Restaurant review: Agostinis, at East Hotel, Kingston, as good as holiday

By the time the first rays of this city's infamous false spring fall across my face, I'm eager for a meal that reflects the season, to break out from winter eating and to escape the last of those peregrinatory images sent back from the continent.

And spring dining should feel different to winter eating, which is bogged down in the rituals of donning and doffing coats and scarves. (Don't get me started on the contemporary inadequacy of Canberra's public coat rack infrastructure.) Plus, there's the central question of whether it's worth leaving the warm embrace of your home. Spring leaves all that bother behind. It's the time of the year to savour some carefree moments dining out.

Mid-week after work? No problem, because you won't freeze to death trying to reach your restaurant.

So Agostinis, by now well established at Kingston's East Hotel, with its freshly minted spring menu, seemed just the ticket as the weather warmed.

In the middle of a parliamentary sitting week, it was hardly a surprise to find the dining room still filled out when we arrived for our 8pm booking. Nor was it a surprise to be led to our table - a cosy, semi-circle banquette - and on the way see a cabinet minister at one end and three veterans of the press gallery dining together at another.

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Diners hoping to overhear scandalous gossip here will be disappointed. This is a contemporary fit-out that doesn't sacrifice acoustic privacy. The staff are attentive and helpful without being overbearing.

We begin with the calamari fritti ($20), calamari rings lightly fried in batter served with a tomato and capsicum aioli. A hint of squeezed lemon over the top and these all but melt in your mouth. Forget anything you know about calamari rings if all you know about them comes from fish-and-chip-shop experiences. Close your eyes and you can picture, for a moment, sitting somewhere coastside.

Continuing with the ocean theme, we pick the polipetti: baby octopus, slow-cooked, with Sicilian olives, capers and chilli ($23). It comes with focaccia on the side and is served in a small, cast-iron dish. The octopus feels tougher than it ought to be and the other expected flavours seem lost to a sea of tomato. Still, the octopus pieces went well on the perfectly crispy pieces of focaccia.

After a well-timed pause, my bombetta pugliese ($42) is brought to the table. I have a weakness for the meat-on-meat-on-meat kind of dish, so this slow-cooked pork neck, 'nduja (a Calabrian spreadable sausage filling) and sausage wrapped up in pancetta was hard to pass up. Served on a thick tomato sauce, it was rich and smoky; the aftertaste had zing and lingered without overstaying its welcome. This was a satisfying and well-crafted serving. Beside the meat was a fennel salad, that came as an able companion to the dense meat. Too often salads on the side are a perfunctory presence on the plate, designed to trick the eyeballs to balance the plate but left to disappoint the taste buds. Here, though, the salad was doing its share of the work, in harmony rather than an off-key addition.

The veal and tomato ragu pappardelle ($32) tasted the way you know instinctively good pasta ought to taste. Rich without being too rich, light without being careless, smooth without being boring, hearty without leaving you feeling stuffed: this was a reminder to all those who skip over pasta when they dine out because they think they can make it at home any night of the week. Be honest: can you do it like this? I know I can't, and, accepting this, I've learned a serving of pasta eaten out can be the best pasta going. Agostinis is a good place if you want to test this theory of mine.

Would it be a trip to an Italian restaurant without a tiramisu ($16) for dessert? The dish here is light, with a fluffiness that belies its structural integrity. It avoids the trap of drowning in its own flavours, leaving each mouthful to be enjoyed like a small, sumptuous cloud.

The torta di mele, an apple tart, comes with a dainty scoop of vanilla gelato ($16). The spiced apple filling sums up the progression from winter to spring: a wintry mood of spiced fruit, suspended in pastry against the cool blast of gelato. This is how a spring dessert should go about its business.

With plenty of wines to choose from - I found my recommended glass of Beppo's Blend, Ravensworth Wines' creation just for Agostinis, eminently enjoyable ($16 a glass) - food that is a joy to eat, and a dining room that is fun and modern without being pernickety, Agostinis is a place to feel comfortable and properly enjoy a fine meal.

Who needs a European summer holiday anyway?

Address: East Hotel, 69 Canberra Ave, Griffith ACT 2603

Phone: (02) 6178 0048

Website: agostinis.com.au

Hours: Lunch and dinner, seven days a week.

Chef: Francesco Balestrieri

Noise: Not a problem

Dietary: Plenty of options

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