Vapiano

I've always wanted to try this place since I like the novelty of food being cooked in front of you. The Olympics was a good chance to come, since every gold medal Aus won, they would give you a free pizza or pasta up to $17 (then they changed it to $16). Don't be like me and go straight up to the line and wait until you're at the front, then find out that you need a card. Probably the amount of people here at the time caused the confusion.

When you step in, they should give you a card, which you'll swipe when you order either pizza/pasta at the counters on different sides of the restaurant. You then eat and pay at the end, and give them the card so they know what you bought. They make their own pasta/pizza dough, and bread (I think).

I wasn't the only one lining up for free food...

making it in front of you

Pesto Rosso: Freshly made sun-dried tomato pesto with roasted pine nuts, chilli, ricotta + cherry tomatoes w/ tagliatelle-$17

Loved the sprinkle of ricotta on top. Pasta was al dente, and not overly tomatoey. Good amount of pine nuts throughout, and had a good chilli kick as well. Love how they serve it was bread and olive oil and balsamic vinegar (which wasn't too acidic) on the tables. There was basil in pot plants as well, but some of the leaves looked old...

Pesto Con Spinach-Baby spinach leaves, marinated tomatoes, with creamy pesto + mozzarella-$17

Added some garlic oil, oregano and herbs

Pizza was ok, still thin crust, but where's the cheese? There was a good amount of spinach, but not enough tomatoes or enough pesto flavour. It was free so can't really complain.

Pomodoro: Our signature homemade tomato sauce with onion + cherry tomatoes w/ linguini-$16

Pasta was a bit overcooked, but maybe it was from the heat since I left it in the take away bowl for a bit. They were busy that night, so after asking, only got 1 piece of breed. The parmesan helped add some flavour, but the sauce here was a bit too acidic for me.