Chiosco by Ormeggio and The Dessert of 2015

This is a nutella bombolone.
Look at that ooze, that soft, yielding donut.
If you don’t want to go and get one of these babies right now, there is legitimately something wrong with you.

I know that this is an ambitious blog title, especially considering it is on January. Still, I stand by my call. At this little kiosk by the sea I had what i’m calling the dessert of 2015. I love a fancy dessert as much as the next girl but i’m a little bit over the finicky, frippery and mountain of elements that comes with many desserts at the moment. Sometimes less is more and being able to serve up an unquestionably delicious, simple dessert is the best skill in the universe. That’s what happened when hubs and I went to Chiosco by Ormeggio early in the new year.

We had been to Ormeggio for hubs’ birthday the month before and spied the casual dining kiosk across the jetty. We absolutely loved the dinner at Ormeggio (the dishes and cocktails were so damn tasty I didn’t even have the presence of mind to take photos to share with you) especially for celebrating a special occasion and so we thought that the casual nature of Chiosco would be perfect for a normal date night dinner. Damn straight it was.

fritto misto ($16) and daily fish crudo ($18)

We started with the daily fish crudo which was a light and zingy kingfish with crispy slices of apple, radish and fennel. I’m always a sucker for fresh fish and this was so lovely it was very difficult to share! The fritto misto was also nice but I had a real hankering for prawns and I think I overloaded on these which made tackling the mains a bit of a challenge!

busiate puttanesca ($19)

For the main we shared the puttanesca. Which, after the dessert, was probably our second best menu decision of 2015. I’ve cooked and eaten a lot of puttanesca in my time and never have I had one quite like this. The freshly made pasta was quite al dente and in such a beautiful coil shape that it caught up all the delicious sauce. That sauce. It was so rich and deep that I would be quite happy if that was the only pasta sauce I was ever to eat for the rest of my life. The anchovies seemed to have been infused into the sauce so there was none of the salty surprise that some puttanesca sauces give you when you unexpectedly end up with a mouth full of anchovies. Holy moly! Also, don’t be afraid of the chilli listed on the menu. I have one of the lowest tolerances to hot spices but this chilli wasn’t hot at all, it just gave the sauce a lovely depth of flavour.

suppli ($15)

We also had the suppli which were similar to arancini – risotto balls with oxtail ragout and fontina. These were no comparison to the puttanesca. While they were fine, I did think that there would be a little more ragout and richness at their centre. They were definitely outshone, but there you go. You win some, you lose some.

Which brings us to the real purpose for this post. To share with you the delicious dessert that we finished with.

Nutella Bombolone ($10)

When these little golden donut balls came out, nestled in brown paper, I thought it would be a standard bombolone dessert. Which is always fine, because donuts are always a welcome way to end a meal. Or start a meal. Or be a meal. But these little babies were the softest, spongiest donuts I think i’ve ever eaten. The ratio of nutella to donut was heavily weighted in nutella’s favour (which is far better than the little smudges of filling i’ve found in some similar desserts) and it was warm and gooey and everything you would wish for. Simple, sweet and perfect.

Overall, Chiosco was a great little place to eat with friendly service and a beautiful location on the water. Be sure to book in advance though, I think we only got a lucky table because we tend to dine much earlier when we don’t have a reservation. We will definitely go again.

Chiosco by Ormeggio

The Jetty, d’Albora Marina The Spit, Spit Rd. Mosman
Phone:  02 9046 7333
Website: http://www.chiosco.com.au/