Candelori's, Fairfield

Candelori's is a posh Italian restaurant in Fairfield. It took me by surprise and the 72% like rate on Urbanspoon is on the mark. With a very reasonable large space; spanned with long tables of big groups lined with white tablecloth.

I'm not one to be too adventurous but my company was and cherished and enjoyed the lamb's brain  at $21 (above). The lamb's brain was crumbed, pan-finished with lemon butter, parsley and fried sage. I was more interested in the Zuchhini flowers that were stuffed with ricotta cheese and spinach at $24. They were perfectly cooked with a bit of crunch and lemon. There were 4 pieces so that's $6 per zuchhini flower.

To share, I also ordered the woodfired capsicum (above) medley bruschetta on woodfired ciabatta bread at $12. The bread was beautiful and all the trimmings were tasty.

For Mains, I ordered the linguine marinara (above) which was the long thin pasta pan tossed with pomodoro, mussels, baby calamari, tiger prawns & vongole at $27.  It was a solid dish. The housemade gnocchi al pomodoro with goat’s cheese at $26 was consistent with what you would expect from a gnocchi.

I got good feedback on the ravioli of lobster, prawn, crab large ravioli filled with lobster, crab & tiger prawn; pan finished with cherry tomatoes, pomodoro, dash of cream, basil and virgin olive oil at $28.  The portion looked a bit small.

The stand out dish however agreed by all parties was.... the Cannelloni. Forget all the pasta mains! It was so very tasty. The $26 Cannelloni, consisted of di pollo flat sheet egg pasta folded with chicken breast, fior di latte mozzarella, grated aged parmesan and béchamel, baked with tomato and basil.  It was jut a very simple but well executed dish that tasted amazing $26.  A definite recommend!

For dessert, I got consistent reviews for the Hazelnut Pannacotta which had ginger crumble, strawberries and toasted  hazelnuts. The special chocolate slice was OK too.

Prices: $25-30 for mains

Location: 685 Horsley drive, Fairfield