Rathdowne Tavern, Carlton - Nances Dinner

Last night a few of the Nances (my netball team) got together for a bit of a meal at the Rathdown Tavern on Rathdowne street in Carlton.

We have been here a couple of times now as this is where our Finals prizes gift voucher dictates where we dine.
I really like it here, the bar where we start off with a drink is very nice & friendly, and then the restaurant where we are seated is quite cozy, 2 edges of the table lined with wall seat/couches of which I am always a big fan of, find it much more comfy that sitting in a chair. I skipped an entrée tonight opting instead to save room for dessert.

For main I chose the fresh papardelle with a brasied duck in red wine sauce, you can see from my yet again blurry photo (too much wine I think), that the sauce was very rich & meaty, let me tell you this was really delicious, in fact several people ordered this & we were all impressed. The sides for the table were also delicious, rosemary & garlic roast potatoes, crunchy potato pieces, huge chunks of beautifully roasted garlic & lots of lots of rosemary, steamed greens & a tomato salad, thin slices of tomato with olive oil, herbs, etc - very nice

For dessert I had Sfoglitella Santa Rossa, which was a fine pastry filled with macerated cherries & crème patissiere, served with a cherry sauce & ice cream, this was fabulous, I was sharing with Michael & really wished I had the whole dish to myself.
Others on the table had the Gianduia Chocolate tart with candied orange - had a try & very good also, the tart was made with bittersweet chocolate so not too sickly as it could have a tendency to be

The staff were very quick & helpful all night also which made for a perfect night