Concrete Playground

Down the middle of West End’s beloved Hardgrave Road lies a little Italian restaurant with a picture of a red hen out the front. Aptly, this restaurant is called The Red Hen. Regular diners on this street may have walked past this sweet-looking restaurant many times thinking ‘I must go there one day’ but never actually made the commitment. Well you must, because it is good.

The red and white décor is simple yet elegant and classic Italian street posters line the walls. The waiters are charming and extremely prompt with filling up your water glass. The menu is full of Italian specialties including an extensive list of saliva-inducing pastas. To start we shared appetisers including polpettine di pollo (chicken meatballs with a white-wine sauce); some vibrant and tasty bruschetta; calamari fritti which was beautiful and tender and delicious eggplant parcels filled with ricotta and topped with napoletana sauce and parmesan cheese – absolutely amazing.

Incredibly satisfied with our entrees we were anticipating a lot from our mains. Being a prawn and chilli enthusiast, I ordered the fettuccine ai gamberoni which was the perfect blend of my favourite Italian flavours – garlic, chilli and tomato. A fellow diner ordered the ravioli di zucca e salvia and it looked and smelt amazing because of the burnt butter sauce with sage. The housemade ravioli looked like beautiful little pillows of happiness which apparently they were.

The dessert menu covers all of the Italian classics – semifreddo, affogato, pannacotta, tiramisu. Being an extreme chocolate enthusiast, I ordered the torta al cioccolato – a flourless chocolate and hazelnut cake with espresso ganache. It absolutely met my needs. Also tempting were the homemade brownies that sat on display which, according to my fellow diners, were life-changers.

This little restaurant has a lot of character and is wonderful for a change from the many Vietnamese restaurants that line Hardgrave Road. They offer gluten-free pasta and bread, so everyone wins. Satisfaction guaranteed.