Note: I was invited to dine at Antica Ricetta (the first time) and paid on the second occasion. All opinions are my own.
Tucked away along a little alleyway at the Manuka shops is Antica Ricetta. It has been there for years and I do remember trying it at least a decade ago and not being very impressed. But times have changed. The below is a mash up over two visits.
A must order starter is the arancini siciliani ($18) with mozzarella, peas, and ragu Bolognese. To be honest, I am expecting the often gluggy-like item, so I am so surprised and ecstatic when I bite into this. It also has such a unique flavour with herbs and spices. Absolutely delicious with a beautiful crumb and crunch. There are two per serve but they are bigger than usual so very easy to share between four.
The bruschetta caprese ($17) comes with two slices of thickly cut bread rubbed with fresh garlic, topped with tomatoes, bocconcini and basil. All fresh ingredients.
All pastas are house made so I am keen to try the spaghetti marinara ($38) with the chef’s selection of seafood (that night it is fish and prawns). This is cooked in passata, bisque, and garlic. There’s not as much seafood as I would prefer and I can’t really taste the bisque so this dish is a little underwhelming.
The tortello all’anatra ($32) comes with five large tortello filled with a braised duck, ricotta cheese and orange peel, tossed in butter and sage. I’m glad we share this amongst the table as it can get a little heavy after a few bites.
We also try one of the blackboard specials– a creamy pappardelle Montanara with creamy sauce, porcini mushrooms, Italian sausage, garlic, parsley and pecorino romano. Portion-wise, it doesn’t look like a lot, but with most creamy pastas, it does get heavy very quickly and I don’t actually finish this (what with sampling everything else!) but I do enjoy the freshly made pappardelle and the creamy cheesy sauce.
Family members try the fettuccine calabrese with Italian sausage, capsicum, olives in passata sauce. Another has the fettucine with ragu Bolognese. Both tell me these are really good dishes so I will add to my must try list on the next visit.
For pizzas, we try the capricciosa ($26) and the Roberts pizza ($26). I do enjoy the pizza base – it’s thin but with a soft pillowy puffy crust and all cooked in the wood fired pizza. I notice several customers waiting on their take away pizzas for the night.
Someone else orders the calamari and prawns that comes lightly crumbed. Being a second course meal, the plate is huge and big enough for the entire table to delight in. This is going to be a reorder dish on our next visit.
Can’t forget to mention that the restaurant is kid-friendly with colouring in and pencils provided. The kids meal we choose is the ham and pineapple kids pizza (minus the pineapple), you can also add on ice cream for dessert for an additional cost. Impressed that our toddler ate this (he’s usually very picky).
We only try the dessert on the second visit and since we’re all carb-loaded by this time, we all share the tiramisu (see the 5 spoons). Really happy with the couple of bites – not too wet, not heavy on the coffee or cream, just a really good consistency and balance in everything. Yum! Adding this to my Tiramisu List. A family member tries the chocolate cake which is quite rich and decadent.
It’s great to see that Antica Ricetta is packed on a Wednesday night as well as customers lining up for take away. It can get loud inside, but there are some outdoor undercover tables (with heaters) if you want more quiet surroundings. Bookings recommended.
A reel of my experience below:
Antica Ricetta
M Centre, Shop 13-14 Palmerston Ln, Griffith, Canberra
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