Tutto Bene- Southgate, Southbank

We made a last minute decision and decided to head to Tutto Bene at Southgate for an impromptu dinner on Saturday night since I've been wanting to eat there for quite some time but never really bothered to make a booking in advance. I called them around 5 or 6-ish and managed to get a booking for 8.30pm that night. Sweet! This restaurant is well-known for its risottos so you definitely have to order at least one risotto dish if you are dining here. 

We shared a scallop hahaha. It must have looked pathetic to the other diners when we were both attacking this small thing. This was good- it was a half shell baked Tasmanian scallop with truffle oil infused potato and parmesan. Yum.

I got the Saffron, baby spinach and E.V.O.O ( I had no idea what this was till I googled it...guess? It's Extra Virgin Olive Oil! *faints- who would've thought that was the acronym huh?) confit of ocean trout with salmon roe. This was absolutely delicious with the right amount of creaminess, and the saltiness of the salmon roe really came through when eaten together with the half-cooked ocean trout and risotto. 

This was what I had when I visited 3-4 years ago. It's braised duck, porcini mushrooms and sage. Pretty ordinary and tasted like how a risotto should.

We shared a desert and it came realllllllly quick. On the menu the description for this was Slow-baked chocolate fondant cake with raspberry puree, crispy wafer pieces and double cream so we automatically assumed it'd take 20 minutes to bake. We had literally just placed our order for it and it came out in 30 seconds! When I dug into it I realised why it came so quickly. It wasn't the warm and gooey dessert I expected but this was pre-made and was a little cold from being in the fridge and then rested on the bench. I think that's how they meant it to be. Nevertheless it was still a good chocolate desert but I would've preferred something that created a warm chocolate mess on the plate!

This came with the bill- its a souvenir to take home. I'm guessing the cork is probably from the bottles of wine they open for their customers but I liked this idea since it somehow adds a personal touch to the dining experience.

Tutto Bene is a good place for a semi-casual dining experience as you can really feel the atmosphere buzzing with other diners having a good night out and enjoying their weekend.