Cucina: Unfortunately a “meh”meal with a “bleh” ending

My fellow snobs. Bad. So. Bad. I am talking about the tiramisu which was recommended to us and we were told was delicious but in fact turned out to be the worst tiramisu I have ever tried. My dining companion was a dear friend of mine who is notoriously unfussy. And in her own words: “I’m not even a snob and I don’t want to touch this” 

Penne arrabbiata (vv roasted tomatoes, Neapolitan sauce, chilli olive oil, toasted seed mix, fresh basil)  

Was nice and hot - pasta wasn’t toooo overdone but like it was for sure bordering on being overdone. 

It had, as I usually fear when ordering a tomato based pasta dish at a restaurant, a strong undertone of roasted pepper. This I find always makes me feel like I’m eating a somewhat aeroplane style meal. Especially when coupled with the slightly overdone pasta. There were some nice and crunchy seeds which on their own were nice but WHY put them on penne arrabbiata? Good balance of salt and not too sweet which was GREAT. And a few welcomed shavings of Parmesan. There were dollops of delicious roasted garlic purée which added a needed and nice flavor when mixed in - but why not just make the sauce more tasty instead of trying to be fancy? I love a plate of pasta. And I’m fussy about it but I know what’s good.

Tiramisu (coffee-soaked biscuit fingers, chocolate mascarpone)

The tiramisu…. It was obviously made in a thin dish and then cut in random shard like shapes (see image) . It came with a useless and culturally innappropriate bed of chocolate cookie crumbs. A THICK layer of finger biscuits that had been soaked in a strange  tasting coffee, was topped with a THIN layer of dense, sour “mascarpone” layer which tasted as if they used cream cheese instead of mascarpone which made it more like a dense fridge cheesecake that I am no more likely to have eaten If it had been advertised as that as opposed to a tiramisu. The tirimisu was topped with shavings of stale tasting white and milk cooking chocolate. 

Overall, while I probably won’t return for food until there is improvement, the location and branding is great.

Penne arrabbiata R95 ; Tiramisu R80

https://www.cucina.co.za/

43 Plein St, Stellenbosch Central, Stellenbosch, 7600