too bad. I probably could have worse.”
The menu is pretty standard, probably what one can get in Pastamania back home in Singapore. No surprises. Eric hyung ordered a large spaghetti marinara. He told me he used to do takeaways or something like that when classes finished late for him and Sofia Restaurant was the only eatery still open in the late hours. Some nostalgia there.
Meanwhile, I ordered a large Sofia Special (pizza) with tomato, mozzarella, mushrooms, green peppers, shredded mild salami and anchovies. Frankly, I didn’t give it much thought into my order as I wanted gourmet pizza, and the options didn’t look too appealing so I just randomly picked one option which had meat.
As I studied my fellow diners, I couldn’t help but notice that people were packing doggy bags. This is probably in testament to the humongous portions they serve. One couple I saw practically had their two pastas left half unfinished. Meanwhile the Indian diners next to me were tucking into their meal with gusto [they had three dishes…some seafood main, lasagne and fries]…the daughter’s girth is probably a testimony to her appetite…Sofia also serves a large gelato/ice cream which I didn’t feel appealing to the unnatural bright colours.
The only good thing I could say about Sofia Restaurant is that the portions are huge enough to make you feel that it’s worth the buck (that is…if you’re not a fussy, picky eater). The portion of the spaghetti marinara was enough to feed two people. And it came with a generous amount of medium-sized prawns (maybe 20 or more) and a few scallops…of course I don’t think the prawns are fresh…probably frozen or something when I tasted. The pasta wasn’t too bad, just a bit bland and lacking oomph…nothing that a sprinkle of parmesan or chilli flakes couldn’t fix.
The Sofia Special was huge…cut into eight slices…it costs about $15.80, probably about $2 a slice. If one isn’t a huge eater, one could eat this whole pizza over four meals (Oh! The horror). It wasn’t too bad, just that it looked kind of messy, but I liked that the crust had some burnt cheese…and the crust wasn’t really that thick or doughy. However, hyung complained that it was a bit salty due to the anchovies. Well, at least it balances out the rather bland pasta. *Smirks*
Anyhow, both of us left with a doggy bag from our unfinished meals. As of this time of writing I still have one slice of pizza left in the fridge.
Overall, what Sofia offers not an elegant or fine dining or gourmet experience, but rather edible and value for money grub for the untrained palates.
No comments:
Post a Comment