Chianti's

PROFILED BY DE GROOTS MEDIA
Another popular Mitchell Street cafe with a vaguely Mediterranean theme, Chianti’s offers some of the best Italian-style food and coffee on the strip. The shady outdoor seats are popular for people watching, but there’s plenty of space inside the cool blue painted interior, with its large, quirky paintings and big, comfortable cane armchairs.

Standard breakfast fare is on offer in the morning, but come lunch and dinner there’s a wide selection of tempting dishes on offer. There are a range of yummy foccacias, pastas, and salads as well as lighter meals like minestrone and antipasto plates. For a more substantial meal, try the lasagne alla marinara, or the pollo al chianti; pan-fried chicken breast in Chianti wine with red pesto and onion finished with light tomato sauce and fresh grapes, served atop a bed of organic salad. The kitchen also does one of Mitchell Street’s better steaks. If the Moreton Bay bug thermidor (pan-fried bugs with onion, garlic, fresh spices and mustard with light cream sauce and rice pilaf) is available, it’s certainly worth the splurge. Otherwise, keep an eye out for the specials board dishes like char-grilled quail or Moroccan chicken salad.

Fiona Davies